News 10.04.2013
“Create more study places in Master programmes“
The demand for study places on Master programmes will increase dramatically over the coming years. In contrast to the number of Master study places so far planned by the Higher Education Pact, an estimated 36,000 Bachelor graduates could may have to postpone starting a Master programme in the peak year of 2016 alone if the highest of three possible calculation scenarios in the study came true. The CHE model calculation shows the corridor of the expected potential demand for places if 50, 69.4 and 85 per cent of Bachelor graduates continue onto a Master programme. Even the cautious estimate that only one in two Bachelor students will continue onto a Master programme indicates that a significantly higher demand is to be expected compared to the number of Master places financed up until now. “It is a fact that the Higher Education Pact 2020 does not include a set of tools that can stimulate the necessary expansion of study places in Master programmes,” said Prof. Dr. Frank Ziegele, managing director of the CHE – Centre for Higher Education

News 12.03.2013
”Diversity in excellence 2012” published: special analysis shows top performances by German higher education institutions in a wide range of areas
The CHE analysed the group of mathematical/natural science subjects from the 2012 UniversityRanking on the basis of research strength, practice orientation, internationality and focus on students. “There are many ways higher education institutions can produce excellent performances, said Prof. Dr. Frank Ziegele, managing director of the CHE. “We wish to make this diversity transparent in four dimensions and in doing so show that HEI performances cannot be determined in a simplified way using one-dimensional measurements.” Prof. Dr. Ziegele added: “Profile shaping isn’t only aimed at research. There are many possible profiles that are not better or worse than any other.”

News 13.02.2013
Information on the International Deans’ Course Africa 2013/14
The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) – Section for Joint Higher Education Management Programmes (DIES) and the Regional Office in Nairobi – and the University of Applied Sciences Osnabrück (FHOs), the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK), the Centre for Higher Education Development (CHE) in cooperation with the Alexander-von-Humboldt Foundation (AvH) and partner universities in Africa are jointly organising the International Deans’ Course for Africa. This intensive training course is part of the DIES programme (Dialogue on Innovative Higher Education Strategies) which has been jointly coordinated by DAAD and HRK since 2001

News 30.01.2013
New international university ranking launched in Dublin
A new university ranking, set up with funding from the European Union, is being publicly launched under the Irish EU Presidency in Dublin today (30 January). The conference launching the ranking will be opened by the Irish Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairi Quinn. He said: "As higher education becomes ever more crucial to Europe’s social, cultural and economic well-being, the need for quality and diversity in our higher education systems grows greater. The Irish Presidency is strongly committed to helping support the roll-out of this next phase of U-Multirank. I urge higher education institutions to seize this opportunity to participate in building a ranking system which will shine a light on the many positive aspects of higher education activity across Europe for the benefit of students, institutional leaders, policy makers and other stakeholders.”

News 16.01.2013
Croatian government introduces target agreements with higher education institutions
The Croatian Ministry of Science, Education and Sports has concluded target agreements with higher education institutions for the first time. The process was developed as part of a World Bank project in which CHE managing director Prof. Dr. Frank Ziegele acted as consultant. At the concluding workshop, all those involved described their experiences with the instrument as extremely positive and said it had improved relations between the state and universities

News 18.12.2012
U-Multirank: The start of multi-dimensional international ranking
Transparency is needed! The European Commission is promoting transparency about the international higher education system. After a feasibility study was successfully completed in 2011, the Commission is now funding a two-year project to implement U-Multirank, a multi-dimensional and user-driven international ranking of higher education institutions. An international consortium of partners from nine countries is running the project together with international stakeholder organisations. The CHE Centre for Higher Education in Gütersloh in Germany and the Center for Higher Education Policy Studies (CHEPS) at the University of Twente in the Netherlands are the lead partners in the project

News 14.12.2012
Praise for multi-dimensional ranking at a classification conference in Chile: CHE Ranking - "the best quality instrument currently available"
There is continued international interest in the CHE’s ranking and data expertise. CHE managing director Prof. Dr. Frank Ziegele presented the European concepts U-Map and U-Multirank, which are based on the same principles as the CHE Ranking, at the international "Classifications of Higher Education Institutions" conference in Santiago de Chile on 11 December 2012. Speaking about the CHE Ranking, the Chilean sociologist and well-known higher education researcher Jose Joaquin Brunner said: "According to the professional literature, it is the best quality instrument currently available and provides the best service for students at the point when they are deciding upon a programme or institution."

News 28.09.2012
HEIs in demand as further education institutions after the initial degree has been completed
Computer science graduates want affordable opportunities to continue training alongside their working life. Most look for IT specialisations and business skills, and HEIs are their preferred further education institutions

News 04.09.2012
New publication on Governing Boards in German HEIs
What are the reasons for success or failure of Governing Boards (Councils; Boards of Governors; Boards of Trustees) in German Higher Education Institutions? The article “Governing Boards in German Higher Education Institutions” provides answers to this question. The authors Ulrich Müller (Centre for Higher Education) and Mathias Winde (Stifterverband Germany) offer tips and recommendations for HEIs, Governing Boards and state representatives. As a framework they provide information on the role of Governing Boards and the current debate in Germany on this topic. The findings are based on an in-depth analysis of state regulations, an evaluation of research literature and on interviews with experts and members of Governing Boards. Although the focus is on the German Higher Education system, the results are applicable to other Higher Education systems as well.

News 11.07.2012
The demand for studying without the German Abitur is higher than ever before
The demand for higher education study programmes that don’t require the German university entrance qualification (the Abitur) is higher than ever before: latest figures according to a new study by the CHE – Centre for Higher Education show that demand has jumped and now covers 2.1 per cent of all first-year students, which means that the share of first-year students without the Abitur has nearly doubled since 2007. Key reasons for the upward trend are simplified entrance requirements and the increase in the number of study programmes designed specially for this target group. The boom in demand for non-Abitur study programmes is reflected very differently in individual German states. North Rhine-Westphalia, Berlin and Mecklenburg-West Pomerania top the table with 2.2 to 4.2 per cent of all first-years students who are not in possession of an Abitur, while Thuringia, Saxony and Saarland are at the bottom of the table with between 0.4 and 0.9 per cent

News 14.06.2012
Study conditions independent from excellence status
A critical eye is being kept on teaching quality at the nine universities praised for their future concepts in recent years as part of the Excellence Initiative of the German federal and state governments. Some believe that the heavy focus on research is leading to worse study conditions because teaching is being neglected. Others, however, expect the additional funding to lead to better preconditions and automatically better study conditions, as good research is the best basis for good teaching. But blanket judgements miss the mark, as is often the case, and an analysis of student assessments in the university ranking shows that excellence status has no systematic or general effect on the top rankings with respect to study conditions

News 08.06.2012
Neither playing shy nor all too much levity is appropriate
Nearly 50,000 students signed a student loan agreement in 2011. Most popular are the new KfW student loan and the education loan offered by the Federal Administration Office. These are the results of the latest CHE student loan test 2012, which also points out what students should bear in mind before signing the agreement

News 30.04.2012
Results of latest CHE University Ranking
On May 2nd 2012 the CHE University Ranking 2012/13 with new results for natural sciences, mathematics, geoscience, computer science, sports sciences, medicine, pharmacy and nursing science will be published in the Die ZEIT study guide 2012/13. All in all the CHE University Ranking offers information for more than 30 subjects from universities and universities of applied sciences in Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Austria. The results are being compared on the subject level. From today on the results are also available online where the users can create individual profiles according to their personal criteria to find the university that best suits their needs

