EU: New site to attract foreign students

The European Commission has launched a new web portal called Study in Europe to promote universities across the EU to students from other parts of the world. The portal, at www.study-in-europe.org, is part of a campaign to boost the number of students from outside Europe who study in the EU.

Europe has more than 4,000 higher education institutions, from top-level research establishments to small, teaching-focused colleges. The new site has text in English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese and Russian and provides information about the range of courses on offer in European higher education institutions.

Details of 32 European countries, their universities and what is required to live and study in them are available in the portal, including admission procedures, costs, scholarships and the higher education environment in Europe.

European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth Ján Figel said, "European higher education offers outstanding quality, diversity and opportunity. Europe has a worldwide reputation as a centre of excellence in learning, and the Study in Europe project will make it easier for potential students around the world to see all that European higher education has to offer."

To help European universities and higher education institutions market themselves internationally more effectively, the commission has also developed a Study in Europe communication tool-kit that offers guidance on topics such as how to formulate key messages, and how to develop marketing techniques, media strategies, alumni relations and higher education fairs.

Since the adoption of the Bologna Declaration in 1999, Europe's higher education has entered a new phase of reform, aligning degree structures and opening the door to the mutual recognition of qualifications and cross-border periods of study. A comprehensive quality control process is planned for 2010.