Flash Eurobarometer 260 (Students and Higher Education Reform)

Attitudes of students towards higher education.<br>Topics: preference of selected statements: right of all qualified students to study vs. right only for very best students, admittance of all students to universities vs. right of universities to select, higher education free of charge vs. acceptability of student fees in combination with grants and loans; attitude towards the following statements on higher education institutions (HEIs): should provide more programmes for part time students, should promote activities to increase variety of social and cultural backgrounds of students, study programmes should focus on teaching specialized knowledge, study programmes should include generic competences; importance of each of the following purposes of higher education: provide students with skills to be successful on the labour market, enhance personal development, education for active citizenship; attitude towards selected statements regarding the choice of the institution where to study: choice on the basis of reputation of the institution and study programmes, choice on the basis of other factors (e.g. location, friends, cost, …), sufficient availability of information materials, need for quality reports on universities, need for performance rankings, involvement of students in quality reports and rankings; considerations to study abroad; importance of each of the following obstacles with regard to studying abroad: lack of information on study opportunities, lack of funds, difficulty to obtain recognition for periods spent abroad, different quality of education abroad, language barriers, lack of encouragement by home university; attitude towards the following statements: short study periods abroad are mostly recognised by home university, all study programmes should include short study periods abroad, most non-mobile students obtain ECTS credit points for studies completed at their institutions, most mobile students obtain ECTS credit points for studies abroad, possibility of work placements in private enterprises as part of study programme, importance for HEIs to foster innovation and entrepreneurial mindset among students and staff, provision of tailor-made study programmes for enterprises by HEIs, more involvement of enterprises in higher education; future plans after graduation.

Demography: study institute; sex; age; country where upper secondary diploma was obtained; number of years in higher education; field of study; full time student; study status; obtainable degrees at institution.

Additionally coded was: respondent ID; country; interviewer ID; language of the interview; date of interview; time of the beginning of the interview; duration of the interview; type of phone line; region.