Joint degrees

The usual procedure until recently has been for Norwegian institutions to send their students to take part of their courses abroad under the terms of agreements that ensure that the credits obtained at the host institution will subsequently be recognised by the home institution. However, this system does not involve any form of joint planning of the course or programme of studies.

The students participate in courses and take exams at the host institution, and these are subsequently recognised by the home institution. This form of recognition is typical of the Erasmus programme, in which a number of other measures have also been developed to help to ensure the quality and predictability of courses for the student.

In recent years, however, an emphasis on joint degrees as a form of cooperation in national and international policy and at institutional level has been attracting more and more attention. This is due to the expectation that forms of cooperation that involve a greater degree of commitment of this type will have several positive effects.

Joint degrees

The term “joint degrees” covers various forms of cooperation between institutions in different countries.

Joint or “multiple” degrees, as they are sometimes called, are among the most frequently employed types of cooperation. Both terms refer to cases in which two or more institutions collaborate on a degree programme. Such programmes usually include a degree of mobility, whether physical or virtual, on the part of students or teaching/research staff. A joint degree is characterised by the course of studies that leads to a joint transcript issued by the institutions involved. A “double/multiple” degree is the result of cooperation between two or more institutions, but for which the student receives separate transcripts from each.

As a result of the Bologna Process, joint degrees have been introduced as a central means of developing European cooperation in higher education. The development of joint degrees is supported via a number of programmes, particularly the EU's education programme, but other programmes also support the development of joint degrees. A definition and a more detailed description of joint degrees can be found on NOKUT's website, which also provides links to several other international websites.

Other forms of cooperation between educational institutions on courses, programmes and degrees are also highly relevant in this context:

Sandwich programmes

Sandwich programmes represent less wide-ranging forms of education cooperation than joint degrees. A sandwich programme is a programme of study in which the student takes the first and last parts of a course of study at her home university, while the central part is taken at a cooperating institution.

Twinning

Institutions of higher education in different countries sign twinning agreements in order to develop a common education programme. Students at the two universities take the same course, with the same reading list and the same exams, even though their teachers are usually locally employed.

Cotutelle

A “cotutelle” system (joint supervision agreement) requires two institutions to sign an agreement covering joint supervision, registration, evaluation, public examination and transcript for individual graduate students. The agreement is usually based on the particular requirements of the student concerned, and means that he has two main supervisors (one at each institution). The agreement involves the two institutions recognising each other's doctorates and formulates agreements regarding aspects of supervision, the thesis itself (e.g. acceptable length), language, evaluation, the public examination and the issue of a joint diploma.

A cotutelle agreement is usually initiated by the candidate herself together with her supervisors and is signed by the top level of management at each institution. The agreement is intended to guarantee the quality of the degree awarded. It is also possible for two institutions (or two countries) to sign a general cotutelle agreement.

Franchise

Under the terms of a franchise agreement, an institution gives a host institution in another country the right to use some of the first institution's courses and degrees under agreed conditions. In such cases, the home institution is responsible for the content of the degree, while the host institution is responsible for how it is taught.