Why choose this programme?

In cooperation with the University of Helsinki (Finland) and the University of Aveiro (Portugal), the Faculty of Education at the University of Oslo is proud to offer a joint, 2-year European Master Programme in Higher Education. The programme ranks amongst the very first Joint Degrees to be offered in Europe. Through spending a period of studies at the three host universities, students are given the unique opportunity to experience, first hand, three distinct university systems and national cultures. They are also able to study the field of higher education as taught by the leading edge of European researchers within the field. Upon sucessfull graduation, students within the programme are given a rather novel degree by not one but three of Europe’s leading research-intensive universities.

Content-wise, the programme provides students with a solid basis for analysing and critically assessing change processes at all relevant levels in higher education. Through the eyes of various disciplinary perspectives and the introduction of general disciplinary concepts and theories, the programme discusses and analyses change processes in higher education originating both inside and outside the traditional institutional and national frames. Institutionalised higher education goes back at least to the early Middle Ages and has survived many fundamental changes in its socio-economic and politics contexts. However, this traditional pillar institution of society is today facing major challenges. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following developments:

• The recent (re-)discovery by international bodies and agencies, such as UNESCO, the OECD, the World Bank and development aid organisations, of higher education as a crucial sector with respect to creating sustainable socio-economic development and strengthening cultural consciousness.
• The growing attention for the quality of teaching, research and services, both nationally as well as internationally.
• The increasingly prominent role of universities in the ‘Europe of Knowledge’ and the global competitiveness of European economies.

Over the years, the programme has attracted students from more than 40 countries from far away places such as the archipelago of Vanuatu (in the Pacific Ocean), India, Mexico, Brazil, Spain, Canada, Ghana, China, etc. The programme builts upon an innovative e-learning platform based on the audio recording of lectures, interviews with leading researchers, student/alumni blog entries, electronic reader, etc. Students also take full advantage of the various educational and networking events organised by the programme commitees of the three host universities, in Norway, Finland and Portugal. There is a number of limited places in this highly internationalised program.