There are lots of definitions of quality, and also of quality in education. Garvin (1984)discerns five approaches: the transcendental approach, the product-oriented approach, the customeroriented
approach, the manufacturing-oriented approach and the value-for-money approach. Harvey and Green (1993) give five interrelated concepts of quality as: exceptional, perfection (or consistency),
fitness for purpose, value for money and transformative.
A new definition of quality is needed to explain recent quality issues in higher education. This article describes a quality concept with four constituents: object, standard, subject and values. The article elaborates on the values. Four value systems derived from Beck and Cowan (1996) are transformed into four value systems on quality and quality management: control, continuous improvement,
commitment and breakthrough. These value systems make it possible to explain some recent developments in quality management in higher education.