Bologna process

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The purpose of the Bologna process (or Bologna accords) is to create the European higher education area by making academic degree standards and quality assurance standards more comparable and compatible throughout Europe. It is named after the place it was proposed, the University of Bologna with the signing, in 1999, of the Bologna declaration by ministers of education from 29 European countries in the Italian city of Bologna. This was opened up to other countries, and further governmental meetings have been held in Prague (2001), Berlin (2003) and Bergen (2005); the next meeting will take place in London in Spring 2007.

Before the signing of the Bologna declaration, the Magna Carta Universitatum had been issued at a meeting of university rectors celebrating the 900th anniversary of the University of Bologna - and thus of European universities - in 1988. One year before the Bologna declaration, education ministers Claude Allegre (France), Jürgen Rüttgers (Germany), Luigi Berlinguer (Italy) and the Baroness Blackstone (UK) signed the Sorbonne declaration in Paris 1998, committing themselves to "harmonising the architecture of the European Higher Education system". French officials in particular therefore often refer to the La Sorbonne/Bologna process.

The Council of Europe and UNESCO have jointly issued the Lisbon recognition convention on recognition of academic qualifications as part of the process, which has been ratified by the majority of the countries party to the Bologna process.

Framework

The basic framework adopted is of three cycles of higher education qualification. As outlined in the Bergen Declaration^[1] of 2005, the cycles are defined in terms of qualifications and ECTS credits:

• 1st cycle: typically 180−240 ECTS credits, usually awarding a Bachelor's degree.
• 2nd cycle: typically 90−120 ECTS credits (a minimum of 60 on 2nd-cycle level). Usually awarding a Master's degree.
• 3rd cycle: Doctoral degree. No ECTS range given.

In most cases, these will take 3, 2, and 3 years respectively to complete. The actual naming of the degrees may vary from country to country.

These levels are closer to the current model in the UK and Ireland than that in most of Continental Europe, where the model often is based on the Magister or diploma. In any case, program length tends to vary from country to country, and less often between institutions within a country.

Effects

Most countries do not currently fit the framework – instead they have their own time-honoured systems. The process will have many knock-on effects such as bilateral agreements between countries and institutions which recognise each others' degrees. However, the process is now moving away from a strict convergence in terms of time spent on qualifications, towards a competency-based system. The system will have an undergraduate and postgraduate division, with the bachelor degree in the former and the master and doctoral in the latter.

In mainland Europe five year plus first degrees are common, with some taking up to eight years not being 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.

Austria

See also: Education in Austria

The situation in Austria is similar to that in Germany: the traditional "lowest" degrees are the Magister and the Diplom-Ingenieur, which can be obtained after at least four to six years of study. However, beginning with the year 2000, many curricula have already been converted into separate bachelor (Bakkalaureat) and master (Magisterstudium) programmes, with nominal durations of six semesters (three years) and three to four semesters (1.5–2 years), respectively. With few exceptions (e.g. studies of human and veterinary medicine), all university curricula will be remodeled to this format within the next years.

Enrollment in a doctoral programme generally requires a master's level degree in a related field. The nominal duration of doctoral programmes is two or three years, but the actual time to graduation varies considerably and is generally longer than that.

Belgium

See also: Education in Belgium

In Belgium the candidate's degree took 2 years (in some cases 3), with an additional 2 to 3 years (in some cases 4) to obtain a license. This has been replaced by an academic bachelor's degree of 3 years and a master's degree of 1 or 2 years (in some case 3 or even 4). The professional (non-academic) graduate degree has been replaced by a professional bachelor degree of 3 years.

Croatia

In Croatia, the implementation of the Bologna process started in the school (academic) year 2005/2006. The existing academic degree granted with a diploma was transformed into a baccalaureus and the programmes were shortened from 4 years to around 3. The degree granted with a magisterij was mostly eliminated or transformed into a master's degree, achieved after 5 years of study. Medicine and medicine related studies still last 6 or 5 years. The degree of doktorat (PhD, dr.sc.) remains but it can be received after 3 more years, i.e. 8 years in total.

e.g. - 3 years (Bachelor or Baccalaureus/prvostupnik) + 2 years (Master or magistar) + 3 years (doctor of science or doktor znanosti).

Denmark

See also: Education in Denmark

Before the adaptation to international standards, the lowest degree that could be obtained at universities in Denmark were equivalent to a Master degree (Kandidat). Officially, Bachelor's degrees has been introduced after 3 years university studies, but very few choose to stop at this stage, without the additional 2 years required to obtain a Masters degree. Various medium length (2-4 years) professional degrees have been adapted so they now have status as professional bachelor's degrees (3½ years), and opposed to academic bachelor's degrees they are considered to be "valid" degrees.

