By Nick Clark, Assistant Editor, WENR

Legal Framework

The higher education system is binary and consists of universities (ülikool), applied higher education institutions (rakenduskörgkool) and vocational education institutions (kutseöppeasutus) in both the public and the private sector. In 1999, extensive reform with regard to curricula and transition to a new system of stages of studies commenced at universities, which was first applied in the academic year 2002/2003, after amendments to the Universities Act were passed by parliament in 2002. The changes that have occurred in Estonia in the course of the Bologna process have primarily been directed at the system of qualifications and towards supporting mobility. The general principles of legislation are determined in the Universities Act (1995, 2002) and in the Applied Higher Education Institutions Act of 1998. The Vocational Education Institutions Act of 1998, the Private Schools Act and the Adult Education Act also regulate some aspects of higher education.

1. Easily Readable and Comparable Degrees

• Estonia has signed and ratified (1998) the Lisbon Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications.
• The Estonian National Academic Recognition Information Center, which was established in 1997, operates as the Estonian ENIC/NARIC center. To make assessment and recognition easier, “Principles of Assessment and Recognition of Qualifications of Foreign Higher Education and Comparison with Estonian Qualifications” has been published.
• Government regulations: “Procedure for Assessment and Academic Recognition of Qualifications Certifying Education and Providing Access to Higher Education” is being prepared.
• The Diploma Supplement was first issued by a number of universities in English and Estonian in 1999. Beginning Jan. 1, 2004, the government will require all institutions of higher education to issue a diploma supplement in English and Estonian.
• The diploma supplement is currently issued to all graduates upon request, except for those graduating with a bachelor’s and continuing with a master’s in the same year from the same institution.
• Those graduating from applied higher education programs have been receiving an English diploma supplement as a matter of course from spring 2003.

2. Degree Structure

• Estonian higher education has undergone a number of reforms since the country gained its independence from the Soviet Union. In terms of study cycles, these reforms – in 1990,1995 and 1999 – have resulted in the phasing out of the Soviet integrated degree in favor of a system based on the bachelor (baccalaureus) and master (magister) cycles. Between 1991 and 1994, the length of the first stage of study was four to five years. Between 1994 and 1999, the length of study for a bachelor qualification was generally four years.
• In 1999, Estonian higher education underwent extensive reform with regard to curriculums and the transition to another two-tiered system of studies. Parliament passed amendments to the Universities Act in 2002, and these reforms went into effect in the 2002-03 academic year. Transition to new curriculums has taken place in the majority of major Estonian universities, with the focus of the first stage of study being general education and skills in specialty areas necessary for master studies.
• The latest reforms are geared more toward European integration, and thus the new system is closely aligned to the Bologna two-tier model. At the bachelor level, length of study is predominantly three years, and the capacity of study is 120 national credit points, or 180 European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) points. Some bachelor programs are four years in length (240 ECTS points). Master studies are one to two years in length or 40 to 80 credits (60 to 120 ECTS points), but along with bachelor’s studies not less than five years (200 credits/300 ECTS points).
• Beginning in 2005-06, institutions of applied higher education will also be able to provide master studies, but only in cooperation with universities and taking into account regional needs.
• In addition to the two-tier model, professional studies such as medicine, veterinary medicine and architecture still follow the integrated, one-stage model of five to six years (300 to 360 ECTS points). New, one-tier programs in civil engineering and primary school teacher training were introduced in 2002-03.
• The length of doctoral studies has been revised from the fixed, four-year program to three to four years in length.

3. Credit Transfer

• Like its Baltic neighbors, Estonia had a system of credits (Law on Universities, 1995) for accumulation and transfer in place well before the signing of the Bologna Declaration. The national system of credit points is a calculation based on the student’s workload. One credit point corresponds to 40 hours or one study week; one academic year equals 40 credits.
• The Universities Act allows parallel use of both the national credit system and ECTS credits (for international mobility purposes). One national credit point equals 1.5 ECTS points. Full transfer to the European system of credits is slated for completion by September 2006, but is currently used voluntarily by most of the Estonian higher education institutions involved with the SOCRATES/ERASMUS programs.
• Since the beginning of academic year 2003-04, it has been possible to express course workloads in terms of ECTS, and many of the major universities have included ECTS weighting in their course catalogs.
• Estonia has a six-point grading scale based on percentage of subject knowledge. A transition to the ECTS grading scale would require an amendment to current legislation, although the Estonian Business School uses the ECTS grading scale and credit system.

