Title: The Role of Short-Cycle Higher Education Programs and Qualifications in the Knowledge-Based Economies: Emerging Trends from the United States and Europe
1The Judith Herb College of Education
The Role of Short-Cycle Higher Education Programs
and Qualifications in the Knowledge-Based
Economies Emerging Trends from the United States
and Europe
Snejana Slantcheva-Durst, Asst. Prof. Department
of Educational Foundations and Leadership Universi
ty of Toledo Toledo, Ohio, USA
June 15-16, 2009 1st International Conference
Recognition and Quality Assurance of Short-Cycle
Higher Education Golden Sands, Bulgaria
2Presentation Overview
The Judith Herb College of Education
- Evolving Parameters of SCHE
- European and US Developments
- Challenges to SCHE in Europe and the US
- Innovative approaches
- Goals for us
3The Evolving Parameters of SCHE
The Judith Herb College of Education
-
- post-secondary education of mainly terminal
character designed to train students for
middle-level manpower positions... provided in
institutions established outside universities
(SCIs) in a few countries the universities offer
a certain number of such short-cycle programs,
while in others this training is the
responsibility of secondary level establishments
(technical training in Sweden, teacher training
in France) (OECD, 1973)
4The Evolving Parameters of SCHE
The Judith Herb College of Education
- Central concern structure of higher education
systems -
1. Integrated comprehensive university model
2. Binary model
German Gesamthochschule Danish University Center
U.K. Ontario, Canada
5The Evolving Parameters of SCHE
The Judith Herb College of Education
3. Combined development model
4. First cycle multi-purpose colleges
Norway, France, Yugoslavia, Belgium, USA to some
extent
Quebec, Canada USA to some extent
(Ross, 1972 OECD, 1973)
6European Developments
The Judith Herb College of Education
- Evolution of Perspectives Regarding SCHE
- Institutions (SCIs) Program Degree Learning
- Stages Outcomes
7European Developments
The Judith Herb College of Education
- 1960s a wider diversification according to
types of higher education institutions - Development of a extra or non-university
institutions and programs originally created to
provide terminal and vocationally oriented
post-secondary education - The British polytechnics - established in the
early 1960s - The French Instituts universitaires de
technologie (IUT) - 1960s as a third type, beside
the university and the Grandes Écoles - The German Fachhochschulen 1971
- The regional colleges of Norway
- (Bienaymé, 1991 Teichler, 1996, 2008 Kyvik
1981 Vangsnes and Jordell 1992)
8European Developments
The Judith Herb College of Education
- 1980s-90s - in some countries - academic drift
and upgrading of non-university institutions - Britains polytechnics (complete upgrading)
- German Fachhochschulen (gradual upgrading)
replaced by new upgraded vocational
institutions (Berufsakadmien) - Creation of two-type structures in others
(Austria, Finland, Switzerland)
9European Developments
The Judith Herb College of Education
- 1999 the Bologna Process emphasis on the stages
of study programs - Degrees as the single most important mode of
diversification in higher education -
intra-institutional diversity is in the forefront
(Teichler, 2008) - 2003 study of Tertiary SCHE (Kirsch et al., 2003)
- a level or stage of studies beyond secondary
education which can lead to a qualification
recognized on the labor market, undertaken in
formal tertiary education institutions
universities, polytechnics, colleges public and
private but also in a wide variety of other
settings, including secondary schools, at work
sites, via free-standing information
technology-based offerings and a host of private
public entities (OECD)
10European Developments
The Judith Herb College of Education
- 2008 EQF SCHE through the prism of student
outcomes - The 2005 Bergen Conference of European Ministers
endorsed the broader framework for
qualifications for lifelong learning encompassing
general education as well as vocational education
and training - Short-cycle higher education programs (seen as
intermediate qualifications linked to the first
cycle) have found a place in the European
Qualifications Framework as programs offered
within the first (bachelors) level of higher
education (level 5) - Contribute to the social dimension of higher
education and to expansion of lifelong and
life-wide learning opportunities - (Communiqué of the Conference of European
Ministers, - Leuven and Louvain-la-Neuve, 28-29 April 2009)
11American Developments
The Judith Herb College of Education
- Evolution of Perspectives Regarding SCHE
- Program Degree Institutions
- Stages
12American Developments
The Judith Herb College of Education
- Junior colleges founded as transfer
institutions seen not so much as alternatives
to universities but as mechanism for relieving
senior institutions from the burden of teaching
first- and second-year students (Bragg and
Townsend, 2006) - Associate degree (Harper) seen as an academic
credential for completed first two years of
college - The vocational mission was added later
preparing students for immediate employment in
semi-professional occupations - Third mission continuing education and workforce
training late 1950s (26 in terminal
occupational programs in 1960 1975 35 now
over 50) - Community service, remedial service and
developmental education
13American Developments
The Judith Herb College of Education