News 11.04.2012
Day care places more important than proportion of women
Male and female professors see the problem of balancing an academic carrier with family responsibilities as the greatest obstacle to equal opportunities

News 14.03.2012
New publication on the development of U-Multirank
The CHE – Centre for Higher Education with the Center for Higher Education Policy Studies (CHEPS) and other partners of the CHERPA consortium have elaborated a feasibility study on the development of a concept for a multi-dimensional, global university ranking. The study was financed by the EU Commission, which published the final report of the project on its website in 2011. A book on U-Multirank has now been published by Springer. The work offers a comprehensive and critical review of existing rankings as well as the debates about rankings. It also presents the U-Multirank concept and the results of the pilot study

News 29.02.2012
International Deans’ Course (IDC) Africa successfully completed – network of IDC graduates planned
“Strategic and Practical Issues in Higher Education Management“ was the title of the last of three further education seminars for the 30 participants of IDC Africa. The further education programme, which was carried out by the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service), the CHE – Centre for Higher Education, the HRK (German Rectors Conference) and the Hochschule Osnabrück in co-operation with the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, offered information and tools relating to a number of key topics in the field of faculty and higher education management

News 21.02.2012
Fit for business with the Bachelor’s degree?
Interviews with business studies Master’s students, professors and graduates show that career-start opportunities with a Bachelor’s degree are better than expected. Business studies Master’s students state that two-thirds of them jumped directly from the Bachelor’s to the Master’s programme. The most common reason for taking up a Master’s programme (given by about 95 percent of the students) is the hope of a career kick that – as students think – depends on a Master’s degree

News 01.02.2012
Higher education councils are the guardians of higher education autonomy – position paper bundles experiences from the work of higher education councils
The heads of higher education councils have for the first time compiled a list of national recommendations for the work of these councils. The central demand was not to weaken higher education institutions by depriving higher education councils of power: without higher education councils, supervision for HEIs would once again fall back on education ministries. The position paper was discussed at the Forum for Higher Education Councils in Berlin by the Stiftverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft, the Heinz Nixdorf Foundation and CHE Centre for Higher Education, and it was approved by more than 40 current heads of higher education councils

News 05.01.2012
IREG – International Observatory on Rankings and Academic Excellence is going to start a quality audit of university rankings
The purpose of the audit, that will be conducted by independent experts, is to verify and attest that rankings under review are done professionally, with a transparent methodology, that they apply good practices and respond to a need for relevant information of various stakeholders

News 13.12.2011
CHE University Ranking expanded to include assessments of Business Studies Master degree students – results show these Master students are mobile and focus on subject content
More than half of the students on Business Studies Master programmes have changed their study location after their first degree. The key factor determining the choice of study location is the programme offer – being close to one’s home clearly emerging as a less important factor. More than 5,000 students were interviewed about study conditions in their Business Studies Master programme. The CHE University Ranking has therefore been expanded one more time to cover the assessments of these Master degree students

News 24.11.2011
German higher education institutions are excellent – and not just for research!
German higher education institutions are not only capable researchers. If you look at relevance to practice, internationality and student orientation, it soon becomes clear that the strength of the German higher education system lies in diversity. This is the outcome of a special analysis of these four dimensions using data from the CHE UniversityRanking. Few HEIs were top in all respects, but many HEIs are top performers because of their special profile: 71 out of 84 universities had a distinctive profile in at least one subject and in at least one of the dimensions analysed. The new special analysis derived from the CHE UniversityRanking uses data acquired at universities and universities of applied science (Fachhochschulen) for the 2010 and 2011 rankings for the subjects linguistics, cultural studies, law, economics and business studies, social sciences and engineering

News 16.11.2011
Second part of the international Deans’ Course in Africa successfully completed
Deans from six East African countries (Kenya, Ethiopia, Malawi, Uganda, Sudan and Tanzania) came together in November for the second part of the International Deans’ Course (IDC) in Africa. The second IDC meeting gave participants the chance to exchange information, ideas and experiences about the state of their respective projects supported by German, Ethiopian and Kenyan higher education experts

News 30.09.2011
Research findings show the Bologna Process is moving in the right direction
Reform of the study system in German higher education institutions (HEIs) has been heavily criticised to date. Many books and articles claim the introduction of Bachelor and Master degrees has led to a decline in the quality of studies. However, there is no empirical basis for this negative blanket view. This is the conclusion of a new publication compiled by the CHE – Centre for Higher Education for the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research

News 22.09.2011
CHE-QUEST: Studienrelevante Diversität erkennen und nutzen

News 24.08.2011
Symposium: HEI profiling and student service organisations
What role do student service and advice offers play in strategic planning at German HEIs? How can student service organisations support HEIs in their strategies and profile development? These are the questions the CHE – Centre for Higher Education and the German National Association for Student Affairs (Deutsches Studentenwerk) will be discussing at a joint symposium on 29 and 30 November 2011 in Berlin

News 15.07.2011
Greater transparency in the Albanian higher education sector
The Albanian Ministry for Education and Science, too, wants prospective students to be able to find independent information about the country’s HEIs in the future. The CHE was commissioned to carry out a project (supported by the World Bank) to develop and test a concept with the Albanian Public Agency for Accreditation of Higher Education (APAAL) that would enable comparisons of Albanian HEIs on the basis of different indicators. The results of this project, a first ranking of four subjects, were presented at the closing conference in Tirana today

News 20.06.2011
European University Association (EUA) report on international rankings published
The CHE ranking is well on its way in terms of methodology and implementation. This is the conclusion of the European University Association (EUA) report on “Global university rankings and their impact”, published on Friday, 17 June 2011. In particular, the report highlights the student interviews the CHE carries out which it estimates to be very useful for prospective students wanting to find out more about a particular study option. The report says the CHE UniversityRanking is one of the very few rankings to be explicitly tailored to the needs of prospective students. The new report also explains the interactive structure of the online version of the CHE ranking, which allows users to customise a personal ranking in accordance with their needs.

News 16.06.2011
New Spanish university ranking based on CHE methodology
The CHE – Centre for Higher Education is working with the CYD Foundation in Spain to develop a ranking for Spanish universities. The new ranking, which is backed by the Spanish rectors conference (Conferencia de Rectores de las Universidades Españolas, CRUE) is very similar to the standards of the CHE ranking in terms of indicators and methodology, i.e. it is subject-related, multi-dimensional and ranks universities in groups rather than individual positions.

News 09.06.2011
Final conference of the U-Multirank project: results presented in Brussels
A European commission funded network lead by CHEPS and CHE - Centre for Higher Education has developed an alternative concept for a global multi-dimensional ranking, and has tested its feasibility in a pilot study. The results of the U-Multirank project were presented on 9 June 2011 at the final conference in Brussels involving more than 200 participants, and were officially passed on to the EU commission. The results show that the concept developed for a multi-dimensional ranking works also on a global scale and overcomes many of the shortcomings of the existing global rankings. The concluded U-Multirank project is a feasibility study that will not be published.

News 06.06.2011
U-Multirank Final Conference: attend via live stream
On 9 June 2011, the U-Multirank project will present its results and hand over its final report to the European Commission in Brussels. The project, initiated by the European Union, saw the development of a multidimensional global ranking of higher education institutions, and included a trial with 150 higher education institutions in a feasibility study. The results of this study are now available and will be presented during the final conference involving more than 200 participants from across Europe. Due to the huge interest, the conference will be repeated in the afternoon. It is also possible to follow the conference via a live stream. Questions and comments can also be made on Twitter

News 27.05.2011
CHE Student Loan Test 2011: Easy transition to Master’s funding not always guaranteed
Students who fund part or all of their Bachelor’s programme with a student loan should insist, at the start, on a clear option to continue the loan over a possible, subsequent Master’s programme

News 24.05.2011
International Ranking experts are going to start quality audit of rankings
IREG Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellence launched the concept for a quality audit of rankings. Gero Federkeil, CHE ranking expert and Vice-President of IREG explains: “With regard to the diversity of existing rankings we need an instrument that creates transparency about the various rankings, about their quality, their methods and their limitations. The audit is based on a set of criteria and will be carried out by independent experts under the responsibility of IREG.” The first audits will probably be finished in autumn 2011.

