Higher Education as a Public Good and a Public Responsibility

Abstract

The ministers responsible for the Bologna Process have supported the idea that higher education is a public good and a public responsibility. The public authorities must have exclusive responsibility for the framework of higher education, including the degree structure, the institutional framework, and the framework for quality assurance. The public authorities should have financial responsibility for higher education and should bear the main responsibility for ensuring equal opportunities, including responsibility for access policies and student finance. Most importantly, public responsibility must remain a pillar of European higher education policies when facing the global marketplace.