* Equivalencies as proposed by the Ministry of Education

4. Mobility

• Estonia has participated in the ERASMUS program since 1998.
• According to ministry figures, approximately 6 percent of the students admitted to doctoral studies in Estonian universities are sent to foreign universities for a period of study/research with the help of state research grants.
• Statistical data about Estonian students who study abroad is unavailable. According to statistics on study loans, slightly less than 30 percent of Estonian students studying abroad are in Russia, followed by Finland (18 percent), Germany (15 percent) and Latvia (7 percent). No information on the percentage these students represent as a proportion of the Estonian student body is available.
• Incoming students to Estonia, according to a ministry report, are still low in number and limited to a few universities that provide studies in English. The majority of foreign students come to Estonia not as exchange students but in order to complete their entire field of study. A number of Estonian universities have set targets to increase foreign student enrollment, so the development of courses in English has become an important goal for these institutions.
• Of the foreign students in Estonian institutions, 28 percent are from Latvia, Finland (24 percent), Lithuania (20 percent), Russia (12 percent) and China (8 percent). The majority of them study in private universities that have curriculums in English.

5. Quality Assurance

• Like its Baltic neighbors, Estonia has had an independent system of quality assurance in place since the mid-1990s.
• Quality assessment of higher education institutions in Estonia is a continuous process consisting of four parts: institutional self-analysis; site visits conducted by a body of foreign experts; oversight by the autonomous Higher Education Quality Assessment Council (HEQAC), which makes decisions regarding curriculums and the institutional accreditation of educational institutions; and institutional self-improvement activities.
• The HEQAC — with its final decision-making powers — plays a leading role with the Higher Education Accreditation Center (HEAC), which organizes accreditation procedures. The HEQAC was founded in 1995.
• Active assessment of curriculums began after HEAC was established in 1997. HEAC, a member of the European Network of Agencies of Quality Assurance (ENQA), makes accreditation decisions public.
• Accreditation in Estonia is not a compulsory process; however, it is the only way for an institution of higher education to acquire the right to issue officially recognized documents. Full accreditation lasts seven years; conditional accreditation lasts three years.
• In 2002, the first round of accreditations was completed.

6. Promotion of European Dimensions in Higher Education

• Only a few institutions of higher education have developed a purposeful strategy supporting internationalization; the majority of institutions consider it important to only increase the number of foreign students.
• According to a questionnaire filled out by the ministry for the “Survey on Joint Degrees in Europe (2002),” only one institution in Estonia is involved in a (true) joint degree partnership.
• The following is a list of international activities the ministry highlights in its latest Bologna report:
  • Tartu University and Tallinn Technical University participate in the European University Association. Tartu University is a member of the COIMBRA group of European research universities.
  • The University Consortium in Science and Technology, Baltech, was established in 1997 by seven universities in the Baltic region. It partners technical universities in Scandinavia and the Baltic countries to develop international cooperation in industrial engineering and management. Such projects have resulted in the development of joint curriculums in which students can take modules from different universities participating in the network.
  • The Baltic University Program is a network of more than 180 universities and higher education institutions throughout the Baltic Sea region cooperating in such fields as sustainable development, environmental conservation and democratic development. Although this network does not award supra-national or joint degrees, it is an example of universities pooling resources to cooperate in areas of regional common interest.
  • In spring 2003, a number of Estonian universities held negotiations with foreign universities for preparing joint curriculums. The Estonian Business School is the only institution of higher education that has participated since 1998 in the International Consortium of Double Degrees, which is oriented toward international business administration.

References

• Survey on Master Degrees and Joint Degrees in Europe, Christian Tauch and Andrejs Rauhvargers, September 2002
• The State of Implementation of ECTS in Europe, European University Association, October 2002
• Diploma Supplement – State of Implementation, European Commission, June 2003
• Lisbon Convention Status Reports, Council of Europe, Aug. 29, 2003
• The Information Network on Education in Europe – Eurydice, European Union
• Implementation of Bologna Declaration in Estonia in 1999-2003, Ministry of Education and Research, 2003