Since its founding, the non-profit CHE Centrum für Hochschulentwicklung has understood itself to be an independent and implementation orientated think tank with an international outlook. The main focus lies on the German and European higher education.

We are convinced that the scientific system should be versatile to be able to offer everyone, who wants to participate in it, ideal and differentiated development opportunities in a changing environment. We have therefore committed ourselves to a scientific system with…

• Higher education institutes with their own responsibility
• Actors with the capacity to act
• Higher education institutes with versatile profiles
• Transparent activities
• Adequate structures and processes
• Autonomous higher education institutes with social responsibility.

In these areas, we provide thought impulses, encourage innovative and pilot based initiatives and reflect on reform results. Our approaches and thoughts consider international trends and experiences. They are substantiated and implemented through a cooperative dialogue with experts and decision-makers from the business, administrative and political sector (especially higher education and research institutes, ministries, the EU, foundations and other NGOs). Convincing good practice solutions are actively communicated and made publicly available. In this way, we fullfil the not-for-profit mandate to which we feel bound.

We are involved on the level of the scientific system as well as on the level of the individual institutions that act within it. As part of this, we promote the provision of appropriate basic conditions that enable higher education and research institutes to act on their own responsibility. We monitor and accompany developments, changes to the scientific system and sociopolitical and economic aims in an equally constructive as well as critical manner. We draw attention to positive results and erroneous developments based upon a solid evaluation of them. We produce studies and expert opinions concerning relevant questions, whereby our focus lies on manageable recommendations and the practical implementation of research results.

With our differentiated and internationally recognised ranking and other offers of information, we create transparency in regards to the activities and developments on the level of the individual higher education institutes as well as of the scientific system. The ranking is principally a service offer with information for prospective students.

The results of our work are made available to the interested public through target group oriented publications, further education programmes and events. Decision-makers are supported by us in carrying out their duties, as we provide them with the specifically required competencies.