The Bologna Process: Will American Universities Follow Suit?

Picture starting college without being required to take core courses in English, Psychology, or the Humanities. From the first day of postsecondary education, your courses are designed to focus specifically on the professional path you have chosen. In three years, students obtain a Bachelor’s Degree. After only two more years, students earn a Master’s Degree in the career field of their choice. Five years after graduating from high school, students can take a licensing exam to become medical doctors.

Does this sound far-fetched? If it does, then just look across the Atlantic Ocean. This system of education, known as the Bologna Process, is designed to streamline academic educations and degrees throughout Europe. More than forty countries, from Ireland to Turkey, have signed the Bologna Declaration. These countries have chosen to strive to universalize the number of credits required to gain a degree in a given field. This allows students to attend university in one country or another, without losing academic status or standing as a result of the number of years attended or credits earned.

At first glance, this system seems irrelevant here in the United States. Consider, however, the number of students who obtain scholarships to travel to Europe as college exchange students, or even to complete graduate or doctoral research fellowships. Students who desire to attend Cambridge or Oxford, or any other prestigious university in Europe, would have their transcripts compared to those of European students. Furthermore, how this will affect distance learning or online degree university programs remains essentially unknown.

Students who fail to “measure up” might have difficulty achieving their educational goals in European countries as a result of the Bologna Process. Of course, the fate of the Bologna Process in Europe remains in question. As with any educational endeavor, there are growing pains and learning curves.

The student protests in Europe last month is an indicator of these growing pains. Before the United States actually decides to follow suit, perhaps we are better off waiting and watching - and evaluating the outcome of this intended reform to Europe’s educational system. If it works, we can use it. If not, we can keep what we already have.

For more information about the Bologna Process, please visit: http://www.ond.vlaanderen.be/hogeronderwijs/bologna/.