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Europe, tuition fees and Bologna: the changing face of German higher Education
The recent conference of the European Association for International Education, which brought together 2,000 educators from more than 50 countries, had as its theme Internationalising higher education: a priority for the enlarged Europe. At a time when more countries around Europe take organisational steps to transform their higher educational provision, through the overhaul of lengthy degree programmes to a common Europe-wide undergraduate and postgraduate structure; and the necessary legislative steps to implement tuition fee regimes for home grown and international students, the conference might have taken the alternative title, The changing face of European Higher Education.
Nowhere is higher education in a greater state of flux than in Germany. Despite 230,900 students graduating from German institutions of higher education in 2004, a 6% increase on the previous year, the university sector is as close to crisis point than it has ever been before. The average time for those completing their first degree was six years at universities and four and a half years at technical institutions, at a time when those graduating UK institutions complete in half the time and enter the labour market at a much younger age. Whereas the average age for UK graduates is between 21 and 22, their German counterparts are closer to 28. Tough decisions face German universities to make themselves more competitive and relevant to one of Europe’s giant, but currently stagnating economies.
"Whereas the average age for UK graduates is between 21 and 22, their German counterparts are closer to 28. Tough decisions face German universities to make themselves more competitive and relevant to one of Europe’s giant, but currently stagnating economies."
Demands for institutions to consider the introduction of market rate tuition fees, combined with the effects of the 1998 Bologna Declaration, indicate that this could be a moment of great change in German higher education. Peter Gaethgens, president of the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK), views the tuition fee debate as particularly central to the reform of German universities. At a time when many universities require increased levels of state funding where there is little budget, tuition fee income represents an opportunity to upgrade ailing facilities, “the prohibition of fees was a competitive disadvantage. We urgently need to improve the quality of our teaching and fees allow us to do this.”
Since the signing of the Bologna Declaration in 1999, efforts by a range of European agencies have now resulted in the establishment of a ‘European Higher Education Area’ – a single geographic space that stretches from Galway to Vladivostock. Opening up such a vast area presents a unique opportunity for students at undergraduate and postgraduate levels to travel more freely and gain a hugely diverse educational experience resulting in a transportable and internationally recognised qualification at the end of their studies – either undergraduate or graduate. Never before have the education systems of so many different European countries been made accessible and interchangeable for the benefit of the individual student.
Central to the changes related to Bologna is the resolution that all signatories should adopt a higher education system based on easily readable and comparable degrees in order to promote employability and the international competitiveness of the European higher education system. In short, the old system of lengthy German bachelors degrees and academic and professional postgraduate qualifications will be replaced by a standardised structure for the duration of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and will be implemented allowing all students to study for a minimum of three years at the undergraduate level and one year at the postgraduate level. Students will benefit from both a consistent structure of programmes across the entire Area and a greater understanding by employers as to the value and content of qualification obtained. As awareness of Bologna grows amongst students, those institutions not offering the new style programmes are likely to lose out to those – in any European country – that are. How will this benefit Germany and German students? Put simply, the previous system of lengthy and incomprehensible qualifications will be replaced by a unified system, easily understood by locals and international students alike and potential employers. Moreover, at the postgraduate level German institutions will be able to offer the more commonly recognised masters degree, taught over one or two years, and compete in the global market for the best postgraduate students with UK, US and Australian universities.
