Colleges and Universities by Country

Higher Education Around the World

Higher education is a driving factor for improving economic conditions both for individuals and entire economies. To thrive, countries need to educate their populations to work in evolving knowledge-based economies that require higher levels of education than what is needed in traditional economies.

As a whole, the world is seeing increasing attendance in higher education institutions and is seeing more women and more mature students participating. These trends are good news for economic development throughout the world.

Below is an overview of the evolution, status, and trends for higher education across the world.

The Beginnings of Higher Education

Higher education institutions have existed as far back as the 5th century AD and were generally initiated by European churches and monarchies. Some of the earliest universities, such as the University of Bologna, University of Paris and University of Oxford, are still in operation today. Although much has changed over the centuries, the basic structure and goals of university study have remained the same since the 19th century.

Expansion and Standardization

From Europe, higher education spread throughout the world, retaining a similar structure but varying in ways that have made it difficult to equate degrees earned in one country with those from another.

Even in Europe until recently, degree programs had different names, lengths and requirements. The Bologna agreement of 1999, which has been signed by 48 countries in Europe, has standardized degrees across the signatory countries, improving mobility of students and graduates throughout Europe. Outside of Europe, however, there are no standardized requirements for degrees. This impacts the ability of students to study outside of their own country and for degree-holders to gain employment abroad.

Recent Trends in Worldwide Higher Education

Aside from increased participation, there are a number of trends currently occurring around the world that are seen as having a mostly positive influence on higher education and the world economy:

Improved Quality Assurance

Although quality assurance and accreditation has long been a part of higher education systems in economically advanced countries, effective quality assurance programs are now becoming commonplace in many other countries as well. Improved quality assurance is an important worldwide trend because it promotes mobility among students, instructors, and graduates, which in turn improves the academic quality of the institutions.

Increasing Focus on Accessibility

Although there is still a very long way to go in the area of accessibility, an increasing number of countries have been working to make higher education more widely available regardless of a person's income level, type of secondary education they received or where they live. For many countries, accessibility is a significant long-term challenge which involves resolving quality discrepancies in primary and secondary education and overcoming cultural biases and other societal issues.

More Vocational Higher Education

A recent development seen in many places is the increase in vocational higher education programs. These programs teach students specific skills needed for a given profession while minimizing academic coursework that has no application in the student's future career. These programs are shorter than traditional academic programs, typically lasting from one to three years and resulting in diplomas, certificates and degrees. Reasons for this trend include the rising costs of higher education, specific needs of a given economy, and the realization that not all professions require years of academic coursework.

Change in Funding Sources

Many countries with long-established higher education systems such as Australia and countries in Western Europe have traditionally subsidized higher education to a great extent. A growing trend in these countries is to require increased financial contributions from students and additional support other sources. However, a number of countries with more recently developed higher education systems, such China, Tunisia and Jordan, have been going in the other direction, putting more funding into higher education, often as part of a larger strategy to advance their country's economy.

International Study Trends

The numbers of students choosing to study outside of their home country is continually increasing but has remained fairly stable as a percentage of students since 1999. However, in the regions of Central Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Arab states, the percentage of students studying abroad has increased substantially. Students worldwide are choosing to study in more diverse countries such as Japan, China, Australia, Italy and France rather than the traditional choices of the United States and the United Kingdom.

The most popular universities overall in the recent past are still in the traditionally popular countries of the US and the UK. For the US, the University of Southern California, New York University and Columbia University have the highest number of international students. The UK universities with the largest numbers of foreign students are Edinburgh Napier University, University of the Arts London, and the London Metropolitan University.

International Rankings

Higher education institutions are ranked by a number of organizations using various methodologies. One consistent finding is that the top universities in almost all rankings are mostly in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Among the top ranked schools in the US are Harvard University, Yale University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Stanford University.

In the UK, the highest ranked schools are typically the University of Cambridge, University College London, University of Oxford and Imperial College of London.

Other highly ranked schools are found in Australia, Canada, Japan, Hong Kong and a number of western European countries.

Resources

Institute of International Education

The Official Bologna Process Website 2010-2012

The Center of Quality Assurance in International Education

QS World University Rankings