The report, published on 9 July and entitled 'Higher aspirations: An agenda for reforming European universities', analyses the differences between the EU and the US higher education systems and identifies factors behind the differences in university performance within Europe.
It concludes that European universities' research performance still lags "far behind that of their US counterparts, particularly in the top 50 universities" in the so-called Shanghai ranking, which is an index for monitoring the research performance of universities around the world.
According to Bruegel, studies show that European university research performance is positively correlated both with the budget per student and the level of budgetary autonomy. In addition, "autonomy and funding are mutually reinforcing factors," notes the think tank, arguing that annual expenditure on higher education should be gradually raised by 1% of EU GDP over the next ten years. This should be done either publicly or privately "through fees, private donations and the setting up of endowments".
It also argues that selection at entry into universities "should become the norm" and that specialisation and competition should be further encouraged. Moreover, university entrance fees should be more widely applied.
The report also notes that European student mobility "is and will remain low at the undergraduate level" and that the Bologna process, which aims to create a European Space of Higher Education, will likely result in quality convergence of undergraduate education rather than in increased cross-border student mobility.
This report builds on the preliminary findings of a Bruegel policy paper on the need to reform European universities, published a year ago, and adds to the current debate on EU initiatives in this field.
The European Commission made a series of detailed recommendations on how to modernise higher education in Europe in its May 2006 Communication, which namely urged member states to give universities more autonomy and accountability and encouraged governments to open universities to the business community.
