Leuven/Bologna inspires USA in HE-innovation

As policymakers and college presidents respond to growing economic pressure to educate a larger share of the U.S. population, the nation has a strong interest in ensuring the degrees and postsecondary credentials awarded are of high quality. This view of the Lumina Foundation for Education has led to an remarkable initiative.

“Dramatically increasing the numbers of Americans with postsecondary education is essential,” says Lumina president Jamie Merisotis. “But we must do so while ensuring that graduates are well prepared to participate in the labor market, their local communities and the country’s civic and cultural life.” The Foundation sees as its goal: a rise in the share of Americans with high-quality postsecondary degrees and credentials from 39 percent to 60 percent by 2025 against international data comparing educational attainment across developed countries. The American 25 to 34 year olds are slipping in annual rankings of this attainment, a fact not generally acknowledged.

Because the nation’s overall degree-attainment rate has not risen in 40 years, Lumina and some higher education leaders in the USA are focusing on lessons from the experiences of other countries, such as the ‘Bologna process’ in Europe. Working with students, faculty members and education officials from Indiana, Minnesota and Utah, Lumina has initiated a year-long project, Tuning USA. The aim is to create a shared understanding among higher education’s stakeholders of the subject-specific knowledge and transferable skills that students in six fields must demonstrate upon completion of a degree program.

Each state has elected to draft learning outcomes and map the relations between these outcomes and graduates’ employment options for at least two of the following disciplines: biology, chemistry, education, history, physics and graphic design. “Tuning USA holds great promise because faculty will lead this initiative to make the value of specific degrees more easily recognized,” says James H. McCormick, chancellor of the Minnesota State Colleges & Universities system, one of the participating state-systems in the USA. “I know the faculty are committed to ensuring students have the knowledge and skills to succeed in the workplace and as global citizens.”

The project looks at Europe’s Bologna Process as this too involves creating a framework that sets forth clear responsibilities for institutions and establishes clear learning expectations for students in each subject area while balancing the need among programs to retain their academic autonomy and flexibility. The objective is not to standardize programs offered by different institutions but to better establish the quality and relevance of degrees in various academic disciplines.

“Utah is excited to engage in the Tuning Process so that learning expectations will be clear to students, their parents and employers,” said Phyllis Safman, Utah’s assistant commissioner of higher education.

“The Indiana Commission for Higher Education supports all efforts to clearly identify student learning outcomes, thereby better aligning academic degree programs with one another and with the expectations of employers,” said Stanley G. Jones, the state’s higher education commissioner. “This is what the Tuning project is about. We are delighted that Indiana can participate in this important pilot.”

“The Minnesota Office of Higher Education is grateful to have been asked to pilot the Tuning Process and thankful to the faculty and students who have agreed to make time for this project in their busy schedules,” said Cheryl Maplethorpe, director of the state’s financial aid division. “Defining clear expectations for the student and aligning degree course work between degree levels will help make higher education more effective.”