With the aim of developing human resources through higher education in the ASEAN region, the ASEAN University Network (AUN) was established in 1995. To date, 27 universities from 10 countries in the region have become members of this organization (including Ho Chi Minh City University of Food Industry).

To promote internal quality assurance within universities in the region, AUN has introduced an initiative to assess higher education quality based on the shared quality assurance standards of ASEAN (ASEAN University Network - Quality Assurance, abbreviated as AUN-QA). This is also a way for ASEAN universities to enhance mutual trust in training quality among institutions in the region as well as with partner universities worldwide, gradually contributing to the recognition of learning outcomes and fostering cooperation among universities in Southeast Asia.

Programme quality assessment according to AUN standards helps institutions determine the level their training programmes have achieved on the regional assessment scale. Furthermore, it helps identify areas that need improvement to ensure programmes meet quality standards comparable to others in the same field within ASEAN.

The programme-level assessment standards have had three versions. The latest version (Version 3) includes 11 standards with 50 criteria. Detailed content can be found here.