70
January 2014
OPINION
- The Catalan university system (CUS) and the challenge of the internationalisation of higher education
There is no doubt that the process of globalisation is affecting, and will increasingly affect, university systems around the world. The internationalisation of higher education, which began with arguments of cooperation and aid to developing countries (fellowship programmes), has turned into a multi-million dollar business in which competition is becoming increasingly refined in order to "win customers": action plans at national level (e.g. Australia and Canada), strategic alliances between HEIs and programmes for "multiple exchanges of goods and services" between countries all rule the day. As various experts, concerned about allegations of fraud in relation to the award of "international" degrees (e.g. double degrees) have pointed out, and to paraphrase the words of Philip Altbach, director of the Center for Higher Education at Boston College, a certain "chaos" has become evident in the world university system.
Sebastián Rodríguez Espinar - Professor Emeritus, University of Barcelona (UB), and advisor on innovation and development in quality assurance to AQU Catalunya
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