Bologna process
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The purpose of the Bologna process is to create the European higher education area by harmonising academic degree standards and quality assurance standards throughout Europe. The name comes because the process was proposed at 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 Autumn 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.
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Framework
The basic framework adopted is of three levels test of higher education qualification: bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees. In most cases, these will take 3, 2, and 3 years respectively to complete, but the framework is moving to defining qualifications in terms of learning outcomes and the length in years is in no way set in stone.
These levels are closer to the current model in the UK, Ireland (as well as the US) than that in most of Continental Europe, where the model often is based on the magister or diploma. In any case, programme 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.
The UK has both an undergraduate and postgraduate master's degree. The postgraduate master's degree, for instance, normally takes only one year to complete, sometimes two. The undergraduate master's in the UK does not fit the framework either.
In Ireland most honours bachelors degree are four years (England: three years) with master's and doctorates being broadly similar to the UK. The masters degree is always a postgraduate degree, either taught or achieved through research.
In Belgium the bachelor's degree took 2 years, with an additional 2 to obtain a license. Study is very intense and the majority of students do not attend university.
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.
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. The new postgraduate Master's degrees (MA, MSc and MEng) are seen as equivalent to the old five year first degrees Diplom and Magister Artium. Bachelor's degrees are seen as roughly equivalent to the old four year first degree Diplom(FH) from universities of applied sciences. The Number of old degree courses is declining and they will be replaced by the new degrees until 2005 in some states or until 2010 in all other German states.
The situation in Austria is similar to that in Germany: the current "lowest" degrees are the Magister and the Diplom Ingenieur (~ master), which can be obtained after at least four respectively five years. There is no equivalent to a bachelor degree in Austria, but most Austrian universities are planning to introduce bachelor programmes (called Bakkalaureat, pl. -e) lasting three years and master programmes lasting another two years (Magisterstudium, pl. Magisterstudien) by 2006.
Higher education institutions and parliament in Sweden are currently awaiting a bill that will introduce Bologna degrees in Sweden. The Swedish kandidatexamen will not be changed, as it is roughly equivalent to a Bachelor's degree, but there is on-going discussion about prolonging the Swedish magisterexamen to two years to adapt it to a Master's degree as well as about the introduction of the ECTS grading scale.
The Russian higher education framework is 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 years of studies. In the meanwhile, since 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 2 years) while preserving the generic 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.
Italy does actually fit the framework: since 2001, the lowest degree in most universities is the "Laurea Breve", that can be achevied after 3 years of studies, and then there are 2 more years of "specialization" (Laurea Specialistica). The postgraduate courses (Dottorato) last 3 or 4 years. Only those who have obtained the latter are considered "full" graduates and are eligible for a doctorate. Some exceptions to this rule are the courses in Medicine (6 years, plus a postgraduate specialization), Pharmacy (5 years), Architecture (5 years). The doctorate in Italy lasts 3 or 4 years, and there isn't another form of postgraduate education that gives an academic title. Masters are divided in "First Level Masters", than be achieved by those who hold at least a "Laurea Breve" degree, and in "Second Level Masters", that require a "Laurea Specialistica".
The situation in Spain is almost identical to that in Italy.
Signatories
Current signatories and thus members of the "European higher education area" are: Albania - Andorra - Armenia -Austria - Azerbajan - Belgium - 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 - Moldova - Netherlands - Norway - Poland - Portugal - FYR Macedonia - Romania - Russia - Serbia and Montenegro - 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 and NARIC.
See also
External links
- Council of Europe - Bologna Process (http://www.coe.int/T/E/Cultural_Co-operation/education/Higher_education/Activities/Bologna_Process/default.asp)
- National Unions of Students in Europe - Bologna Process Committee (http://www.esib.org/BPC/welcome.html)de:Bologna-Prozess
fr:Processus de Bologne nl:Bachelor-masterstructuur sl:Bolonjski proces sv:Bolognaprocessen