Bologna Process | - "Scope for confusion"

Della Bradshaw, The Financial Times Business Education editor.

I think the implementation of the Bologna accord is a wonderful opportunity for Europe to develop a common system of higher education, but there is still huge scope for confusion as far as I can tell.

Professor Iniguez suggests the reorganisation will result in a three-year bachelor programme and a two-year Masters programme, but all the evidence is that many countries, and many schools within those countries, will adopt different systems.

The Financial Times recently published a ranking of the top 25 Masters in Management programmes (for pre-experienced students). Of these 25 schools, 10 offered one-year masters programmes.

I am not sure whether this is such a bad thing. Clearly in the MBA market prospective participants can choose between one-year and two-year programmes, so why should the Masters in Management market be different?

What universities will have do is clearly articulate the value of their own programmes and successfully market them in an increasingly competitive arena. All of which could prove very expensive.

Comments

[Della Bradshaw]

In the UK most people who go on to study a masters degree complete their bachelor and masters programmes in just four years - a three-year bachelor programme and a one-year masters degree.

It has often been a problem in the past in the US that British students have been rejected from MBA programmes because of these shorter degrees.

However, as Professor Iniguez points out - the fashion is towards shorter degrees.

[Santiago Iniguez, Dean IE-Instituto de Empresa]

Certainly, the two university cycles can slightly vary in duration according to the provisions of the Bologna Process. the bachelor period can be 3-4 years length whereas masters may be 1-2 years of duration. Given these options, some American institutions have raised concerns at the possibility that a student may potentially cover both cycles in just 4 years, as compared to the 5 years that normally take in the US. But I agree with Della Bradshaw. Further duration of degrees is associated with a higher cost of opportunity for students. I believe that the trend is to shorten the length of each cycle.