European higher education institutions and policy makers have granted increasing attention to the importance of shorter, nondegree education provision, as avenues to offer upskilling and reskilling to learners and workers, but also as a contribution of higher education to lifelong learning in society more generally. A recent study from the European University Association provides an overview of the extent to which such shorter learning provision is present in the European Higher Education Area. This paper also points to challenges identified by higher education institutions themselves and ways forward, in a context where processes and regulations are geared by default toward degree education, but where complementarity between longer and shorter education provision might become key to the future of learning in higher education.

In the past years, European higher education institutions (HEIs) and policy makers have granted increasing attention to the rise in importance of shorter, nondegree education provision. Whereas, historically, the Bologna Process has focused on the reform of degree structures, installing the now familiar bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees as the standard structure in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), more and more policy conversations and statements now evolve around the possibilities offered by shorter learning opportunities, such as microcredentials and opportunities to “upskill” and “reskill” learners and workers. The 2020 Rome Communiqué of the Bologna Process mentions such opportunities as a way “to enable learners to develop or update their cultural, professional and transversal skills and competences at various stages in their lives,” and the 2024 Tirana Communiqué proposes that microcredentials should be further addressed in the recognition of prior learning and in the revision of the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) Users’ Guide.

In the same time period, communications and narratives of the European Commission, notably in the European Skills Agenda and the 2022 European Strategy for Universities, have confirmed the policy focus on short learning provision from the European Union’s side. The higher education sector is not identified as the sole provider for such learning opportunities. On the contrary, this general trend profiles other education and training sectors (such as vocational education or other tertiary education sectors) or employers and companies providing professional workplace learning as major stakeholders in upskilling and reskilling. Nevertheless, it is worth noting that many universities in Europe have a history of providing continuing education to graduates, as well as a commitment to an inclusion and widening access agenda, thus concretely contributing to lifelong learning. Moreover, the Covid-19 pandemic and its consequences on the higher education sector worldwide have prompted a reflection on the importance of making learning more flexible at many European universities – with “flexibility” meaning not only more adaptable or individualized learning modalities as could be the case in any study program, including in degree education, but also in the form of nondegree credits.

The Current State

What is the current situation at European HEIs? The 2024 Trends report of the European University Association (EUA) shows that 71 percent of institutions currently offer nondegree programs or courses in the form of learning certificates, badges or microcredentials. Another 21 percent of HEIs are planning to do so. Moreover, half of European institutions predict an increase of students in their nondegree programs in the upcoming five years, with another 25 percent predicting stable numbers, often following an increase in the past five years. This shows how aware and active HEIs are, both in better addressing demands from prospective learners and policy makers, and in playing a renewed or increased role in society as key players in lifelong learning.

However, the situation varies across countries. Trends 2024 shows that nondegree education is widespread, for instance, at HEIs surveyed in Belgium, Bulgaria, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland. However, that is much less the case in Germany and Slovenia, where only about 40% of institutions offer it. This diversity may depend on how active other education and training providers are in the country, but it might also relate to how easy it is to organize and recognize such offer. The 2024 Bologna Process Implementation Report, based on data provided by national authorities and published by the Eurydice office of the European Union, notes that only a few higher education systems in the EHEA have taken steps to ensure transparency, cross-country readability and portability of microcredentials already offered by HEIs. A closer look at the legal frameworks in place also suggests that the concept is not understood in the same way across all countries. Only 10 systems  currently include microcredentials in their national qualifications framework. According to Trends 2024 data, 63 percent of institutions in the EHEA find legal and regulatory obstacles at national level challenging for organizing and offering shorter, nondegree education.

Challenges

European HEIs surveyed in the report identified further challenges that confirm the importance (and lack) of adequate regulatory and funding frameworks for recognizing and organizing nondegree education. At the top of the list, 71 percent of institutions noted the difficulty in identifying the demand for such programs or courses. About two-thirds of institutions also reported issues related to recognition and to finding an adequate funding or business model (including issues related to fees) – a trend confirmed globally in the 2023 report International trends of lifelong learning in higher education issued by the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning. Awarding credit upon completion, quality assurance, and the format and design of such courses are other challenges reported by HEIs. Last but not least, it is interesting to note that, while most institutions in the EHEA count on increased student numbers for this type of education, 56 percent of them struggle to define the status that they should grant to these students (and 23 percent of HEIs have no information on the number of nondegree learners at their institution). As summarized in another 2024 EUA report, institutions try to “accommodate demands within existing resources and organizational and regulatory frameworks, which may be unfit,” and in the absence of confirmed and commonly agreed European, national and institution-level approaches for issues that should typically be solved collectively (such as recognition and the awarding of credits). 

Looking Forward

What steps should HEIs take in order to look forward and match their ambitions in proposing nondegree education to a growing number of learners? While, for now at least, institutions tend to confirm that degree education will remain the by-default reference for higher education, current developments might not rule out the possibility of shorter units of learning either becoming sufficient by themselves to fill the learners’ and professions’ needs, recognized as a qualification (which is already the case in some places), and/or stackable up to a degree. However, currently, the challenges identified by HEIs themselves mostly show frustration over existing frameworks and processes that make degree education difficult to change and adapt at a rapid pace. As Trends 2024 put it, nondegree education might be widespread in the EHEA, but it remains patchy and dependent on local and regional contexts and needs. HEIs should carefully examine, for themselves and throughout the institution, the value and vision that they would prioritize when offering nondegree education, as well as what kind of complementarity with degree education should be reached. Together with policy makers and students, they should also consider how an education offer consisting of both degree and nondegree provision can provide more flexible learning journeys, which would benefit a wide range of learners and an increasingly diverse student body. For what is actually at stake is there: universities can offer education in multiple ways, ranging from degree study programs to continuing professional development for graduates to part-time provision for adult learners to nondegree credits. But their role in lifelong learning is part of what would define their role in providing what society needs: shaping future graduates that can fully play their role, as citizens and as professionals in tomorrow’s world.             

Michael Gaebel is director of the Higher Education Policy Unit at the European University Association (EUA). Email: [email protected].

Thérèse Zhang is deputy director of the Higher Education Policy Unit at the European University Association (EUA). Email: [email protected].

This article is based on their report Trends 2024. European higher education institutions in times of transition, which may be found at https://www.eua.eu/publications/reports/trends-2024.html.