News 18.05.2011
From planning to appointment – Online CHEck Appointments enables reflection on the appointment process
The CHE now offers an online self-test for those actively involved in appointment processes. The self-test explains all facets of the appointment process and in doing so enables reflection on procedures. Self-test users get valuable tips, anonymously and for free, about the status of their appointment procedures

News 02.05.2011
Results from the latest CHE UniversityRanking
The latest CHE UniversityRanking, that is available from 3 May 2011 in the DIE ZEIT study guide 2011/12, involves for the first time the international orientation of the study programmes for the updated subjects. There are top marks for the universities of applied sciences (Fachhochschulen) in business administration: 50 per cent of them reached the top group with respect to the international orientation, while 35 per cent of the universities are in the top group. Subjects such as sociology and political sciences are less internationally oriented; in the subject media there is no university that reached the top group for this indicator

News 15.04.2011
Excellent Promotion of Young Talent
The CHE’s Excellent Promotion of Young Talent forum took place in Cologne’s Media Park on 12 April. More than 100 participants informed themselves about good practice examples in European countries, using the results of the CREST report. In addition, the participants could inform themselves about the promotion of young academic talent from the Master’s to fellowship level on the basis of the results of two workshop reports from the Excellence universities of Göttingen and Konstanz and two projects – by the Universität Oldenburg and Femtec Berlin

News 15.04.2011
Strong together: A successful year developing QM systems
Round one of the CHE’s Developing and Implementing QM systems at Higher Education Institutions year programme has ended successfully with a workshop in Berlin. A total of 15 participants from universities and universities of applied sciences have been planning and implementing projects together for the previous 12 months. Three experts boasting many years’ experience in developing QM systems at HEIs supported the participants in their work. One key aspect of the programme was peer learning, i.e. the universities learned from each other under the guidance and supervision of the experts

News 31.03.2011
Delegation from Russia discovers the CHE UniversityRanking and quality assurance in Germany
Seventeen professors from leading Russian universities today visited the CHE to discover the CHE UniversityRanking and German quality management systems at HEIs

News 09.03.2011
The CHE UniversityRanking 2011/2012 will be published in the DIE ZEIT Study Guide on 3 May
The CHE UniversityRanking is the most comprehensive and detailed ranking of universities and universities of applied sciences in Germany. This year’s ranking presents new data for law, economics and social sciences as well as media sciences, communication sciences and social work. In addition to facts about studying, teaching, equipment and research, the ranking also includes more than 250,000 student evaluations of the study conditions at their HEI

News 07.03.2011
Ranking expert Gero Federkeil invited to Australian conference on higher education
The more than 300 participants at this years’ Universities Australia conference, the Australian equivalent of the German Rectors’ Conference, showed interest in the CHE UniversityRanking and the EU Commission’s new initiative, the U-Multirank project.

News 07.03.2011
More female professors! How can this be achieved?
The number of female professors at HEIs in Germany is still low despite all the efforts made in recent decades to promote a better gender balance in the posts. Less than 20% of all professorships in Germany are held by women. In a two-year research project, the CHE will identify examples where the promotion of woman at German HEIs has been a success and, using these examples, examine the factors that help boost the proportion of female professors and that of female members of academic staff. The project is being funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the European Social Fund

News 21.02.2011
The CHE supports the Croatian government’s reform of higher education
Croatia is to follow other countries in introducing target agreements between government and higher education institutions (HEIs) in the future as well as triggering reform in the area of higher education funding. On February 16 and 17, 2011, the CHE – Centre for Higher Education organised and moderated a workshop in Dubrovnik to educate HEI representatives, research institutes and ministries about the instrument “target agreement”

News 04.02.2011
Data for the CHE UniversityRanking 2011 are being analysed
More than 45,000 students on law, economics, social sciences, media studies, communication studies and journalism courses have given their views on their study conditions

News 18.01.2011
CREST PLA reaches a successful end
The CREST (Comité de la Recherche Scientifique et Technique) Peer Learning Activity started in October 2009 with the aim of supporting the development of European higher education institutions by learning about each other’s research management and policy processes. How do you create attractive career conditions for young researchers? What does striving for research excellence actually mean and are there any risks and side-effects involved in this?

News 03.01.2011
Computer Sciences Master’s students at their university of choice
Almost all Computer Science Master’s students are enrolled at their university of choice – 94 per cent answered yes to the question of whether they study at their university of choice. Meanwhile 60 per cent moved from the Bachelor’s to the Master’s programme without changing institution, 28 per cent came from another German university, and 12 per cent came into their current university from abroad. There is therefore a high level of satisfaction with the Master’s programme: 80 per cent of students at universities and almost 90 per cent at universities of applied sciences rate their study situation to be good or very good

News 14.12.2010
First ranking of computer science master’s degrees published
The magazine ZEIT CAMPUS will be published on 14 December 2010 with an exclusive presentation of the first ranking of computer science master’s programmes. During the course of the year, the CHE – Centre for Higher Education Development interviewed some 1,400 students on computer science master’s programmes at universities or universities of applied sciences in Germany, Austria, Holland or Italy in order to find out how satisfied they are with their courses

News 08.12.2010
Final spurt for data acquisition for the UniversityRanking 2011
Data acquisition for the CHE UniversityRanking 2011, which will provide updated information for law, economics and social sciences programmes, will have been complete by the end of the year

News 30.11.2010
Eröffnung neuer Universität in Prizren, Kosovo

News 04.11.2010
Quality label to offer increased transparency in university rankings – international ranking association IREG introduces concept for quality-based audit of rankings
University rankings have become a permanent feature in higher education. Many countries are now comparing their higher education institutions. Several international or global rankings have emerged in recent years. These have attracted a great deal of attention and have even influenced higher education policy in many countries. The rankings differ in relation to targets, methodology, the choice of indicators and results, and this makes it increasingly difficult for users to assess the reliability of the ranking results. A quality label for university rankings should offer better orientation and transparency in the future

News 27.10.2010
CHE ExcellenceRanking 2010: The best departments in Europe for future researchers
130 universities in Europe offer outstanding, research-strong departments with an international orientation for master’s and doctoral students in the subjects of Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Mathematics; for this accomplishment, they belong to the "Excellence Group" of the CHE ExcellenceRanking 2010.