Estonia

See also: Education in Estonia

Since 2002 in Estonia all honours bachelors degree are three years (before 2001 enrollment 4 years), master's 2 and doctorates 4. The masters degree is always a postgraduate degree. Basically, there is no taught or achieved through research master's gradation.

Finland

See also: Education in Finland

The distinction between vocational and academic tertiary education is not going to be abolished. However, several legal requirements are going to be eased, so that the vocationally educated may enter academic studies and qualify for work previously only available, de jure, for the academically educated.

Several fields had "customized" degree systems that omitted several degrees. For example, in engineering, the academic line only had a Master's level degree (160 weeks of studies) with the additional requirement of an extra thesis of 20 weeks. There was no Bachelor's degree, and no legal distinction between the lower and higher levels of studies. Because of the process, the degree is artificially split into Bachelor's and Master's degrees, and the requirements are eased so that the 20-week thesis is included in the number of credits, not an additional requirement, which effectively removes half a year of study requirements. However, the vocational engineering degree is not considered an equivalent of the new Bachelor's degree, and the two degrees are still kept separate.

France

See also: Education in France

In contrast to the Anglo-Saxon system, the French academic system does not use undergraduate education: each student chooses a particular field of studies for his matriculation. The French term for academic degree is diplôme universitaire.

The first degree, called the baccalauréat, ends the secondary education and allows students to enter University. It is then followed by the Diplôme d'études universitaires générales or DEUG, which takes two years, followed by a third year, the licence. The licence is roughly the equivalent of the UK B. A.. After the licence, students can choose to enter the maîtrise, which was a one-year research degree. The maîtrise may be followed by either a work-oriented one-year degree, the diplôme d'études supérieures spécialisées or DESS, or a one-year research degree, the Diplôme d'études approfondies or DEA. The DEA is one year of preparation for a doctorate, and can be considered equivalent to a M. Phil.. After DEA, students may pursue a doctorat, which takes at least three years.

The baccalauréat and the doctorat status are unchanged in the new Bologna system, but the DEUG and the old licence are merged in a new, three-year, licence, as the maîtrise, the DESS and the DEA in a master of two years, which can be work-oriented (master professionnel) or research-oriented (master recherche).

Germany

See also: Education in Germany

In Germany the process is already underway, many subjects of the natural sciences, humanities and social studies can be completed with a BA or BSc at an increasing number of universities. The Bachelor's degree in engineering can be a BSc or a BEng, with the BEng being awarded by Fachhochschulen/Polytechnics and the BSc by Universities and Engineering schools. The new postgraduate Master's degrees (MA, MSc and MEng) are seen as equivalent to the old five year plus first degrees Diplom (one subject, can be in all sciences) and Magister Artium (interdisciplinary, only in social and cultural sciences). Bachelor's degrees are seen as roughly equivalent to the old four year first degree Diplom (FH) from a Fachhochschule (or University of Applied Sciences). Bearing in mind that the Fachhochschule level is not comparable to the UK honours degree or to the French DEA (see below) because although the fourth year of the FH is used for a research project, it is a practical project, done on-the-job. Furthermore, the FH is outside the university system. German universities are research universities and include courses in all traditional departments through the Doktorat level, whereas the FH are teaching colleges for technical, business and applied social science subjects which have offered only one degree, the Diplom (FH). The number of old degree courses is declining and they will be replaced by the new degrees up until 2005 in some states or up until 2010 in all other German states.

Hungary

See also: Education in Hungary

In Hungary, the Bologna system will be applied to those starting their university education in September 2006. From this year, only 108 majors will be available for selection (instead of more than 400 in the previous year), out of which six are exempt from the Bachelor vs. Master division: lawyer, physician, dentist, veterinary, pharmacist and architect.

According to the online poll of Felvi.hu, the National Tertiary Education Information Centre, 65% think it was unnecessary to adopt this system [1] (query date: 24-FEB-06). Its unpopularity first of all comes from the fact that the new system provides much less guarantee for students to get a practically useful Master's degree because many of them will be dismissed after the three years' Bachelor education. It's also not popular that students are supposed to take up more unrelated subjects in the first three years at several majors, due to the much more reduced number of majors.

Source in Hungarian: [2]

Italy

See also: Education in Italy

Italy seems to fit the framework since the adoption, in 1999, of the so-called 3+2 system.

The first degree is the Laurea triennale that can be achieved after 3 years of studies.

Students can then complete 2 more years of specialization which lead to the Laurea Magistrale. The "Laurea Magistrale" corresponds to a Master's Degree, and gives acces to 3rd cycle programmes (doctorates). It should not be confused with Italian "Masters", less popular 2nd cycle degrees which do not give access to doctorates: "First Level Masters" can be pursued by those who hold at least a "Laurea triennale" degree, while "Second Level Masters" require a "Laurea Magistrale" before entry.

