While the first level is the organizational effort of NAAC to arrange for third party institutional quality assessment, the role of the suggested partnership with state-level quality assurance bodies (State Level Quality Assurance Coordination Committee -SLQACC and Quality Assurance Cell - QAC or SQAC), is considered significant, both for spreading the awareness of quality assurance, as well achieving the desired coverage of accreditation of HEIs, in an organized and phased manner. Once there is such an initiative of the state Governments in partnership with NAAC, not only the institutions already accredited, but also those which are 'in train' for the A/A process of NAAC, can design, develop and implement appropriate internal quality assurance mechanisms, thereby complete the three-tier quality assurance pyramid as depicted in the following figure and as advocated by NAAC, during every assessment year.

The necessity of state level quality assurance bodies or government run agency to assess the quality of institutions imparting higher education in the state has been mooted at various levels of debates. Considering the inefficiency in evaluating the specificities of state institutions in terms of its socio-economic-environmental considerations by those agencies run at national level, an agency for assessment and accreditation of quality standards of state institutions especially those in the self financing private sector of the state.