The American Institute of Applied Sciences in Switzerland (AUS) is included in the UNESCO World Higher Education Database (WHED). The database provides authoritative information on higher education systems and credentials, as well as the recognized higher education institutions that meet WHED criteria.
This WHED gained additional momentum at the
UNESCO Global Convention on the recognition of higher education qualifications, which aimed to increase the transparency of the higher education landscape at the global level and to enhance orientation through the ever-expanding field of higher education, by providing a standard for the listings of higher education institutions. According to UNESCO, the WHED also serves several major goals, including fostering transparency of higher education on a global scale, facilitating communication within the global higher education community, as well as increasing access, speed, and reliability of information.