Changing the European map

Opportunities for postgraduate students since the Bologna declaration.... An agreement struck between 33 European countries in 1999 is having a remarkable impact on the choice of European and other students for masters study. Tim Rogers, co-editor, Top Grad School Guide, and Thijs van Vugt of Tilburg University examine the implications.
Since the signing of the Bologna Declaration in 1999, efforts by a range of European agencies have now resulted in the establishment of a ‘European Higher Education Area’ – a single geographic space that stretches from Galway to Vladivostock. Opening up such a vast area presents a unique opportunity for students at undergraduate and postgraduate levels to travel more freely and gain a hugely diverse educational experience resulting in a transportable and internationally recognised qualification at the end of their studies. Never before have the education systems of so many different European countries been made accessible and interchangeable for the benefit of the individual student.
So what actually is the Bologna Declaration and how will it affect students seeking postgraduate opportunities in Europe?
Signed in June 1999, initially by 33 countries and now a further 15, Bologna sets out nine objectives for universitylevel education in the European Higher Education Area. A number of the objectives are largely bureaucratic and directly related to the improvement of educational provision and administration within institutions in the Education Area, but four key points are directly relevant to those students seeking postgraduate qualifications in Europe:
The adoption of easily readable and comparable degrees in order to promote employability and the international competitiveness of the European higher education system.
A standardised structure for the duration of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes will be implemented allowing all students to study for a minimum of three years at the undergraduate level and one year at the postgraduate level. Students will benefit from both a consistent structure of programmes across the entire Area and a greater understanding by employers as to the value and content of qualification obtained.
The establishment of a credit system as a proper means of promoting widespread student mobility.
Student mobility within Europe is by no means a new phenomenon. The ERASMUS and SOCRATES programmes have allowed over a million students the opportunity to spend a period of study in another European country. A widespread credit system, however, will facilitate the movement of students from institution to institution and between countries, because the content of academic programmes will be universally graded and accepted in any of the education systems.
The promotion of European dimensions in higher education with regards to inter-institutional cooperation, mobility schemes and integrated programmes of study, training and research.
As bureaucratic hurdles continue to be removed, students will soon have unprecedented access to structured teaching and research opportunities in a range of European countries. Institutional partnerships are becoming much more structured, allowing defined period of studies in two or more universities in different countries leading to the award of a joint postgraduate qualification. Amongst other benefits, access to different areas of academic expertise and teaching and research methods encourages improved standards in postgraduate education.
Promoting the attractiveness of the European Higher Education Area.
Information on postgraduate programmes is readily available for many countries – particularly those located in Australia, the UK and the USA. Making information more readily available on both Bologna and the individual systems of education that go to make up the European Higher Education Area allows students a greater choice on where they might want to study their postgraduate qualification.
By making the structure and organisation of European higher education clearer, postgraduate opportunities throughout the region are likely to become much more attractive to international students. Universities in countries as diverse as France and Russia, by implementing Bologna, enter the global marketplace like never before. Students will find themselves in the new position of weighing up the benefits of similar programmes in numerous countries without the previously immovable impediments of language and recognition. On the other side of the coin and for the first time, hundreds of institutions will begin to actively compete for postgraduate students, ensuring that their programmes are attractive, well organised, focused and of a good academic standard in order to ‘capture’ the best students. The overall effect of this ? Academic standards throughout Europe will be driven upwards benefiting all those involved.
The European Masters Programme in International Humanitarian Assistance stands as a testament to the enormous benefits Bologna offers to students from all over the world. Offered in seven institutions across Europe, the degree promotes both a multidisciplinary and a comparative approach to the area of aid and relief, allowing the student a wide choice of both course and country resulting in a postgraduate qualification that is entirely tailored to their individual area of interest. Institutions in Ireland, Belgium, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden and The Netherlands support the programme, lending a uniquely diverse air to the academic development of its enrolled students.
The Netherlands has been amongst the first countries to embrace Bologna. Universities like Tilburg, Leiden and Groningen have all offered undergraduate programmes of three years duration since 2002 and will be making one-year masters degrees available next year. Moreover, Bologna has facilitated the introduction of programmes taught in English. Ten out of the 13 institutions in the country currently offer more than half of their postgraduate programmes exclusively in English with six offering close to all of their degrees in English, making the education system second to the UK in Europe for the number of courses taught in English. The effects are clear – more international students chose The Netherlands as their destination for study in 2003 than ever before.
By making the structure and organisation of European higher education clearer, postgraduate opportunities throughout the region are likely to become much more attractive to international students. As in The Netherlands, one fundamental benefit of Bologna for international students will be the teaching of postgraduate programmes in English. Like it or not, most potential postgraduate students want to continue their education in English and excellent education systems throughout Europe have often struggled to recruit good numbers of international students due to the predominance of local language courses. Now, however, prestigious universities across the likes of Germany, Italy, Spain and France are presenting Bologna-structured programmes based on their various areas of academic expertise in English – opening up opportunities for international students to pursue degrees in countries that have never before hosted anything other than local students.Whilst in the short-term some tensions exist concerning academic standards being eroded in the switch to English language teaching, there is no doubt that long-term benefits will rule the day – the internationalisation of the curriculum and student body will drive the academic experience to new heights.
By making the structure and organisation of European higher education clearer, postgraduate opportunities throughout the region are likely to become much more attractive to international students. Maite Viudes de Velasco, Head of the International Unit at Barcelona’s Universitat Pompeu Fabra, believes Bologna will encourage her university to be more market-orientated and provide a better academic service to international students. "We really think that Bologna will open a strong competition among European universities trying to recruit the best students for their postgraduate programmes. Student mobility from all over the world will be much higher in the region and therefore if our University is not able to offer excellent and competitive programmes at that level we risk becoming a 'bachelors only' university." Like many other European universities, Universitat Pompeu Fabra will focus the majority of its efforts in the postgraduate arena. By adopting English as the language of teaching, many new masters programmes will be attractive to international students like never before. Maite sees this as being particularly important: “Changes in our teaching method will encourage us to open new markets, like Asia and East Europe, and reinforce our traditional markets in Latin American.We will be trying to attract toplevel students for all of our programmes.”
While some governments and their individual academic institutions have been slow in implementing the changes demanded by Bologna, the overall affect of the Accord can only benefit the postgraduate student looking for a taught or research programme. In a world already full of choice, opening up more European systems of education and their individual degrees to students looking to study internationally is a welcome addition to the continuing internationalisation of postgraduate education. Having more global citizens studying in Europe can only benefit all of us.