Multibillion-Dollar Program Has Had Little Effect at German Universities, Report Says

By Aisha Labi. Eight years ago, Germany announced an effort unprecedented for the European nation: It would have its universities compete for several billion dollars in public funds to spur them to distinguish themselves on the national and world stage. Other countries took notice, with some attempting similar strategies to vault their universities into the upper echelons of global rankings.
Since then, the German government's so-called Excellence Initiative has injected $2.3-billion into some 40 universities. While the effort has received extensive praise, a recent report by the Social Science Research Center, in Berlin, raises key questions about the program, saying it has failed to create a more diverse higher-education sector and produced few lasting changes at universities.