Of course there are standards in quality assurance in higher education. It depends on continent/ country and institution.
To learn more you can take a look at European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education for Europe; UNESCO guideline: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/higher-education/quality-assurance/
See also an article by Fred F. Harcleroad:http://www.chea.org/pdf/Fred_Harcleroad_2011.pdf
and for international trends text by Dirk Van Damme: http://www.oecd.org/education/skills-beyond-school/2088479.pdf (a bit old, but explaining well the issue).
Hi, thank you for the interesting discussion. I wrote an article-response:
(4 Feb 2015). The Fair Completion Standards of Quality Assurance Framework for Higher Education as a Social Practice. International Institute of Anthropology Publications.
It is uploaded at Research Gate and academia.edu (Lolita Nikolova)
THE GENERAL FRAMEWORK ON QUALITY - ISO 9001:2008 QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IS A GOOD FRAMEWORK TO GOVERN THE QUALITY OF HIGHER EDUCATION. PERSONALLY, I WAS INVOLVED IN IMPLEMENTING ISO 9001 QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IN THE HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTE AND FOUND THAT, IT IS EFFECTIVE AND WORKING WELL, WHEN COMPARED TO THE ONES, WITHOUT ISO 9001 QMS. TRY THIS OUT.