News 08.10.2010
160 ranking experts from 53 countries in Berlin: the fifth IREG conference staged by the CHE – Centre for Higher Education Development attracts worldwide attention
University rankings have become a global issue. This is reflected in list of participants of the IREG conference that took place in Berlin on the 7th and 8th October at the Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften. The wide range of topics debated includes ranking projects in development countries, “third mission” tasks and the transparency of ranking procedures. The “U-Multirank” global ranking project by CHE and partners is also presented at the conference. The CHE was asked to organise the conference in Berlin by the IREG Observatory for Academic Ranking and Excellence, the conference was supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research

News 01.10.2010
East German HEIs ahead for equipment
Twenty years after German reunification, the east German Länder are “flourishing” in terms of equipment

News 10.09.2010
CREST peer learning group moderated by CHE meets in Murcia, Spain to exchange ideas on the costing of research activities and new funding models
The “Costing of Research Activities - New Funding Models” was the topic of the fifth and final CREST Peer Learning Activity, held in Murcia, Spain on 6-8 September 2010. The event, moderated by the CHE, was the culmination of a series of interactive peer learning workshops that have taken place since February 2010 and was successful in stimulating rich discussions, debates, and mutual exchanges between participants

News 09.09.2010
Make university councils a platform for social discourse
University councils can only fulfil their role as social discourse platforms if their membership is diverse. They must also have the authority to make decisions, but they must not be weighed down with detailed operational tasks. This is the conclusion of the University Councils Handbook, a major joint study by the Heinz Nixdorf Foundation, the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft and the CHE Centre for Higher Education Development. The handbook was presented in Berlin on 10 September, 2010

News 05.08.2010
Good career prospects in higher education and science management
Are German higher education institutions (HEIs) and extra-university research institutions internationally competitive with respect to the promotion of management careers? This question is covered by a new study that the CHE has carried out on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The situation in Germany was compared to that in 27 EU member states as well as Australia and the USA, and produced the result that, overall, the performance of the German science system was predominantly good when compared to the other EU states

News 26.07.2010
Kommen wirklich nur „die Harten in den Garten“?

News 08.07.2010
Not just promoting elites – suggestions for the National Scholarship Programme
The Bundesrat will decide on the National Scholarship Programme on July 9. Improvements could be made to the draft proposals if it is sent to the Conciliation Committee for agreement. Here, the CHE suggests factors that are critical for the plan’s success

News 08.07.2010
En route for Bologna 2.0: conference gives research-based stimulus for reform
“The Bologna process from the viewpoint of higher education research – analyses and impulses“ on 13 and 14 December, 2010, Umweltforum Auferstehungskirche, Pufendorfer Strasse 11, 10249 Berlin

News 07.07.2010
First interim report of U-Multirank analyses strengths and weaknesses of existing rankings
The U-Multirank project which is developing a concept and testing the feasibility of a multi-dimensional global university ranking launched a first interim report on its project website

News 15.06.2010
Creating Better Conditions for our Early Career Researchers in European Countries
CREST peer learning group moderated by CHE meets in Dublin to exchange on the policies to lead early career researchers to academic excellence. The young scientific minds of Europe are faced with many challenges beyond those concerning their theses or of publishing their empirical results. For PhD candidates, their very status is debated across Europe, though the trend is for them to be considered as employees with full benefits rather than students

News 08.06.2010
15 higher education institutions build QM system together
Quality managers often face the tough task of having to develop a QM system at their HEI alone. Would it not be more sensible to form an alliance with other HEIs in order to exchange experiences and learn together? Five universities and ten universities of applied sciences will be doing exactly this over the period of a year as part of an innovative CHE further education offer that began with an initial workshop

News 04.06.2010
Visitors from Ghana – delegation of the Ministry of Education is getting to know the CHE UniversityRanking
A delegation from Ghana has arrived in Germany for a two weeks stay. The first stop is Gütersloh, where the members of the Ghanaian Ministry of Education especially want to get to know the CHE UniversityRanking

News 01.06.2010
CREST Pear Learning Activities in Lisbon and Tartu
The German Excellence Initiative draws attention all over Europe with other countries eager to follow a similar example of setting clear priorities in research funding and investing in "world class excellence" (WCE)

News 27.05.2010
Government loans to students dominate the market
Student loans are currently being offered at extremely favourable conditions with many providers reducing their interest rates from last year’s levels. This is the conclusion of the fifth CHE student loan check that compared 36 offers and assessed them from the customer’s point of view

News 14.05.2010
Bologna on the road to success?
Students on Bachelor degrees programmes in social sciences often assess the relevance of their degrees to the job market as well as the professional and practical relevance of their courses more positively than students working towards a Diplom, a traditional German university degree (awarded by HEIs such as Fachhochschulen, Hochschulen and universities)

News 04.05.2010
CHE organises international conference on university rankings
For the second time after 2006 the CHE – Centre for Higher Education Development is organising the annual conference of the International Observatory on Academic Rankings and Excellence (IREG). It will take place in Berlin from 6 to 8 October 2010. Interested individuals and organisations can register via the observatory’s website. The event is expected to attract more than 150 participants from all over the world

News 04.05.2010
Results of latest CHE UniversityRanking published
The results of the latest UniversityRanking of the CHE - Centre for Higher Education Development will be published in the new ZEIT Study Guide 2010/11 on 4 May 2010. A third of all subjects are re-assessed every year. This year it is the turn of humanities, engineering, psychology and pedagogics. Universität Freiburg has again done very well in humanities. Among the universities of applied sciences, FH Münster leads in several engineering subjects. Internationality in language departments was evaluated for the first time this year and more than half of all departments have earned themselves a place in the top group

News 27.04.2010
75 per cent of medical students feel ill-prepared for the profession
One half of all medical students consider the medical profession to be attractive, while three-quarters think that the career prospects are good or very good. By contrast, the working conditions for doctors in Germany are not considered to be good: 46 per cent awarded gave the lowest marks (grades 5 and 6 in Germany) for doctor’s working conditions

News 23.04.2010
CHE UniversityRanking to be published in the ZEIT Study Guide on 4 May 2010
Data for the following disciplines have been updated in this year’s ranking: engineering, humanities, psychology and pedagogics. The Die ZEIT newspaper will be publishing the CHE Compact Ranking in a special edition of the ZEIT Study Guide 2010/2011, including selected data on student evaluations, research indicators and HEI reputations

News 17.03.2010
“Bring the family!” – workable concepts for a family focus introduced at HEIs
Eight higher education institutions (HEIs) in Germany have committed themselves to cultural change: for more than two years, they have been working together in the “Family in Higher Education Institutions best practice club” in order to make it possible for people to co-ordinate family and studies or career. Successful examples of family-friendly higher education institutions were presented and discussed at the conference dedicated to the subject on 15 and 16 March in Berlin. Federal Minister of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth Dr. Kristina Schröder praised the projects of the eight HEIs.

News 16.02.2010
European Union committee publishes CREST report
Following publication of the CREST report on “Mutual learning on approaches to improve the excellence of research in universities”, the CHE will once again be involved in the project, this time with a follow-up Peer Learning Activity focused on five specified topics highlighted in the initial report

News 05.02.2010
CHE symposium: Experts see education ministries as defenders of the social interest, sources of inspiration and consultants
“Tomorrow’s education ministries” will ensure that social goals are achieved in the academic system, will be responsible for the “rules of play” of competition and will be the consultants and providers of information for higher education institutions (HEIs). This ambitious role was shaped during the CHE symposium on the 3rd and 4th February 2010 in Berlin. It became clear during the symposium that ministries should explain which competencies they consider to be their own territory, which social goals they are striving for within the academic system and where they see themselves within the structure of German regional government. The “if and how” of the new image are indissolubly linked with those involved in it. In addition, regionally specific conditions do not provide for a standard model for “new-style” academic ministries.

News 02.02.2010
Higher education reform will only be successful if science ministries are prepared to change too
Germany’s science ministries have delegated a great deal of authority and decision-making power to higher education institutions in recent years, but this profound and comprehensive higher education reform has so far only been followed by partial reform of the regional science ministries as the “counterpart” to higher education institutions. Higher education reform will only be successful if the science ministries in the German Länder are prepared to change and breathe life into the reform process themselves.