- Currently, community colleges are seen as
multi-purpose, multi-functional institutions - Open access
- Widely distributed
- Affordable
- Rooted in their communities
- Tightly-linked to labor markets workforce
training, adult courses
14American Developments
The Judith Herb College of Education
- Community Colleges
- Certify nearly 80 percent of first responders in
the United States (police officers, firefighters,
and emergency medical technicians) - Produce more than 50 of new nurses and other
health-care workers - Account for nearly 40 of all foreign
undergraduates in America - Enroll 46 of all U.S. undergraduates, including
47 of undergraduates who are African American,
47 - Asian or Pacific Islander, 55 - Hispanic,
and 57 - Native American - Award more than 800,000 associate degrees and
certificates annually - Nationally, half of all baccalaureate degree
recipients have attended community colleges prior
to earning their degrees. - (College Board, 2008)
15Challenges Facing European SCHE
The Judith Herb College of Education
- Articulation of SCHE
- amongst countries
- within countries, with Bologna cycles and Bologna
aims for intermediary qualifications - SCHE and the social dimension
- SCHE and Lifelong Learning
- More than two-thirds of countries have not
found it necessary to modernize vocational
education at ISCED 5B level as a part of the
Bologna reforms. - In most countries, the issue of developing
bridges between the ISCED 5B level and the newly
Bologna organized ISCED 5A level programs is a
matter of concern and attention (Higher
Education in Europe 2009)
16(No Transcript)
17Innovative European Approaches
The Judith Herb College of Education
- France Diplome Universitaire de Technology (DUT)
(1966) - 2-year programs
- Not open-access
- Offered by 100 Instituts universitaire de
technologie (IUTs), all attached to a French
university, often on the same campus - Competencies embedded in the program
qualifications - Seamless transitions - fully articulated with the
first cycle licence and licence professionelle
degrees offered across the street - Most of their traditional students have passed
the French Baccalaureat - Around 2-3rds of their graduates continue their
education in the university across the street
(80 in 2005 57 of them earned their degree
within 1 year of receiving their DUT) (Adelman,
2009)
18Innovative European Approaches
The Judith Herb College of Education
- UK The Foundation Degree (2001)
- 2-year full-time, 3-year part-time
- A transfer degree devoted to a foundation in a
field (23 fields) - All course modules are validated (reviewed and
approved) by a university, and delivered either
by the validating university or (in most cases)
by Colleges of Further Education open-access,
bridge institutions - Half of enrolled earned credentials on time, and
roughly another 30 were still enrolled in
2003/04, 54 of those who earned a FD continued
in a 1st cycle honors program and of them, 71
earned the honors degree - Serves the social dimension agenda
- Second chance function for adults
19Challenges Facing American SCHE
The Judith Herb College of Education
- SCHE and Degree attainment
- Community colleges seen as critical institutions
in closing the degree gap and raising the
educational level of the population - SCHE and the Workforce (jumpstart the economy)
- Community colleges seen as central in upgrading
skills and qualifications and training the
workforce needed to support a knowledge-based
economy
20Challenges Facing US Community Colleges
The Judith Herb College of Education
- Low transfer and degree completion rates (culture
traditionally emphasizing access, not success) - just over half of full- and part-time freshmen
return for a second year - 36 earn a certificate or degree within 6 years
(compared to more than 60 of students at 4-year
institutions) - only 26 of their students transfer to four-year
institutions - 42 percent of first-year students at community
colleges enroll in at least one developmental
education class - challenge of monitoring student outcomes
21The Judith Herb College of Education
Challenges Facing US Community Colleges
- Loosing edge in educating adults (the new
majority) - Declining adult credit student numbers, between
1995-2004 - 25-39 olds down by 11
- incrased by 254 in private, for-profit
colleges - 40 and older increased by 3.6
- increased by 376 in private, for-profit
inst. (Dept. of Ed.) - work-force programs and continuing education
the non-credit side of the house
22Innovative US Approaches
The Judith Herb College of Education
ACADEMIC PATHWAYS Partnership initiatives between
K-12, 2-year and 4-year institutions
bachelor
WITHIN the higher ed. system
INTO the higher ed. system
assoc. degree
Transfer and articulation agreements, dual
enrollment
AP, Tech Prep, Dual Cr./Enrollment, Virtual
School, Bridge Programs, CLEP, IB, GED,
Senior-to-Sophomore
12th
8th
23The Judith Herb College of Education
- CAREER PATHWAYS
- The partnership initiatives between community
colleges and the world of work (workforce
training programs) - Partnerships with the Workforce and Social
Service Systems - Partnerships with Community-Based Organizations
- Partnerships with Adult Basic Education Providers
- Partnerships with Employers
- From Strategic Partnerships to a Regional
Approach - (WSC, 2006)
24The Judith Herb College of Education
Thank you!
Snejana Slantcheva-Durst, Asst. Prof. Judith Herb
College of Education University of Toledo Toledo,
Ohio, 43606 USA snejana.slantchevadurst_at_utoledo.ed
u