Brussels, 11/09/2007 (Agence Europe) - Higher education in Europe is today undergoing extensive changes. The European higher education area, the ultimate goal of the Bologna process, should be fully established by 2010. Such changes are totally in keeping with revised Lisbon objectives to make Europe the most competitive and dynamic knowledge economy in the world. Such is the conclusion reached by the 2007 edition of the report “Key Data on Higher Education in Europe” published on Wednesday 12 September by Eurydice, the information network on education, under the aegis of the European Commission. The new edition presents the situation for the year 2005-2006 in Europe (the 27 member states, the three EFTA/EEA countries, and Turkey) and is based on the data gathered by Eurydice and the Eurostat Statistical Office. Not only does the report give detailed information on financing developments and participation in higher education as a whole, it also looks at the social dimension and student mobility, that the Commission would like to see developed. In this respect, the report shows that considerable effort has still to be made when it comes to international mobility. It highlights the different policies implemented by the various European countries depending on their social and economic context in order to face the common challenge linked to the social dimension of higher education. The main lines of the report are:
Financing. Higher education is largely organised and financed by the public sector. It embraces the largest proportion of students, over 70% in the EU27. The independent private sector is practically non-existent except in Cyprus, Poland, Portugal and Romania. Resources for academic staffing can vary from one to three: - on average there are about ten students per teacher in Slovakia, Finland, Sweden and Iceland, while student numbers rise to over 25 in Greece and Slovenia. The amount spent per student is generally lower in the countries where the number of students per teacher is higher, and vice versa. Four countries are an exception to this: Bulgaria, Lithuania and Slovakia which have fewer than 15 students per teacher and among the lowest expenditure per pupil; and the United Kingdom, which, despite 18 students per teacher, has among the highest expenditure per student.
Student participation. Access to full-time study for a first qualification can be considered free in about 12 countries. A contribution to the cost, or tuition fees, is requested in 14 countries. In most of them, the annual amounts vary from PPS (Purchasing Power Standard) €200 to €1000. 15 countries, on the other hand, seek to limit the duration of studies by imposing higher contributions in the case of extended study.
Financial aid. In most countries where private contributions exist, public authorities offer the possibility of exemption or reduction of fees, generally pro rata to the income earned by the student's parents. In some countries, financial assistance takes the form of grants and/or loans which are only kept in place for successful studies. The amounts of the loans are generally higher than grants and vary between €15090 and €4500 PPS per year, except in Denmark, Luxembourg and Austria where they are higher. Among the 22 countries that have reduced price housing for students, only seven (Bulgaria, Germany, France, Cyprus, Lithuania, Romania and Turkey) have fixed a maximum (between €61 and €338 PPS). There are very few places available in student accommodation and only 15% of the students on average have access except in Bulgaria (24%), and Hungary (22%). 18 countries extend financial support to the parents of students should the latter opt for further studies, in the form of family allowances and/or tax relief. Bulgaria, Spain, Malta, Romania, the United Kingdom and the Scandinavian countries do not extend any of their aid schemes, while the Netherlands and Ireland do so in special circumstances.
Mobility. Outside Community programmes, there are few students that carry out part or all of their studies in another European country (fewer than 2%). These are mainly male students at doctoral level. Cypriots (55%), Icelanders (15.5%) and nationals of Liechtenstein (34%) are the most mobile due to the fact that there are fewer academic possibilities in their countries. On the other hand, Spanish and Polish students (1.2% each) and British (0.6%) are less mobile. They are not spread out evenly in all countries and some countries (Belgium, Austria and the United Kingdom) take in far more. Nearly all countries provide aid to mobility but this is rarely granted without restrictions. Usually the condition set is that students must continue and complete the programme begun.
Doctorates. People holding doctorates are still a minority in society, generally speaking below 1% of the population aged 25-64. There is a predominance in the sciences and technologies (39% of doctorates) and high male predominance.
The above report is available on Eurydice site: http: //http://www.eurydice.org. (il)