News 02.02.2010
Work experience opportunities in higher education – public relation
Do you want to make a difference in the higher education sector? If you are interested in German and international higher education and science systems, enthusiastic about innovation in the higher education sector and are ready and able to undertake empirical work and compile texts, then we have interesting work experience opportunities for you.

News 16.12.2009
Quality standards promote permeability between professional training and academic education
Permeability between higher education and professional training is a key topic, but it remains a difficult one. There is often a lack of trust between professional training and academic education in terms of the quality of abilities and skills taught. This lack of trust becomes evident for example in difficulties of admission onto a study programme without the necessary school leaving certificate that enables entry into higher education, or accreditation by universities of work carried out in the course of professional activities. Jointly agreed standards can help here. A new study by the CHE – Centre for Higher Education Development and Prognos AG for Germany’s Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology shows that the conditions for this are good as higher education institutions and professional training institutes (technical colleges) are both similarly active in the area of quality assurance.

News 15.12.2009
„Vielfalt als Chance“ – Soziale Heterogenität der Studierenden steht im Fokus eines 2010 startenden Großprojekts

News 09.12.2009
CHE Research Ranking 2009 updates results for natural sciences, mathematics, medicine, dentistry and pharmacy
The updated disciplines in the CHE Research Ranking 2009 again show that the Universität Heidelberg, the Ludwigs-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU) and the TU München have an especially large share of faculties that are strong in research. Heidelberg is in the top group for a whole range of natural sciences as well as for mathematics, medicine, dentistry and pharmacy. The LMU and TU München are also in the top group for biology, chemistry, physics and medicine; the LMU with also for pharmacy and the TU München for mathematics. The Universität Göttingen has reached top group status for all natural sciences and medicine, and the Universität Tübingen for medicine, dentistry pharmacy and biology

News 13.11.2009
The Financial Times Deutschland presents the nominees for this year’s Higher Education Manager of the Year award
Teaser: The Financial Times Deutschland today presents the six finalists for the Higher Education Manager of the Year award. It is the second time that the FTD and the CHE together have nominated vice-chancellors and presidents of German higher education institutions that have pushed through internal university reform while externally taking up a strong position in the higher education market, thereby allowing them to win outstanding students and professors, third-party funding and co-operations. The winner will be elected during the FTD’s Higher Education Management Conference to be held in Bertelsmann’s Berlin office on 8 December.

News 07.07.2009
Proud of variety? CHE Consult examines diversity regulations for higher education institutions (HEIs) in Germany’s neighbouring countries
Demographic change, the Bologna process and with it a globalisation of the educational offer by HEIs is leading to a more and more heterogeneous student body across Europe. How well are Germany’s neighbouring countries prepared for this development? A recently published study by CHE Consult points out what can be learnt from European examples

News 02.06.2009
The CHERPA-Network wins a European tender to develop a multi-dimensional global ranking of universities
The CHERPA-network has won an open call for tender by the European Commission to develop and test an alternative design for a global ranking of universities. During the next two years, the network will conceptualize and test the feasibility of a multi-dimensional global ranking based on the CHE ranking methodology and on the classification of higher education institutions developed by CHEPS

News 07.05.2009
Ways of becoming a doctor – a comparison of model and traditional study programmes in human medicine
The aims of the new prototype curriculums are to link clinical and preclinical content and adopt an interdisciplinary approach to teaching. All four protoype curriculums included in the CHE ranking reached top group status for the “dovetailing of pre-clinic and clinic studies” indicator.

News 06.05.2009
Results from the latest CHE UniversityRanking
The latest DIE ZEIT study guide lists the results of the UniversityRanking by the CHE – Centre for Higher Education Development and shows top results for the model programmes in Medicine. They perform noticeably better than traditional Medicine programmes. For programmes in Teaching, Universität Freiburg gained excellent results. The universities of the Southern German Bundesländer are scoring points with high research reputation especially in Natural Sciences

News 28.04.2009
The global economic and financial crisis is dominating the headlines. What is the right thing to do in this situation?
It is by no means the time for moaning, painting a bleak picture or standing idly on the sidelines. Instead, we need to try and develop realistic scenarios for the consequences of the crisis in the higher education sector and to come up with measures, even now, for higher education institutions and policy. Convincing answers are still missing, but we have asked a number of national and international experts from the higher education sector to give their views on current developments and to forecast the possible consequences. We want to use these ideas to stimulate the discussion about suitable concepts and measures for dealing with the crisis

News 16.03.2009
CHE University Ranking to be published on May 6, 2009
Data for the following disciplines have been updated in this year’s ranking: Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Pharmacy, Biology, Medicine and Dentistry, Geography and Earth Sciences

News 12.03.2009
European higher education co-operation projects still have many obstacles to overcome
A study on the experience of Joint Degrees shows that as a result of the joint bachelor-master structure, European HEI systems have moved closer together, but the implementation of university co-operation projects reveals clear non-convergence, in particular the basic financial and legal frameworks

News 18.02.2009
A Bachelor’s degree and then what? Filling the gap between Bachelor and Master programmes with practical experience
As far as business administration is concerned, 43 percent of university professors and 66 percent of professors teaching at Fachhochschulen think it makes sense to gather some practical experience before taking up a Master’s programme. In the subsequent business administration Master programmes, 20 percent of the students use the transition phase to acquire practical experience

News 07.01.2009
CHE study analyses the frequency and efficiency of internationalisation strategies
Internationalisation strategies are now common at German higher education institutions (HEIs). Forty-six percent of the HEIs asked are already implementing strategies as well as a catalogue of internationalisation measures. Another 20 percent say that they are currently preparing for internationalisation. The strategies are geared mostly towards teaching

News 17.12.2008
Latest CHE ForschungsRanking (Research Ranking) gives the latest results for business administration, sociology and economics: top class research not only at “universities of excellence”
The 2008 CHE ForschungsRanking (Research Ranking) includes both well-known and new departments with strong research performances. Every three years, the CHE collects fresh data for a number of core subjects. For the CHE ForschungsRanking (Research Ranking) 2008, the research indicators for business administration, sociology and economics have been analysed in detail.

News 03.12.2008
CHE pilot study: master’s programme students provide information about their study conditions
For the first time, the CHE has examined not only undergraduate study offers but also master’s programmes for business administration at universities, Fachhochschulen and business schools. This means that consecutive programmes and non-consecutive study offers can be compared with one another and thereby allow interested parties to identify the master’s programme offers that best meet their wishes

News 24.11.2008
What does performance-related funding achieve?
Budgeting issues are among the most important but also most controversial aspects of higher education reform. This is reason enough for the CHE – Centre for Higher Education Development to take a critical look at one of the main financial management instruments in higher education, namely performance-related funding, and to identify possibilities for its further development. In the CHE working paper, 13 authors reflect on current practice.

News 19.11.2008
Booming demand offers a chance: need for intelligent and competitive concepts as well as increased investment for more study places
On 25 November 2008, the German Rector`s Conference (Hochschulrektorenkonferenz (HRK)) presented new calculations for the additional financial requirements arising from the increasing numbers of potential students and also from the conversion to the mentoring-intensive, staged study programmes. The paper estimates an additional annual requirement of an average of three billion euros for the period from 2011 to 2020. The CHE – Centre for Higher Education Development supports this finding and is calling for innovative solutions in order to make the most of the chance afforded by the student boom to promote Germany as an academic location

News 28.10.2008
European Commission Supports CHE Ranking Initiative
We are proud to announce that the European Commission recently expressed its support for the CHE Centre for Higher Education Development’s ExcellenceRanking. Excellence and Top Group European universities of this initiative are directly concerned. In his letter dated September 19, 2008, Ján Figel, member of the European Commission responsible for Education, Training, Culture and Youth, affirmed official support for the CHE’s project, specifically encouraging its endeavours to develop “tools to produce multi-dimensional rankings based on robust, relevant and widely accepted methodologies.”

