Euro Student III Project

The EUROSTUDENT project collates comparable data on the socio-economic background and living conditions of students throughout Europe. In the third round of the study, 23 countries have taken part, which means that the data covers most of larger Europe and very diverse higher education systems. The EUROSTUDENT data set includes nearly 250 key indicators. The project is coordinated by the Higher Education Information System (HIS) Hanover, Germany (www.his.de) .

In accordance with the Decision of the Council of Higher Education (YOK) of February 3, 2006, the EUROSTUDENT III project has been carried out in Turkey by a national commission headed by Professor Nezih Guven (Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey). The other members of the commission are Associate Professor Ayse Gunduz Hosgor (Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey) and Assistant Professor Mustafa Sen (Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey). Within the framework of the project, an online survey has been carried out in 2007 with the participation of about 15.000 students enrolled in undergraduate programmes.

To deliver comparable key data and basic information in order to describe and map out the socio-economic living conditions of students in Europe
To provide a structured and standardised monitoring system with which the effects of structural measures and changes can be identified for specific student groups
To describe the current situation and with the aid of international comparison to identify obstacles to an inclusive and effective European Higher Education Area (EHEA)

These objectives complement the goals of the Lisbon strategy and the Bologna Process to create an attractive and a competitive European Higher Education Area which can maximize the potentials of individuals in terms of their personal development and their contribution to society and the economy.

23 countries (Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, England/Wales, Estonia, France, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Scotland, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Turkey) have participated in the third round of EUROSTUDENT. The five countries (Croatia, Denmark, Georgia, Greece and Hungary) are observers to the current round and will potentially join the project in the fourth round, which begins in 2008.

The outputs of the EUROSTUDENT projects are two complementary reports and direct access to the EUROSTUDENT dataset:

Synopsis of Indicators: The foundation of this report are the key indicators, which are set in comparison between the participating countries. This report is the central product of the EUROSTUDENT project. Due to the nature of the topic being studied, a full interpretation of the data is facilitated only through knowledge of context data and national information. This fact is reflected in the interpretations of the data presented in this report.
National Profiles focus on the data from individual participating countries. They provide both an introduction to each of the national higher education systems and the context data behind the key indicators used in the Synopsis of Indicators. In line with the reporting concept of international comparison and more detailed national data, the Synopsis of Indicators includes an interpretative section which emphasises policy-relevant similarities and differences between countries, whilst the National Profiles provide more extensive background facts. This data is commented on from a national perspective by the national contributors.
A dedicated website and a special data appendix, which can be downloaded, provide easy access to the data and background materials used to draw-up the reports – see: www.eurostudent.eu

The EUROSTUDENT survey captures comparative survey data with a focus on the student perspective for 7 dimensions of studying higher education. 3 topics covered and 249 comparative indicators are given below:

The reporting concept of EUROSTUDENT is based on the objective of providing information on the socio-economic situation of students in Europe in such a way as to highlight trends, similarities and differences between countries. This approach both recognises the diversity of the systems of higher education in Europe and their inherent philosophies and – by grouping countries due to clear similarities – highlights common situations or policy approaches between countries.

The EUROSTUDENT project has a decentral structure, which sees the project participants as members of a network. The EUROSTUDENT project is centrally coordinated by the Higher Education Information System - HIS (www.his.de) in Hanover, Germany. The coordinators’ work is aided by an International Steering Board involving members of the EUROSTUDENT network as full members and certain agencies relevant to the policy area as advisors.

As quality assurance in terms of comparability and data reliability is such an important topic for EUROSTUDENT, one of the first initiatives of the Steering Board was to establish a Task Force for Quality. Further task forces may be set up by the Steering Board, as it sees fit.

The implementation of the national surveys lies within the responsibility of each participating country. However, participation in the EUROSTUDENT project is dependent on the adoption of the EUROSTUDENT core questions and central data conventions. There are 3 core questions in the current survey. The coordinators remain in close contact with members of each participating country to assure common understanding and the adherence to data conventions. Common timelines must also be observed. Once the data is received by the EUROSTUDENT coordinators, it is evaluated and only after further discussions and cross-checking to assure quality, is the data used for analysis.