Accreditation of higher education in Denmark and European Union: from system to substance?

ABSTRACT

The Bologna Process was an attempt to build and coordinate OECD countries’ higher education systems through, inter alia, strategic public investment. The Lisbon Strategy 2000–2010 was a continuation of the Bologna process that also highlighted the coordination of education and research based on market-based funding models. Similarly, education and institutional accreditations have focused on the relevance criteria for quality of education and define first and foremost relevance as relevant to the labour market. However, education is a national question and must solve tasks for society in general. Relevance as criteria for quality in higher education should not only include employability, it should also refer to other expectations and demands that society ask for. Education is a public good and should, as a publicly funded system, set national targets for education.

KEYWORDS:

• Accreditation
• quality in higher education and research
• public goods
• national targets
• standardisation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Carsten Bendixen

Carsten Bendixen Ph.D. Senior researcher and consultant and Jens Christian Jacobsen Senior researcher, independent consultant.