QUO VADIS CIVIL ENGINEERING EDUCATION: 20 YEARS AFTER BOLOGNA DECLARATION

Abstract

The Bologna Declaration of 29 European Higher Education Ministers caused the most inventive change on the higher education sector all over Europe since more than 200 years. The objective was to create a common European Higher Education Area with permeability, higher transparency and acceptance of university degrees across Europe. Since the declaration’s signing in 1999, the bachelor and master’s degrees successively replaced the former study program system of European universities and quality assurance methods were implemented. 20 years after the signature of the agreement, it is time to look back. The authors analyzed advantages as well as disadvantages of the modifications in the German study program structure and other related changes from the current state of view. Furthermore, the paper will give information whether objectives of the Bologna Declaration have been met and where the expected success is still being missed. For that, the paper provides information about the current study structure in Germany, students’ statistics and development of academic mobility. Focus of the investigation was civil engineering programs as well as the resulting developments in universities’ and faculties’ management of German higher education institutions. The authors concluded that the main ideas of the Bologna Process found their way in the daily work of the universities. Nevertheless, the higher education reformation has not yet reached its aims.