Problem setting. Higher education is the most important component of national capital. It helps to overcome social conflicts that exist in modern society. In this regard, the priority development of higher education is considered in the countries of the world as a driving force of social progress. Recent research and publications analysis. The study of the problem of ensuring the quality of higher education belongs to the sphere of scientific interests of both Ukrainian and foreign scientists. Among modern domestic researchers dealing with theoretical and methodological issues of higher quality assurance, such scientists as N. Batechko, O. Zhornova, S. Karpenchuk, T. Krystopchuk, V. Moroz, T. Dobko, I. Zolotaryova, S. Kalashnikova, V. Kovtunets, S. Kurbatov, I. Linyova, V. Lugovoi, I. Prokhor, N. Sydorenko, I. Stankevich, I. Sikorska, Zh. Talanova, M. Trebin, T. Finikov, S. Sharov and others. A significant contribution to the theoretical development of higher quality assurance problems was also made by foreign scientists ‑ K. Argyris, G. Becker, J. Brennan, R. Brown, L. Brockerhoff, R. Williams, A. Helmke, G. Papadopoulos, E. Sallis, R. Harris, S. Harris-Hemmert, D. Schön, and others. Despite the fact that the understanding of various problems of ensuring higher quality has been widely reflected in the scientific literature, a number of issues that need to be constantly considered remain debatable. Paper objective. The purpose of the article is to study the essence of the concept of “higher education quality” in the modern socio-philosophical discourse; consideration of methodological approaches to the analysis of this phenomenon; identification of the main factors that determine the effectiveness of the higher education quality assurance system. Paper main body. Ensuring the quality of higher education is currently an extremely acute issue for many countries. This is primarily related to the transition from elite to mass higher education, the active introduction of modern distance learning information technologies into the educational process, the need to ensure the competitiveness of graduates of higher education institutions in the conditions of a globalized labor market and academic mobility, etc. In Ukraine, the problem of ensuring the quality of higher education is gaining particular importance. This is evidenced by state programs for the development of higher education, including the Law “On Higher Education”, in which for the first time a separate section dedicated to the problems of ensuring the quality of higher education appears. Three quality models of higher education are known in the world, namely: 1. “English”, based on the internal self-assessment of the academic community. The formation of such a mechanism for assessing the quality of education is connected with the significant autonomy of educational institutions in Great Britain and the decentralization of education management. In this country, there is a multi-level system of accreditation of universities and educational programs. This model of education quality assessment also prevails in Australia, and a new approach to the accreditation of educational programs has been introduced. The accreditation procedure includes, along with internal evaluations and quality guarantees, external criteria and recommendations from industrial enterprises; 2. The “French” model provides for an external evaluation of higher education institutions to determine their responsibility to society; 3. The “American” model, which is actually being implemented in Ukraine today, is an organic combination of the two mentioned, which gives it significant advantages and wide opportunities in its application, as it provides for both public and state forms of control of the achieved results. The implementation of European standards and recommendations for ensuring the quality of higher education is implemented in the activities of higher education institutions of Ukraine. Art. 16 Chap. V of the Law of Ukraine “On Higher Education” defines the structure of the higher education quality assurance system. It is noted that the quality assurance system of higher education in Ukraine consists of: 1) systems of ensuring the quality of educational activities and the quality of higher education by institutions of higher education (system of internal quality assurance); 2) systems of external assurance of the quality of educational activities of institutions of higher education and the quality of higher education; 3) systems of quality assurance of activities of the National Agency for Quality Assurance of Higher Education and independent institutions of assessment and quality assurance of higher education. Conclusions of the research. The system of higher education of Ukraine must follow the path of mutual approximation of its own achievements and the latest European experience in the issue of ensuring the quality of higher education in modern conditions of social development. This will contribute to the growth of the competitiveness of graduates of Ukrainian higher education institutions, the full entry of higher education institutions of Ukraine into the European area of higher education.

У статті аналізується різноманітні теоретико-методологічні підходи до визначення поняття «якість вищої освіти». Особлива увага приділяється аналізу системи якості вищої освіти. Висвітлено європейський досвід забезпечення якості вищої освіти. Розглядаються узгоджені на європейському рівні відповідно до вимог Болонської декларації стандарти і процедури забезпечення якості вищої освіти. Обґрунтовано напрями створення системи забезпечення якості вищої освіти в Україні. Представлено вітчизняний досвід впровадження основних принципів забезпечення якості вищої освіти в національну систему вищої школи.