News 20.10.2008
New data atlas for quick information examines the subject preferences of first-year students
While first-year students from the south or west of Germany prefer study programmes in mathematics and natural sciences, their fellow students from the north prefer to take up programmes in law, economics and social sciences. In addition, linguistics and cultural studies are favoured by students from western Germany, while students from the east clearly prefer engineering.

News 29.09.2008
A sign of excellence
The CHE ExcellenceRanking identified the European universities that show outstanding research performance in the fields of biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics. As proof of their excellent performance they were awarded a quality seal by CHE.

News 17.09.2008
Internationalisation of the CHE-Rankings continuing forward
The CHE UniversityRanking is becoming increasingly more international. In the 2009 ranking, for which data collection has just begun, over 100 faculties from approximately 30 foreign universities will take part

News 01.08.2008
New CHE management as of today
The change in leadership at the CHE non-profit-making Centre for Higher Education Development took place today. After the departure of Prof. Detlef Müller-Böling as head of the CHE following his 60th birthday, Dr. Jörg Dräger and Prof. Frank Ziegele have taken over management of the CHE

News 02.07.2008
Reorganisation at the CHE. Christian Berthold and Yorck Hener together take the helm at CHE Consult
From 1 August, Yorck Hener will join the management of CHE Consult, taking the helm alongside Christian Berthold. After Detlef Müller-Böling will have left the CHE Centre for Higher Education Development at the end of July and Frank Ziegele, previous CEO of CHE Consult, takes over leadership of the non-profit making CHE with Jörg Drager, CHE Consult will also witness a change in management.

News 30.06.2008
CHE-Forum „The myth of the management information systems“
What role do management information systems play in the decision-making process in higher education management? What should management provide? A conference to be held at the Convention Hall, Bielefeld, on 30 September will shed some light on the necessity of IT-based information when making management decisions and how they meet the requirements of management bodies

News 30.06.2008
Transparent methods used for CHE Ranking
The transparency of rankings with respect to the methods applied is one of the most crucial criteria for a solid ranking, as determined by the International Ranking Expert Group (IREG) in the ”Berlin Principles“. The CHE Ranking of course meets these requirements

News 23.06.2008
“Enfant terrible” of higher education receives a ”Goldener Ehrenring” (a golden ring of honour) from the TU MünchenEhrenring“ der TU München
Detlef Müller-Böling has conducted his final symposium in Berlin as head of the CHE – Centre for Higher Education Development,. After more than a decade of “counting, measuring, estimating”, the question asked was whether this was “a blessing or a curse” for German higher education. During the evening reception to mark the departure of Müller-Böling as head of the CHE, the president of the TU München Wolfgang A. Herrmann presented Müller-Böling with a ”Goldener Ehrenring“ (a golden ring of honour) from the university

News 09.06.2008
IREG-International Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellence
The International Ranking Expert Group (IREG) created the IREG-International Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellence

News 26.05.2008
Counting, measuring, estimating – a blessing or a curse for higher education institutions? Farewell symposium for Prof. Dr. Detlef Müller-Böling
Is it possible to measure the performance of higher education institutions (HEIs)? What are the opportunities and limitations in measuring the performance of HEIs? What kind of data collection is reasonable and how are these data reflected in HEI steering? These questions are discussed by high-ranking representatives from science, politics and the media at a symposium that will take place in Berlin the 19th and 20th of June 2008

News 20.05.2008
Analysing target countries - CHE looks into the future of student recruitment
Recruitment from abroad has become a global hot topic in higher education in recent years. Countries that have been recruiting international students for decades, as well as countries very new to the scene play vital roles in this education exchange. Germany is rather a latecomer to the scene

News 06.05.2008
Results from the latest CHE UniversityRanking
The latest CHE UniversityRanking has updates for the subjects of Media, Business Informatics, Business Administration, Law, Political Science, Social Work, Sociology, Economics and Industrial Engineering. There are top marks for the universities of Mannheim, Erfurt, Münster and Bremen and very good results for the new dual study programmes in Business Administration. For courses in Social Work, it is mainly some ecclesiastical higher education institutions (HEIs) that are scoring points while Fachhochschulen are scoring points in terms of practical content

News 02.05.2008
Benchmarking Internationalisation – EBI Workshop in Berlin
In the endeavor to further develop benchmarking practices throughout European Higher Education, the CHE is partnered with ESMU, UNESCO-CEPES and the University of Aveiro in a project called the European Benchmarking Initiative, funded by the European Commission

News 28.04.2008
With AkCont, CHE Consult is presenting a concept for the organisation of controlling at German higher education institutions (HEIs)
AkCont aims to make the further the processes and results of controlling useable to a greater extend with regard to the different questions of higher education management and also to decision-making process

News 17.04.2008
Guidance for the accreditation market. Results of the CHE Forum on 15 April 2008
Which is the best method for my higher education institution (HEI): programme, cluster or system accreditation, or quality audit? This was the question discussed by the 160 participants in the CHE Forum in Kassel

News 28.03.2008
Rating of bachelor’s programmes: How well do higher education institutions (HEIs) promote the employability of their students?
There is a great deal of difference in how bachelor’s programmes at German HEIs promote the necessary competences and abilities for jobs beyond pure technical know-how. While some HEIs have established exemplary measures in order to prepare students for the job market, a number of HEIs have as good as ignored this aspect in the conversion to bachelor’s and master’s programmes and are still focusing almost exclusively on the imparting of technical know-how

Interview 07.03.2008
“You have to examine precisely what the rankings measure“
Dr. Sonja Berghoff, project manager of the CHE ResearchRanking, in an interview with Dorit Amelang concerning the German research system. What is the international position of Germany in science? What are its strenghts? What is special about it?. The CHE ResearchRanking and the CHE ExcellenceRanking show the best universities in research in Germany and Europe

News 04.03.2008
Dual leadership for the CHE in the future: Jörg Dräger and Frank Ziegele take over the management of CHE in July 2008
After 14 years, Professor Dr. Detlef Müller-Böling will be retiring from the CHE in the summer. Competence and continuity, however, will be assured by Jörg Dräger, (Ph.D. Cornell U.), Senator for Science and Research in Hamburg, and Professor Dr. Frank Ziegele, project manager at the CHE for many years and professor for higher education and science management at the FH Osnabrück

News 29.02.2008
Now it’s the turn of the HEIs
The CHE – Centre for Higher Education Development takes a position on study fees and study fee management in North Rhine-Westphalia and weighs up improvement options

News 20.02.2008
CHE ResearchRanking 2007: top group holds its ground
In the CHE ResearchRanking 2007, the universities of Frankfurt a.M., Freiburg, Heidelberg, Karlsruhe, Munich (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität and TU München) and Stuttgart again have a large share of research-intense faculties. They gained top group status in at least half of the subjects covered by the ranking. Data for English Studies, Electrical and Information Engineering, Pedagogy, History, Mechanical Engineering and Psychology have been updated

News 13.02.2008
More higher education institutions in the Excellence Group
A total of 66 higher education institutions have made it into the Excellence Group, the group of best HEIs in the CHE ExcellenceRanking. An updated version of the CHE working paper 99 is now online

News 07.02.2008
Which procedure for which higher education institution – System Accreditation, Institutional Audit or Programme Accreditation?
National and international experts will be offering orientation and support for higher education institutions interested in accreditation and auditing at a discussion forum in Kassel on 15th April 2008.

