Policy Analysis of Structural Reforms in Higher Education

Book excerpt: This book addresses the complex phenomenon in higher education of structural reforms in higher education systems. Across the globe, governments initiate comprehensive reforms of their higher education systems because they want their models to be the best and to excel at what they do. This regularly requires governments to change the higher education landscape to achieve their set objectives. Changes can include merger processes, the introduction of a new sector of higher education or a new type of higher education institution or excellence initiative. This book explores the current understanding of how successful such comprehensive reforms have been through an examination of eleven reform cases in European countries. For each reform, the different phases of the policy process – policy objectives, design, implementation, policy tools and evaluation – are systematically described and analysed to provide an overview of the factors that contribute to the success or failure of the reforms.