The European Higher Education Area (EHEA) was launched in March 2010, during the Budapest-Vienna Ministerial Conference, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the
Bologna Process
file:Bologna-Prozess-Logo.svg, 96px, alt=Logo with stylized stars, Logo
file:Bologna zone.svg, alt=Map of Europe, encompassing the entire Bologna zone, 256px, Bologna zone
The Bologna Process is a series of ministerial meetings and agreements b ...
.
As the main objective of the Bologna Process since its inception in 1999, the EHEA was meant to ensure more comparable, compatible and coherent higher education systems in Europe. Between 1999 and 2010, all the efforts of the Bologna Process members were targeted to creating the European Higher Education Area, which became reality with the Budapest-Vienna Declaration of March 2010. In order to join the EHEA, a country must sign and ratify the
European Cultural Convention treaty.
Denmark was the first country outside the UK and the US to introduce the 3+2+3 system.
General objectives
The key objectives are promoting the mobility of students and staff, the employability of
graduates and the European dimension in higher education. Coping with the diversity of their national systems, the EHEA members agree to adopt:
* A common system of easily readable and comparable diplomas;
* A framework based mainly on three main cycles:
bachelor,
master,
doctorate
A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...
;
* A common
quality assurance
Quality assurance (QA) is the term used in both manufacturing and service industries to describe the systematic efforts taken to assure that the product(s) delivered to customer(s) meet with the contractual and other agreed upon performance, design ...
system.
The main actions of the European Area
Student mobility and mutual recognition of diplomas
Student mobility implies a coherent system of studies and diplomas:
* The
ECTS credit system facilitates the recognition of study periods between EHEA institutions. An academic year normally corresponds to the validation of 60 credits; one credit needs approximately 25 to 30 hours of student work (courses, projects, personal work, etc.).
* The
European Qualifications Framework defines 3 main cycles (first cycle, second cycle and third cycle). Each cycle is defined by the number of credits required and the description of the
learning outcomes and skills expected for each graduate:
** The first cycle (180 to 240 ECTS credits), generally leading to the bachelor's degree.
** The second cycle (60 to 120 ECTS credits), generally leading to the master's degree.
** The 3rd cycle, leading to the Doctorate degree.
* In 2018, a short cycle was introduced (90 to 120 ECTS).
Quality assurance
The European area does not aim to standardize national higher education systems, but to make them more readable and to build mutual trust between higher education institutions. The mutual recognition of diplomas is based, not on the comparison of the content of the programs, but on the definition and validation of the targeted learning outcomes. From its origin, the need for a common quality assurance system arose in the EHEA. The
European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education
The European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA), formerly the European Network for Quality Assurance in Higher Education, was established to represent quality assurance and accreditation
Accreditation is the independent ...
(ENQA) was responsible for defining the standards and guidelines, which are broken down into 3 chapters:
* Internal quality assurance in institutions: each institution must have a policy and an internal organization of self-assessment and continuous improvement, implemented with all its stakeholders (students, staff, former graduates and representatives of society and employers).
* External quality assurance: institutions must submit their organization and results to external and independent evaluations (including accreditation agencies).
* Quality assurance of accreditation agencies: the agencies must act in full autonomy (in particular from public or private powers) to evaluate the institutions and their training, and to bring the results to the attention of the public.
European programs
Erasmus
Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus ( ; ; 28 October c. 1466 – 12 July 1536), commonly known in English as Erasmus of Rotterdam or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic priest and Catholic theology, theologian, educationalist ...
and
Erasmus Mundus programs
The Erasmus and Erasmus Mundus Programs are initiatives of the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
to promote the mobility of students and teachers. They therefore primarily concern the 27 countries of the Union, with which other countries such as Norway, Iceland and Turkey have joined forces. Strictly speaking, these are not programs of the European Area, but they largely contribute to its development.
European Universities initiative
In 2017, the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
launched the European Universities initiative through the
Erasmus+ programme, with "the ambition to support at least 60 European Universities alliances involving more than 500 higher education institutions by mid-2024". The first 19 alliances were launched in 2019, followed by 24 in a second round in 2020, and further rounds in 2022, 2023 and 2024, leading to 64 European Universities alliances covering over 560 institutions across 35 European countries, including all 27 EU member states, .
A further nine proposed alliances were awarded the 'seal of excellence' quality label but not funded through Erasmus+. European University alliances also include over 2,000 associate partners, which can include higher education institutions from other (non-Erasmus+) EHEA countries as well as non-educational partners such as private sector companies and public authorities.
[
In 2023, the European Commission announced over €3 million in funding to support universities from Ukraine and the western Balkans joining European Universities alliances as associate members, leading to almost 30 Ukrainian universities joining alliances in that round. However, the UK and Switzerland, which do not participate in Erasmus+, have only limited involvement as universities from those countries have to pay a membership fee and are limited to being associated partners.
]
Members
Participating member states of the European Higher Education Area are:
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Countries eligible to join:
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Public international law standards
* Lisbon Recognition Convention
The Lisbon Recognition Convention, officially the Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education in the European Region, is an international convention of the Council of Europe elaborated together with the UNESCO. This ...
(Lisbon, 4 July 1997)
* Article 2 of the first Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights
The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is a Supranational law, supranational convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Draf ...
(Paris, 20 March 1952)
* Article 10 of the European Social Charter
The European Social Charter is a Council of Europe treaty which was opened for signature on 18 October 1961 and initially became effective on 26 February 1965, after West Germany had become the fifth of the 13 signing nations to ratify it. By ...
(revised, Strasbourg, 3 May 1996)
Documents
Main documents
Colleges and universities in Europe
* League of European Research Universities
Lists of colleges and universities in Europe
Note
The two first sections are widely extracted from the French Wikipedia page Espace Européen de l'Enseignement Supérieur, with it
list of authors
See also
* Directorate-General for Education and Culture
* Bologna process
file:Bologna-Prozess-Logo.svg, 96px, alt=Logo with stylized stars, Logo
file:Bologna zone.svg, alt=Map of Europe, encompassing the entire Bologna zone, 256px, Bologna zone
The Bologna Process is a series of ministerial meetings and agreements b ...
* Diploma Supplement
* Erasmus programme
* European Credit Transfer System (ECTS)
* Homologation
Homologation (Greek language, Greek ''homologeo'', ὁμολογέω, "to agree") is the granting of approval by an official authority. This may be a court of law, a government department, or an academic or professional body, any of which would n ...
* :Lists of universities and colleges
* European Research Area
The European Research Area (ERA) is a system of scientific research programs integrating the scientific resources of the European Union (EU). Since its inception in 2000, the structure has been concentrated on European cooperation in the fields of ...
(ERA)
* TEMPUS
* Lisbon Recognition Convention
The Lisbon Recognition Convention, officially the Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education in the European Region, is an international convention of the Council of Europe elaborated together with the UNESCO. This ...
References
External links
The Official European Higher Education Area website 2010-2020
The Bologna Declaration
European Cultural Convention
(Paris, 19 December 1954)
EUNIS (European University Information Systems)
{{Authority control
Higher education organisations based in Europe
Lists of universities and colleges in Europe