Brussels, 31/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - The European Eurydice network has published a new study on the modernisation of higher education systems in 34 European countries. The European Commission's EUROPE 2020 Strategy and the reform agenda for higher education systems in European countries both aim to increase the numbers of students in higher education. European countries have set themselves a 40% target for the number of higher education graduates by 2020.
Based on the analysis of national policies and institutional practices in Europe, the Eurydice study illustrates many positive developments but also challenges. Thus (1) few countries have developed policy priorities, strategies, targets and measures to improve higher education access for currently under-represented groups; (2) monitoring systems suggest that significant progress still needs to be made in order to obtain a comprehensive insight into the situation in Europe; (3) many countries could consider developing systems to ensure recognition of prior learning to support all students, and in particular those who are disadvantaged; (4) although drop-out rates in higher education are unacceptably high in many countries, there are few national examples of clear strategies with measurable targets being developed to tackle this issue; (5) more flexible forms of higher education study are increasingly becoming possible, but while these systems can support widening participation, countries need to consider the impact of funding and support on students taking advantage of such possibilities; (6) employability is a high policy priority but, again, engagement in positive action varies between countries, and graduate surveys in particular could be better exploited; (7) irrespective of the approach and national measures taken in relation to employability, countries tend to ignore the potential impact on disadvantaged students. The monitoring systems containing social criteria for students could also be improved and data should be related to concrete policy goals, such as improving access and reducing dropout rates for students from disadvantaged backgrounds; (8) the widening participation agenda is not yet followed through by governments and higher education institutions as a coherent policy approach involving access, retention and employability. (Isabelle Lamberty)