News 23.01.2008
Workshop Benchmarking of Internationalisation
In the context of the European Benchmarking Initiative project the Centre for Higher Education Development (CHE) in cooperation with the European Centre for the Strategic Management of Universities (ESMU), University Aveiro and UNESCO-CEPES is inviting you to participate in a on benchmarking of internationalisation

News 19.12.2007
Boom in the number of first year students in Germany: New study by the CHE – Centre for Higher Education Development foresees great demand beyond 2020
With its latest study "Die Zukunft vor den Toren" („The Future in Sight“), CHE Consult presents an updated calculation for growth in the number of first year students up until 2020. According to the study, the number of German first year students will markedly increase, reach a high point in 2013 and will remain at a high level beyond 2020

News 09.11.2007
How to manage quality
All European higher education institutions (HEIs) are faced with the question of whether and how research and teaching quality can be managed sustainably. Possible answers were discussed by a panel of the European Forum of Quality Assurance that took place in Rome from the 15th to the 17th of November and was organised by the CHE (Centre for Higher Education Development) in cooperation with the Bavarian State Institute for Higher Education Research and Planning (IHF)

News 24.10.2007
Benchmarking in European Higher Education
First gathering of university leaders, experts and practitioners on Benchmarking in European Higher Education in Brussels on 8 November 2007

News 22.10.2007
What Germany can learn from China
The German higher education system is facing similar challenges as the Chinese one is facing, albeit on a different scale. For this reason, the CHE – Centre for Higher Education Development - has carried out a study on the Chinese education system which reveals what we can learn from China

News 12.10.2007
CHE ExcellenceRanking: Ranking of Excellent European Graduate Programmes in Natural Sciences
The Centre for Higher Education Development (CHE) is working to develop a Ranking of Excellent European Graduate Programmes in Natural Sciences which is intended as an orientation guide for undergraduates, helping them find their way around European Higher Education while at the same time helping them to choose a suitable university for their graduate studies: Master’s and PhD.

News 10.10.2007
Students assess their libraries
University libraries have for a long time been offering more than just books and magazines to read and borrow. They have become more like information centres, equipped with a range of new digital or electronic services. In “Indicator in focus: Libraries” (“Indikator im Blickpunkt: Bibliotheken”) students give high marks for online services while they are clearly less satisfied with the specialised literature offer at some universities

News 21.09.2007
Success factors for quality management systems in higher education institutions (HEIs)
Great interest at the CHE – Centre for Higher Education Development forum in Kassel, Germany, yesterday where the first comprehensive study about institutional quality managements systems was presented. The discussion by the participants confirmed a crucial result of the study: there is no standard model for HEIs. Institutions opt for different approaches depending on the type of HEI and on the disciplines they focus on.

News 19.09.2007
Findings of the CHE Ranking pilot project in Flanders/Netherlands revealed
The possibility of a European ranking will be discussed at the closing meeting of the project to be held on the 11th October in Brussels. Registration now possible.

News 17.09.2007
Family-friendly higher education institutions in Germany wanted
The Robert Bosch Foundation, the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs and the CHE – Centre for Higher Education Development are launching a competition called “Family in Higher Education Environments”. Higher education institutions (HEIs) from all over Germany are being asked to suggest projects that practise and develop family-friendly policies in HEIs.

News 05.09.2007
Research into the factors that influence the choice of study programme reveals five types of decision-maker
Choosing a study programme is an individual decision but there is also a lot of common ground. The findings from a range of interviews with pupils carried out by the CHE – Centre for Higher Education Development in cooperation with the online-magazine EINSTIEG has uncovered five types showing consistent decision-making characteristics.

News 10.08.2007
Pilot project in Saxony: higher education policy inspired by demographic change
For many years, Saxony has been addressing, concertedly and continuously, the consequences that the demographic change will have for several policy areas. As far as the core topic of “higher education” is concerned, the Land is now co-operating with the CHE – Centre for Higher Education Development. A comprehensive strategy will be set out in a pilot project. The objectives drawn up will be harmonised with the current higher education steering mechanisms.

News 09.08.2007
CHE UniversityRanking updated – the number of page views have shown a marked increase
The CHE UniversityRanking has been offered in English since 2003. The German Academic Exchange Service (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst - DAAD) presents the English version of the information on German higher education institutions. The updated version of the ranking is now online.

News 31.07.2007
Bologna reforms taking hold
A comparative study on curriculum change in 32 European countries shows that Teacher Training, Law, Medical and Engineering education are also jumping on the reform bandwagon

News 30.07.2007
European higher education institutions lack autonomy
On behalf of the European Commission, 32 European countries have been examined in terms of how higher education governance has changed between 1995 and 2005. A clear and general trend emerges, characterised by more competition, restructuring of higher education institutions (HEIs) to become division-of-labour organisations with strong top management, a governmental focus on strategic steering hand in hand with increasing operational freedom of HEIs, conversion to performance-based distribution of funds and an increasing importance of quality assurance as steering mechanism. Implementing these reform elements causes considerable difficulties, however.

News 18.07.2007
OECD paper recommends CHE ranking methodology
The authors of the paper criticise the strong reduction of complexity in many international rankings. In contrast the multidimensional CHE-Ranking is said to leave it to the user to give weight to the information according to his or her personal preferences

News 17.07.2007
CHE report on foreign study funding systems
The CHE has launched a report on tuition fees and student funding systems in 26 countries within and outside of Europe. How do you finance a full-time study programme abroad? What conditions do higher education institutions (HEIs) that want to send students to countries that may charge tuition fees have to observe? These questions are becoming increasingly important as more and more students want to spend semesters abroad during their study programme

News 02.07.2007
Set of indicators to manage internationalisation processes
In a cooperation project, the Centre for Higher Education Development (CHE) has defined 186 indicators and performance figures as a way of presenting performance in the field of internationalisation. Higher education institutions may compile their own sets of indicators from the CHE list according to their individual situation and needs.The indicators comprise input and output factors for higher education studies and teaching as well as research but they also cover more general aspects. The paper is now available in English

News 23.05.2007
Junior professors satisfied with their overall situation
The CHE presents the current state of play; interviewed: higher education institutions and junior professors. More than two thirds of the junior professors are quite or very satisfied with their situation; 71 percent of all interviewees would again opt for a junior professorship

News 14.05.2007
Transition to two-cycle degree structures: Impulses for more flexible capacity planning
In 2001, CHE put forward proposals for overcoming the rigidities and over-complexities of traditional German capacity law (“Kapazitätsverordnung”), which regulates the planning of study places in Germany. A new CHE study shows: In the meantime, quite a lot has happened. First moves into the right direction were taken.

News 11.05.2007
The CHE University Ranking becomes ever more international
Since 1998, the CHE - Centre for Higher Education Development has been publishing the much-used University Ranking for Germany with Austrian and Swiss universities included since 2004 and 2005 respectively. Assessments are now also being carried out for universities in Holland and Flanders that are keen on taking part in the international competition

News 08.05.2007
Findings from the latest CHE University Ranking published
The quality of higher education institutions has once again been assessed. The CHE has tested more than 250 universities and Fachhochschulen in the most comprehensive University Ranking for German-speaking countries, including – in addition to the German institutions - higher education institutions from Switzerland and Austria.

