The 2030 Agenda as a Governance Framework for Educational Quality Assurance in Latin American Higher Education: A Systematic Review and Correlational Study

This study examines the relationship between the institutionalization of the 2030 Agenda and educational quality assurance in Latin American public universities. Although the role of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in higher education has received growing scholarly attention, empirical evidence remains limited regarding whether the formal integration of the 2030 Agenda into university governance is statistically associated with educational quality assurance outcomes in the Latin American public university sector. A quantitative, non-experimental, cross-sectional, and correlational design was applied and complemented by a systematic review conducted in accordance with the PRISMA 2020 framework. The empirical dataset comprised 41 public universities from 13 Latin American countries. Secondary data were organized from institutional and comparative public metrics, including SDG-related scores, impact performance, teaching performance, and accreditation-related information. Based on these sources, two composite indices were analyzed: the Sustainable Development Goals Compliance Index (SDG-CI) and the Educational Quality Index (EQI). The empirical analysis showed a strong and statistically significant positive association between both indices (Pearson r = 0.965; p < 0.001), and the simple linear regression model reported a high explanatory value (R2 = 0.932). These findings indicate that, within the analyzed documentary sample, universities with higher levels of SDG institutionalization also tended to report stronger educational quality assurance indicators. However, the results should not be interpreted causally because the study is correlational and because some governance, planning, impact, and monitoring dimensions may be conceptually proximate across the two indices. The study contributes to the literature by proposing a transparent empirical framework for analyzing the association between sustainability governance and educational quality assurance in Latin American higher education.