Higher Education Briefing

The Bologna Process
The Bologna Process is an intergovernmental initiative which aims to create a European Higher Education Area (EHEA) by 2010 and to promote the European system of higher education worldwide. It now has 46 signatory countries and it is conducted outside the formal decision-making framework of the European Union. Decision-making within the Process rests on the consent of all the participating countries.

It was launched in 1999 when Ministers from 29 European countries, including the UK, met in Bologna and signed a declaration establishing what was necessary to create a EHEA by the end of the decade. The broad objectives of the Bologna Process became:

• to remove the obstacles to student mobility across Europe; to enhance the attractiveness of European higher education worldwide.
• to establish a common structure of higher education systems across Europ.
• for this common structure to be based on two main cycles, undergraduate and graduate.

By improving the quality of higher education and thus human resources across Europe, the Bologna Process aims to play a key role in contributing to the EU’s productivity and competitiveness.

Most countries do not currently fit the proposed framework, the UK does therefore any changes to its higher education system are likely to be minimal. In mainland Europe, five year plus first degrees are common, with those taking up to eight years not unheard of. This leads to many not completing their studies; many of these countries are now introducing bachelor-level qualifications. This situation is changing rapidly as the Bologna Process is implemented.

A possible disadvantage is that the master's degree will become the minimum qualification for a professional engineer, rather than the bachelor's degree, or vice versa. The agreements between professional bodies will require revaluation in some cases as qualifications change. Also under criticism are the costs and disruption involved in changing structures, which have previously been perceived to work to the benefit of educationalists and employers.

Since 1999 Ministers have met three times to assess progress towards the creation of the EHEA – in Prague in 2001, in Berlin in 2003 and in Bergen in 2005. The UK hosted the ministerial summit in London in 2007. The next summit will take place in Leuven and Louvain-la-Neuve in April 2009.

Following the success of the Bologna Process in higher education across Europe, the EU's Bruges-Copenhagen Process was launched to foster similar cooperation in vocational education and training.

The Erasmus programme
Main function: enables students to study abroad in participating states and receive recognition for that period of study.

The Erasmus programme addresses the teaching and learning needs of all those in formal higher education, including trans-national student placements in enterprise, and the institutions and organisations providing or facilitating such education and training.

Erasmus seeks to enhance the quality and reinforce the European dimension of higher education by encouraging transnational cooperation between universities, boosting European mobility and improving the transparency and full academic recognition of studies and qualifications throughout the Union.

Erasmus action is targeted at higher education institutions and their students and staff in all 27 Member States of the European Union, the three countries of the European Economic Area (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway), and Turkey.

Erasmus consists of many different activities; student and teacher exchanges, joint development of study programmes, networks between departments and faculties across Europe, language courses and the European credit transfer system (ECTS) which enables students to gain recognition for time spend studying abroad and makes it easy to compare qualifications across Europe.

• Currently there are 2199 higher education institutions in 31 countries are participating in Erasmus.
• Since its creation in 1987, 1.2 million students have benefited from an Erasmus study period abroad.
• The Erasmus budget for the year 2004 (latest available figure) is more than € 187.5 million.
• Overall responsibility for implementing Erasmus lies with the European Commission (Directorate-General Education and Culture)

Leonardo da Vinci Programme
The Leonardo da Vinci programme addresses the teaching and learning needs of all those in vocational education and training, including placement in enterprise of persons other than students, as well as the institutions and organisations providing or facilitating such education and training.