Exceptions to the 3+2 system are the unique cycle degrees: medicine (6 years, plus a postgraduate specialization), pharmacy, veterinary science, architecture and, in some universities, law (5 years).

The dottorato di ricerca (doctorate) requires 3 or 4 years of work.

Ireland

See also: Education in Ireland

In Ireland most honours bachelors degree are three to four years with master's and doctorates being broadly similar to the UK. Ordinary bachelors degrees are also first cycle qualifications. The masters degree is always a postgraduate degree, either taught or achieved through research. The generic outcomes for Irish degrees are spelled out in the National Framework of Qualifications published in 2003.

The Netherlands

See also: Education in the Netherlands

Bachelor (3 years) / Master (1 or 2 years) system. The old "HBO" (polytechnical education) has also moved to the Bachelor (generally 4 years) / Master (1 year) system, which has caused a lot of confusion, especially as to whether students can move from the polytechnical level to university level.

Previously there used to be a "propaedeuse" (1 year) followed by three or four years of further studies to obtain a "doctoraal" degree (drs); not te be confused with the doctoral degree (dr) which furthermore requires the writing of a dissertation and may be comparable to a PhD.

Poland

See also: Education in Poland

Education in Poland starts at the age of 7 with 6 years of primary school (Polish Szkoła podstawowa). Next is the lower secondary level consists of 3 years in gymnasium (Gimnazjum), starting at age 13/14, ends with an exam). This is followed by upper secondary level, which has several alternatives, the most common being the 3 years in High School (Liceum) or 4 years Technikum. Both end with a maturity examination (matura, roughly equivalent to British A-levels examination), and may be followed by several forms of upper education. The Polish equivalent of an Associate's degree or a Bachelor's of Arts is a licencjat. The Polish equivalent of a Bachelor's of Science degree (given by a University) is licencjat, while in a Technical University one gets a title of Engineer (inżynier). Magister is the Polish equivalent of Master's degree. Doktor is the Polish equivalent of a Doctoral degree.

Portugal

See also: Higher education in Portugal

Due to Europe's Bologna Process, since 2006 new licenciatura (licentiate) degrees were organized at both university and polytechnic institutions of Portugal - they are now a first study cycle (3 years) offered by any institution of higher education in Portugal, and are the only required condition for any applicant who wish to undertake the second study cycle which awards a master's degree. Some new Bologna courses are integrated 5-year programmes awarding a single master's degree, a common practice in medicine and some other fields taught at the universities. The process was not a mere formal administrative change because the curricula and the teaching methods of the new Bologna licenciatura and master's degrees programmes are totally new and innovative, making academic degree standards and quality assurance standards more comparable and compatible in Portugal and throughout Europe. Before the Bologna's changes, the licenciatura diploma (4 to 6-year course) was required for those applicants who wished to undertake master's and/or doctorate programs but admission were only allowed for licenciatura degree owners with grades over 13.5 (out of 20).

Russia and Ukraine

See also: Education in Russia and Education in Ukraine

The Russian and Ukrainian higher education frameworks are basically incompatible with the process: the generic "lowest" degree in all universities since Soviet era is the Specialist which can be obtained after completing 5-6 years of studies. Since the mid-90s, many universities have introduced limited educational programmes allowing students to graduate with a Bachelor's degree (4 years) and then earn a Master's degree (another 1-2 years) while preserving the old 5-year scheme. It's worth mentioning that even though Specialists are eligible for post-graduate courses (Aspirantura) as well as Masters are, Bachelors are not. Specialist degree is now being discontinued in universities that take part in Bologna process, so new students don't have this option.

Serbia

In Serbia, the implementation of the Bologna process started in some schools in 2005, and in some it will start in 2006. The existing academic degree granted with a diploma was transformed into a baccalaureus and the programmes were shortened from 4 years to around 3. The degree granted with a magistratura was mostly eliminated or transformed into a master's degree, achieved after 5 years of study. Medicine and medicine related studies still last 6 or 5 years. The degree of doktorat (PhD) remains.

Currently, there is a lot of turmoil in the Serbian education system. The implementation of the Bologna process spawned a lot of problems, with one of the major problems being the introduction of very high tuition fees in public universities under the cover of the process. The fees, which are in some cases extremely high, have caused unrest among the student population. Currently, there isn't a single benefit of the Bologna process in Serbia^{[citation needed]}. Because Serbia is not a part of the ERASMUS program, the students find it hard or even impossible to transfer between the European universities, thus have no use of their ECTS credits.

