Excellence
Europe has a world-wide reputation as a centre of excellence in learning. Year after year, European universities rank prominently among the top 100 in the world. And only Europe can offer state-of-the-art facilities and cutting-edge research opportunities together with the chance to walk in the footsteps of so many of the world’s most influential thinkers.
Value for money
These high academic standards are achieved without breaking the bank. Tuition fees and daily costs are reasonable, the education sector being a top priority for Europe’s competitiveness.
Lasting legacy
Europe boasts many centuries of academic excellence. A rich academic heritage is based around many landmarks in human knowledge, and today’s European higher education institutions benefit from this lasting legacy.
Choice
There are thousands of higher education institutions in Europe to choose from, offering a great variety of degree programmes. From leading research universities to small, friendly teaching colleges, you’re sure to find what you’re looking for.
Tradition and innovation
Immerse yourself in a continent with a wealth of traditions and a history as rich and varied as its many peoples and landscapes. At the same time, Europe is a hotbed of research and innovation, home to first-class resources and top scientists working in fields ranging from medicine to space travel, from nanotechnology to polar research, and from ICT to nuclear fusion.
Multicultural
Europe offers a unique cultural experience in a dynamic, multinational environment. Besides earning a world-class qualification, you’ll have the chance to learn new languages and intercultural skills that are of great value to future employers and an essential advantage in an ever-changing world.
World-renowned
Studying in Europe gives you a top-quality education which will be respected the world over. Moreover, you can take advantage of the many scholarships that European universities offer.
Opening doors
Employers won’t only be impressed by your education; they’ll also appreciate the other skills you will have acquired. Your time in Europe will prepare you for the global economy, developing assets such as self-reliance, independence and intercultural and linguistic abilities that will set you apart from the competition.
Portable skills
Many countries encourage the best and brightest students to remain after their studies. Alternatively, you can take your newly acquired skills back home to use there. A European higher education will increase your mobility – across Europe and the rest of the world..
Springboard for your travels
Always wanted to explore Europe? Studying here provides the perfect launch-pad for your travels. Take the chance to visit our great cities, bathe on our beautiful beaches, ski in the Alps or join in the fiesta.
European Higher Education
Europe has many hundreds of higher education institutions, renowned as centres of excellence around the world. However, higher education systems have traditionally been formulated at the national level. Increasing European integration is changing that, with the development of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) helping to reinforce the attractiveness of higher education in Europe.
The EHEA is a region with a world-class knowledge base and cutting-edge research facilities in internationally-renowned centres of excellence. This is what attracts hundreds of thousands of foreign students each year to study in Europe.
Increasing mobility and links between national higher education systems serve to reinforce this attraction. Foreign students coming to Europe can see for themselves the amazing diversity available to them (both inside and outside the university), while taking advantage of the smooth transferability of coursework, qualifications and research opportunities.
It is important that your qualifications are internationally recognised. Transferable qualifications aid mobility, making it easier for you to move from studying to launching a career, or to further study elsewhere. In Europe, a number of instruments have been developed to ensure that your qualifications mean something and are recognised, wherever you choose to go.
European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS)
The ECTS was introduced to ensure that periods of study abroad were recognised, thereby enhancing the quality and volume of student mobility in Europe. Recently, the ECTS has been developing into an accumulation system and is increasingly becoming a general reference for national credit systems. It supports the objectives of the Bologna Process by making study programmes easy to read and compare for local and foreign students and by facilitating mobility and academic recognition.
The Diploma Supplement (DS)
The non-recognition and poor evaluation of qualifications is now a global problem. TheDiploma Supplement is a document attached to a higher education diploma that provides a standardised description of the nature, level, context, content and status of the studies that were successfully completed by the graduate. The Diploma Supplement provides transparency and facilitates academic and professional recognition of qualifications (diplomas, degrees, certificates).
The DS offers students: a diploma that is more readable and easily comparable abroad; a precise description of their academic career and the competencies acquired during the study period; an objective description of their achievements and competencies; easier access to opportunities for work or further study abroad; improved employ-ability.
The European Quality Charter for Mobility
The European Quality Charter for Mobility [PDF: 69.8KB] offers guidance for periods of mobility in another country for the purposes of formal and non-formal learning. It is aimed at students, trainees, volunteers, teachers and trainers, with a view to enhancing their personal and professional development. The Charter consists of ten principles implemented on a voluntary and flexible basis.
The EQF aims to link all national qualification systems in the EU by 2010. This will make qualifications more readable and transferable and allow citizens to move more easily to another country to work or study. The EQF will eventually apply to all types of qualifications, from the end of compulsory education onwards. The core of the EQF is its eight reference levels that are not based on learning inputs (length of learning experience, type of institution) but rather learning outcomes (what knowledge the student has acquired).
The ENIC Network (European Network of Information Centres on academic recognition and mobility)
The ENIC Network provides information on: the recognition of foreign diplomas, degrees and other qualifications; education systems in foreign countries as well as the ENIC’s own country; opportunities for studying abroad, including information on loans and scholarships, as well as advice on practical questions related to mobility and equivalence.
The NARIC Network (National Academic Recognition Information Centres)
The NARIC Network aims to improve academic recognition of diplomas and periods of study in the Member States of the EU and the EEA countries.
