The quality reform
The Quality Reform of Norwegian higher education came into effect at the start of the 2003 academic year.
This comprehensive, large-scale reform affected most aspects of higher education.
Its overarching objective can be summarised in the following terms: the quality of education and research ought to be better, their intensity should increase, and the process of internationalisation needs to be strengthened.
Together with a new degree structure the reform paved the way for closer follow-up of students, new types of exams and evaluations and a new system for funding higher education.
More internationalisation is both a means and an end in the Quality Reform. More comprehensive international cooperation will improve the quality of Norwegian education. The reform introduces a more holistic approach to internationalisation, whereby institutions regard mobility more in the context of research collaboration and other aspects of academic activity. Thus, the Quality Reform paves the way for new forms of internationalisation in the university and college sector in addition to student mobility, which has so far played a central role in the internationalisation of higher education.
In 2006 the Quality Reform was the subject of a wide-ranging evaluation. One of a total of ten reports dealt with the topic of internationalisation; this report was written by NIFU STEP in collaboration with the Rokkan Centre and is available on the NIFU STEP web-site.