News 04.04.2007
Students give top marks to university facilities in the East of Germany
A special evaluation of student views on rooms, laboratories and libraries – extracted from the CHE University Ranking – puts the higher education institutions of Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, Mecklenburg West-Pomerania and Saxony among the top institutions in the top group. The study takes into account the views of approximately 75.000 students

News 20.03.2007
Models for promoting studies abroad
The CHE working paper “Funding models for studying abroad” aims to improve the framework conditions for a study year or a full degree study programme abroad. Funding examples from Norway and the Netherlands have been examined. The study also presents the state of discussion regarding studies abroad within the European context

Interview 24.02.2007
“To level out universities’ weaknesses”
“Higher education institutions can co-operate and still be in competition,” says CHE project manager Yorck Hener in an interview with taz NRW (North-Rhine Westphalia)

News 21.02.2007
No improper use of tuition fees at higher education institutions
In the German Länder of North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony, the first semester in which tuition fees will be charged is about to begin. The focus of public interest now moves to how the money is being used. In a study the CHE – Centre for Higher Education Development has examined how the collected fees are being used in North Rhine-Westphalia.

News 15.02.2007
Successful co-operation of higher education institutions requires clear target-setting
Co-operation between higher education institutions or their sub-units can deliver quantitative and qualitative improvements with respect to teaching, research, administration or higher education development. But a CHE study shows: there is no universal solution.

News 13.02.2007
“The glass is one quarter full”
It is a fact that there will be 30 per cent more secondary school leavers over the coming years. At the CHE symposium entitled “record student numbers … university collapse?” which took place on in Berlin, Germany, politicians and higher education experts discussed ways of tackling the problem of how to make them university graduates. (photo: Aldrik in `t Hout from the from the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science during his speech).

News 15.01.2007
CHE symposium: record student numbers …university collapse? Higher education institutions facing demographic chance
Mobility, flexibility and studying without frontiers are essential factors when exploring solutions for dealing with the record number of students over the next 10 years. The CHE will be presenting challenges and chances at a symposium on the 12th-13th of February in Berlin

News 12.12.2006
More than 12 per cent of all German students see themselves as part-time students
In some study programmes, the percentage of part-time students is extraordinarily high. One third of the Educational Sciences students say they study part time. However, part-time programmes make up only two per cent of the overall offer. This means that a considerable number of part-time students has no suitable study framework

News 23.11.2006
Higher Education Covenant continues until 2010 – question marks over the new solution
The Higher Education Covenant is an important step in the debate about the unique opportunity of training significantly more academics by 2020. Calculations made by the Centre for Higher Education Development (CHE) show opportunities and limitations in the covenant

News 08.11.2006
Future topic: "Demographic development and the higher education system"
CHE will analyse the effects of demographic development on the higher education system, and in pilot projects develop differentiated action plans and strategies. A two-year concept is being drawn up. CHE outlined the plans at the second Demographic Summit of the Free State of Saxony in Dresden

News 03.11.2006
Understand the market for master’s programmes, shape strategies
The CHE in co-operation with the CHE Marketing Initiative has launched a paper on shaping master’s programmes, using demand for the programmes as its launch pad. It argues for a strategic and considered shaping of master’s portfolios

News 31.10.2006
"universitynavigator" is launched in Canada - based on the CHE ranking model
www.universitynavigator.com is an interactive comparison of higher education institutions on the web. Based on the CHE ranking model, the tool enables institutions to be compared according to various indicators relating to personal preferences

News 04.10.2006
CHE research ranking 2006: top group shrinks
University research activities have been evaluated in a total of 16 subjects from Humanities, Economics, Social and Natural Sciences and Engineering. This year, new additions were Mathematics, Medicine and Dentistry. Top performing universities are those performing excellently in at least half of the subjects examined

News 21.08.2006
Faculty Management annual conference
The annual Faculty Management conference will take place in Berlin on November 27th and 28th. The agenda will include speeches, workshops and poster presentations offering a comprehensive range of information to support the exchange of ideas and professionalisation in Faculty Management

Interview 18.08.2006
Student loans - better than you think
Student loans are to become a fixed element in higher education funding as a supplement to traditional funding forms, says Ulrich Müller. Speaking in the Handelsblatt newspaper about current student loan offers, Mr Müller also says higher education institutions will be expected to act as contact points for students with questions about how to finance their studies.

News 16.08.2006
Indicators in the spotlight: Invention announcement figures for Natural Sciences, Medicine and Pharmacy
Scientists at Universität Jena announce the highest number of inventions in the classical Natural Sciences. As far as Medicine is concerned, Charité in Berlin along with the universities of Cologne, Freiburg, Tübingen and Heidelberg are top of the table. The results are based on an analysis of CHE ranking data, taking into account both absolute and relative invention numbers in the period from 2002 to 2004

News 18.07.2006
Updated CHE-UniversityRanking
Under www.university-ranking.de the German Academic Exchange Service has published its English translation of the CHE-UniversityRanking

News 17.07.2006
CHE forecast for number of first year students until 2020
The study shows that the number of first year students will develop differently in each Land over the next 15 years. Available capacities in some Länder will only be able to support about one third of the anticipated increase state-wide

News 10.07.2006
Bologna process contributes little to convergence, but triggers serious national reforms
CHE and CHEPS present international comparison of reform of higher education degree structures in Europe

News 08.06.2006
CHE-Forum: Internal implementation of tuition fees
Lively exchange of stimulating ideas as well as snares and traps on implementation of tuition fees. Agreement: key success factor is the quality of the offers

News 23.05.2006
International expert group defines principles on rankings of higher education institutions
The Centre for Higher Education Development (CHE) hosted the second meeting of the International Ranking Expert Group (IREG) in Berlin. In order to set minimum standards for the quality of rankings, the group has compiled international principles on rankings of higher education institutions. The conference contributions discussed various approaches to ranking and methodical issues

News 10.05.2006
What student loans really offer: More than 40 offers tested by CHE – Centre for Higher Education Development in student loan test
CHE has submitted a comprehensive rating of the current student loan offers. Clear differences have been identified with respect to costs and risk limitation, but also what concerns the financing volume. The results are published in co-operation with the German business journal “Capital”

News 03.05.2006
Results of current CHE university ranking
The quality of higher education institutions is again being tested. More than 280 higher education institutions in Germany, Austria and Switzerland were examined by CHE – Centre for Higher Education Development within the context of the biggest university ranking in German-speaking countries

News 21.04.2006
Successful examples for personnel development at higher education institutions
The expertise of higher education institutions in the fields of coaching, mentoring, career planning and everything else that belongs to modern personnel management is not employed systematically enough, and moreover, is hardly ever coupled to the strategy of organisation. A symposium of CHE and Stifterverband in Berlin introduced stimulating ideas for improvement

News 05.04.2006
Target-oriented steering for Studentenwerk Berlin
A current CHE study develops the basic ideas of a new steering architecture in the relation between state and Studentenwerk. A proposal for the introduction of a model based on partnership is made

News 31.03.2006
First rating for promotion of employability
Which higher education institution gets you fit for the job?

News 13.03.2006
CHE comments on the first draft for the amendment to Saxony’s Higher Education Act
In a working paper, the Centre for Higher Education Development (CHE) has assessed the “Corner stones for a Saxon Higher Education Act of May 10, 2005”. On this basis, the CHE submits a statement on the first ministerial draft of the amendment.

News 07.03.2006
CHE forum “Internal implementation of tuition fees”
In several German Länder the introduction of tuition fees is imminent. Three areas of responsibilities must be considered in the implementation process

News 23.02.2006
Guide for higher education institutions for the introduction of tuition fees released

News 20.02.2006
First open portal for the new generation of young scientists

News 20.02.2006
CHE websites in new design

News 15.02.2006
CHE starts European Benchmarking Initiative (EBI)
The aim of the project is to improve approaches to benchmarking in Europe with a view to developing benchmarks for good practice in university governance

News 16.01.2006
Illusion of equal opportunities among universities