The Bologna Process: Impact on Transatlantic Exchange from the North American Credential Review and Admission Perspective

By Margit A. Schatzman

What are the Bologna Declaration and the Bologna Process?
The Bologna Declaration is an agreement originally signed by the education ministers of 29 European countries in 1999. New signatory countries have brought the total to 40 participating countries. Its goal is to create a European Higher Education Area (EHEA) by 2010. Major objectives of the Bologna Declaration include:

implement a system of easily readable and comparable degrees

adopt a two-cycle degree system

establish a credit system

promote quality assurance systems

remove obstacles to the mobility of students

The purpose of the Bologna Declaration is to coordinate European higher education in order to provide more compatibility and harmony. It is hoped that this will lead to Europe’s greater success in today’s competitive international education and economic environment.

The Bologna Process is the collection of agreements, and the actions and initiatives to implement the Bologna Declaration.

Why do North American educators need to know about the Bologna Process?
The Bologna Process will impact the North American international exchange community in a number of ways. Changes brought about by the Bologna Declaration may make Europe a more attractive and competitive destination for international students. Directors of US and Canadian international programs may need to add this to the list of challenges of attracting international students to their campuses.

The admission of students with credentials earned after implementation of the Bologna Declaration presents other challenges. The Bologna Process is bringing about new features and structures in European education. In many European countries the two-cycle degree system is being implemented as a three-year bachelor’s degree followed by a two-year master’s degree. This structure is causing many admissions professionals to reevaluate their understanding of European education and to examine the admissibility into North American graduate programs of three-year bachelor’s degree holders.

It is useful to examine what North Americans are practicing, considering and asking about when it comes to developments in European education.

Survey of North American Admission Practices
The source of this information is a survey that was completed in Spring 2004 by over 90 self-selected U.S. and Canadian admissions professionals. Respondents represented about an equal number of public and private colleges and universities with enrollments ranging from small (under 1000 students) to large (over 20,000 students).

International student enrollments range from 20 to 5000. European students tend to represent less than 10% of most institutions’ international student populations, but at some institutions their numbers are as high as 40%. Respondents evaluate credentials for undergraduate, graduate, or both undergraduate and graduate students in about equal numbers.

Respondents were asked questions about their domestic and international admission requirements, their knowledge of the Bologna Declaration and some of its features, and how they think changes in Europe will affect their evaluation of new European credentials. Results of the survey provided insight into North American admissions practices and approaches to the evaluation of European credentials.

How do domestic and international admissions requirements differ?
There is no significant difference. With the exception of an English language examination requirement for international students, most institutions have similar admissions requirements for both domestic and international students.

What is required for graduate admissions?
Most institutions require a bachelor’s degree for both domestic and international students.

What is meant by a bachelor’s degree?
Survey respondents provided varied definitions of both foreign and domestic bachelor’s degrees. Most respondents agreed that the credential should be awarded by a recognized degree-granting institution. However, opinions varied on characteristics, such as if a bachelor’s degree must include a major area of study, a general education component or a credit minimum.

Respondents also had varied opinions on the required length of a bachelor’s degree. 74% indicated that a domestic degree is four years in length and 68% defined a foreign bachelor’s degree as four years in length. 26% defined a domestic bachelor’s degree as being three years in length and 32% defined a foreign bachelor’s degree as three years.

What do North Americans in international admissions know about the Bologna Declaration?
34% of respondents are familiar with the Bologna Declaration and understand its general goals. Another 35% have heard of it, but do not know much about it. The remaining 30% are not familiar with the Bologna Declaration.

What else is known about changes in European education?
The European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) and the Diploma Supplement (DS) are two features of the Bologna Process that are intended to facilitate the implementation of the Bologna Declaration. A majority of respondents know about the ECTS, but fewer know about the Diploma Supplement.

What are the needs of admissions professionals?
Respondents expressed a desire for more information on European education and ideas on how to evaluate new and changing programs and educational structures. Some of the information requested included:

- Details of degree programs, such as hours of study for a particular degree, degree lengths and admission requirements.
- Suggestions on processes, procedures, and methods such as determining equivalencies and converting grades.
- Information on philosophical, policy and political issues, such as why a three-year, rather than a four-year model was chosen and how new credentials are viewed within Europe.
- Updates on implementation in countries that have signed the Bologna Declaration.

Predictions on the impact of the Bologna Declaration on North American admissions professionals…
Respondents were hopeful that the changes, especially the ECTS and Diploma Supplement will make credential evaluation easier. They anticipate a higher level of consistency and greater ease in getting information.

The new three-year bachelor’s degree was greeted with greater caution. While some indicated that the three-year degree would be readily accepted for admission to graduate programs, many more expressed reservations. Tentative approaches and temporary solutions were mentioned, including experimenting with test cases, considering secondary education credentials when evaluating three-year degrees, handling students presenting the new degrees on a case-by-case basis, and having discussions with colleagues about how to evaluate these credentials.

Help in Understanding and Working With the Bologna Process
As knowledge of and interest in the Bologna Process develops in the US and Canada, individuals and professional associations are working on sharing information and taking positive action.

NAFSA: Association of International Educators has formed a Bologna Process Task Force that is charged with developing a plan to share information and promote dialog with European colleagues. (see side bar) IIE will be working with the NAFSA Task Force to survey international admissions professionals on their needs. NAFSA and other organizations have resources on the Bologna Declaration on their websites.

Individual professionals can become more informed and confident in their work with new European credentials by taking some stops on their own. These include:

- Analyze and understand your own admission and transfer policies and requirements.
- Update your knowledge on changes in Europe
- Consider creative and experimental solutions
- Consider best practices of colleagues
- Communicate with European partners to share information and concerns
- Express to your professional associations your questions, opinions and needs

Knowing the issues and seeking information about changes in European education will help to ensure continued positive experiences with an important partner in international exchange.

Margit A. Schatzman is a Vice President at Educational Credential Evaluators, Inc. and co-chair of the NAFSA Bologna Process Task Force.

Published previously in the print version of the Spring 2005 IIENetworker Magazine.