European universities project their own images

A strategy for improving the attractiveness of Europe as a destination for foreign students and scholars was adopted last month by the 46 governments involved in the Bologna process of higher education reform.

While this will result in a concerted effort to raise awareness about the harmonisation of European higher education, promoting Europe as a destination of study will be left largely to the national level, mainly to the universities themselves.

The universities are pleased to have this role, which they see as a natural extension of their long tradition of international co-operation. But it also reflects the difficulty of finding common ground between the national positions.

"It’s quite an achievement for 46 countries as different as those in the Bologna process to accept that they do have a strategy towards the rest of the world," observes Lesley Wilson, secretary-general of the European University Association, who attended the meeting. "For some national governments, which are perhaps less involved in European initiatives, it was difficult for them to see precisely where they would move forward other than in the very basic areas of information provision and recognition."

These are the two headline areas of the strategy. The idea of a coherent European higher education area (EHEA), the goal of the Bologna process, is considered to be an important selling-point for Europe in attracting students from overseas and there will be a push to improve the information explaining how it works to the rest of the world. Meanwhile efforts will be made to improve recognition within Europe of qualifications from overseas, making it easier for students to come here and study.

Beyond this the strategy is based on the idea that if harmonisation takes its course, then efforts to promote universities on a national basis will automatically advance the European brand as a whole. To this end all Bologna countries are expected to designate an organisation to co-ordinate international promotion of their higher education systems and institutions. The strategy also contains a more general call for strengthened co-operation with non-European nations, in particular in the developing world, and a more intense dialogue on policy development in higher education.

Early drafts contained a list of possible future actions for advancing the strategy’s aims, but this was dropped from the document adopted by ministers. Nevertheless, the final text still encourages those involved in the Bologna process to take these actions forward if they think it appropriate. Some of the more ambitious ideas, such as the development of a European higher education portal on the web or a network of ‘Bologna promoters’ and European education advisers around the world, may still go ahead if they find a globally minded sponsor.

Among the ministers’ other decisions, the endorsement of a register of quality assurance agencies is seen as particularly significant, both for what it will do and because it is the first time the Bologna process has given rise to a legal entity.

The register has been developed by the organisations representing Europe’s universities, students and national quality assurance agencies. It will list bodies providing quality assurance for higher education institutions or courses that meet the standards set down under the Bologna process.

As well as the national agencies, it will be open to organisations working in specific disciplines, such as business education, or from outside Europe which wish to operate here. "It will therefore enhance confidence in higher education in the EHEA and beyond and facilitate the mutual recognition of quality assurance and accreditation decisions," ministers said. The register will be voluntary, self-financing and independent. The aim is to establish its small secretariat in Brussels, a process that is likely to take around a year.

Taking stock of progress towards their 2010 goal of creating the EHEA, ministers pronounced themselves happy with progress, although they acknowledged that implementing the reforms still represents a considerable task. Between now and the next meeting, in 2009, they called for more work to be carried out on recognition for students’ prior learning, their employability on leaving higher education and the integration of doctoral studies in the Bologna process.

Meanwhile a network of national experts is to be set up to share information and help to identify and overcome obstacles to the portability of grants and loans between countries. There is also to be a drive to collect more and better data on student and staff mobility and the equality of access to higher education. Finally, work is to begin on what should happen to the Bologna process after 2010.

• Ian Mundell is a freelance journalist based in Brussels.

A strategy for improving the attractiveness of Europe as a destination for foreign students and scholars was adopted last month by the 46 governments involved in the Bologna process of higher education reform.