The Bologna-process – an opportunity for higher education reform in Austria?

In Austria, access to higher education is far too limited. Educational systems have evolved in the direction of offering tertiary education by means of short, accumulative study programmes. Austria also spends more public money than the OECD-mean and has higher expenses than countries with considerably higher graduation rates. Therefore, higher education is not publicly underfinanced, but rather structurally outdated. This paper demonstrates that the Bologna-process offers opportunities to modernise tertiary education that have not yet been sufficiently recognized. There is a lack of “short-cycle” programmes and of partnerships between VET-Colleges, adult education providers and universities. By following institutional practices that are internationally widespread, Austria could shift some of the burden of undergraduate teaching from the core of the university system towards research and research-oriented study programmes and could mobilise additional resources for learning in adult education institutions.

30.03.2012 | Arthur Schneeberger (Wien)