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Bologna process

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 for each faculty and its development. The name is based on the fact that 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.

Framework

The basic framework adopted is of three cycles 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. A Framework of Qualifications for the European Higher Education Area was adopted by the ministers responsible for higher education at a meeting in Bergen in May 2005.

These levels are closer to the current model in the UK, Ireland (as well as the U.S.) 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

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 five years of study. However, beginning with the year 2000, a number of 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 years, but the actual time to graduation varies considerably and is generally longer than that.

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.

Denmark

Previously to 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

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.

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 grade 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 Oxford 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

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 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 until 2005 in some states or until 2010 in all other German states.

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

(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 reduced number of majors.

Source in Hungarian:

Italy

Italy does actually fit the framework: since 2001, the lowest degree in most universities is the "Laurea", that can be achieved 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", that can be achieved by those who hold at least a "Laurea" degree, and in "Second Level Masters", that require a "Laurea Specialistica".

Ireland

In Ireland most honours bachelors degree are 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.

Russia

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.

Spain

The situation in Spain is almost identical to that in Italy.
Today, the lowest degree is the "Diploma" (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 Superior" 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 Superior" degree are eligible for a doctorate.

Sweden

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.

United Kingdom

The UK starts with either a three or four year ("honours") bachelor's degree. Four year degrees are becoming more popular and are roughly 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 it may take two years.

Signatories

Current signatories and thus members of the "European higher education area" are: Albania - Andorra - Armenia -Austria - Azerbaijan - 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, NARIC and EURODOC.

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

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