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Comparing the structure of European Higher Education.
ETER analytical report now available on-line.
The European higher education sector is a very heterogeneous gathering of national systems. In a rough classification, systems can be divided into unitary systems, which are dominated by universities, and dual systems, where institutions outside the university sector, such as Fachhochschulen (Austria, Germany), Hogescholen (Netherlands), University colleges (Norway) or Polytechnics (Portugal), enrol a considerable share of students.
ETER data allow for the first time for a systematic and European-wide comparison in terms of the types of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) present in each system and their role for what concerns education and research. Existing classifications of European system in unitary vs. binary can therefore be refined and better grounded empirically (see Figure 1).
At the country level, results show that Universities of Applied Sciences are more widespread in Western (32% of all HEIs) and Northern European  (25%) than in Eastern European countries (3%). In countries with dual systems, a large share of education at the bachelor level can be found in institutions, which do not deliver doctoral degrees. In countries with unitary systems, doctorate-awarding institutions enroll the largest part of students. However, even among dual systems, the distribution of students is extremely heterogeneous. In Bulgaria for example, 97% of students are enrolled in universities, while in The Netherlands a high share of higher education is concentrated in UAS (61% of all enrolled students). In Latvia other institutions as academies and private, specialized higher education institutions enroll a larger share of students (34%) than universities and UAS.
At the institutional level, ETER data also display systematic differences between HEI types. On the one hand, universities have a clear mandate for research, while education is the main mission of universities of applied sciences and other institutions: 89% of universities in the ETER dataset are research active, which is also true for 72% of UAS and 33% of other institutions. On the other hand, Universities of applied sciences and other institutions are more likely to be specialized than universities, which are often delivering many subjects at the same time.
 
Figure 1. Classification of European Higher Education Systems.
Based on Kyvik, Svein. "Structural changes in higher education systems in Western Europe."
Higher education in Europe 29.3 (2004): 393-409. The size of the bubbles illustrates the distribution of students between HEI types.


Variables and methodological issues. The report covers EU-28 countries, EEA/EFTA countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland), candidate and potential candidate countries (Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey) and refer to year 2016/2017.
ETER divides HEIs in three main categories:
  • University: Universities have a largely academic orientation (without excluding some focus on applied research), they have the right to award the doctorate and can bear the full name of “University” (including variants like technological university, etc.).
  • Universities of applied sciences (UAS): These institutions are officially recognized as a part of higher education, though not as universities. Commonly these institutions have a focus on professional education and do not have the right to award doctoral degrees (exceptions are possible). In most cases, such institutions constitute a second sector of higher education with a distinct mission.
  • Other: All institutions that do not fit the description of universities or universities of applied science are categorized as “other”. This may apply to institutions like art academies, military schools, but also technological and professional schools in countries without a binary system (like the UK or France).
This distinction reflects well the situation in systems where the three sectors are clearly distinguished, while it might not fully represent the diversity of some complex systems, such as France. Therefore, this categorization is complemented in the report with more fine-grained information on types of national institutions available in ETER.
A strength of ETER is the possibility of combining this information with quantitative variables to characterize HEIs, specifically:
  • The number of enrolled students at ISCED levels 5 (diploma), 6 (bachelor), 7 (master) and 8 (PhD).
  • The breakdown of students at levels ISCED 5-7 among the ten Fields of Education and Training, as a measure of subject specialization.
  • A dummy variable identifying ‘research-active’ HEIs in the ETER database.
  • The number of academic staff, as a proxy for the size of the HEI.
  • The foundation year, in order to analyse the temporal dynamics of higher education systems.
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The opinions expressed in this message are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission
Copyright © European Tertiary Education Register, Università della Svizzera italiana,  Lugano, Switzerland.

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