Spain

See also: Education in Spain

The situation in Spain is almost identical to that in Italy. Today, the lowest degree is the "Diplomatura" (Faculties) or "Ingeniería Técnica" (Technical Schools), that can be achieved after 3 years of studies, and then there are 2 more years, obtaining the "Licenciatura" or "Ingeniería" degree. In some cases (for example Physics, Chemistry, History ...), the lower degree does not exist, having only a "Licenciatura" of 4-5 years. The postgraduate courses (Doctorado) last 3 or 4 years. Only those who have the "Licenciatura" or "Ingeniería" degree are eligible for a doctorate.

Sweden

See also: Education in Sweden

A bill proposing new regulations in the field of Higher Education was presented to Parliament in 2005. The new system will come in to force in July 2007. In the new system of degrees there will be two degrees of different lengths in each cycle. First cycle : Högskoleexamen 2 years, Kandidatexamen 3 years; Second cycle: Magisterexamen 1 year, Masterexamen 2 years; third cycle Licentiatexamen 2 years, Doktorsexamen 4 years. All degrees and qualifications are described using learning outcomes.

A new system of credits will be introduced compatible with the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System, ECTS.

Switzerland

See also: Education in Switzerland

United Kingdom

See also: Education in the United Kingdom

The UK starts with either a three or four year ("Honours") Bachelor's degree. Four-year degrees are becoming more popular and some are equivalent to a three-year degree plus a Master's, or a three-year degree plus a year in employment.

A Master's degree generally takes a full year to complete. The academic year for Master's programmes is usually of twelve months, not nine months as for undergraduate degrees. In some case, especially in the case of an MPhil, it may take two years.

Scotland

Scottish universities generally have courses a year longer than their counterparts elsewhere in the UK, though it is often possible for students to take a more advanced specialised exams and join the courses at the second year. One unique aspect is that the Ancient Universities of Scotland issue a Master of Arts as the first degree in humanities.

Criticism

The Bologna process is not without its critics and detractors.

For instance some of the criticism of the process is the change that will be involved. In some countries, such as Ireland,^[2] the pre-Bologna structure is nearer to the United States and this is a perceived benefit. Also the costs and disruption involved in changing structures which previously have been perceived to work to the benefit of educationalists and employers is questioned. Other perceived disadvantages are 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.

Furthermore, the process doesn't take into account the difference of vocational and academic education in the German-originated system. The conflation of the two types of degrees can be counterproductive, since the vocational three-year degrees are not intended for further study.

Signatories

Current signatories and thus members of the "European higher education area" are: Albania - Andorra - Armenia -Austria - Azerbaijan - Belgium (Flanders & French Community) - Bosnia and Herzegovina - Bulgaria - Croatia - Cyprus - Czech Republic - Denmark - Estonia - Finland - France - Georgia - Germany - Greece - Holy See - Hungary - Iceland - Ireland - Italy - Latvia - Lithuania - Luxembourg - Malta - Montenegro - Moldova - Netherlands - Norway - Poland - Portugal - Macedonia - Romania - Russia - Serbia - Slovakia - Slovenia - Spain - Sweden - Switzerland - Turkey - Ukraine - UK

The following organisations are also part of the follow-up of the process: ESIB, EUA, EURASHE, EI, ENQA, UNICE as well as the Council of Europe, the European Commission and UNESCO.

Other networks at this level include ENQA as well as ENIC, NARIC and EURODOC.

References

1. ^ The framework of qualifications for the European Higher Education Area
2. ^ The Bologna Declaration and Engineering Education in Ireland, The Institution of Engineers of Ireland, Dublin, 2001

Bibliography

• Kertz-Welzel, Alexandra. "Motivation zur Weiterbildung: Master- und Bachelor-Abschlüsse in den USA." Diskussion Musikpädagogik 29 (2006): 33-35.

See also

• European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System
• Education by country

External links

• Bologna Process Secretariat 2005-2007
• National Unions of Students in Europe - Bologna Process Committee
• ENIC-NARIC network aims at improving academic recognition of diplomas and periods of study in Europe
• The internationalisation of the German education system - by the German Education Server
• "The Bologna Process from a Norwegian Perspective" Bologna Bergen Summit 2005. Norwegian perspective on the ten lines of action for the Bologna Process
• "Bologna for Pedestrians" Council of Europe
• "Bologna Process" Admissions Officers' and Credential Evaluators' (ACE) professional section of the EAIE - European Association for International Education. Includes updates on implementation from individual countries.
• "Bologna Process" European University Association. Analysis of Bologna Process, trends in education and background information with numerous reports in pdf format to download.
• "Guide to the Bologna Process" The UK Higher Education Europe Unit. UK perspective the ten lines of action for the Bologna Process.
• "The Bologna Process and Australia: Next steps" Australian Department of Science, Education and Training. Link to pdf file for full report on DEST analysis of Bologna Process and impact on Australian education.