Exchange Programs

Tempus

Since the early 1990s, the Trans-European Mobility Scheme for University Studies (Tempus) has been highly successful in promoting cooperation between the higher education sector in the European Union and its ‘partner countries,’ most notably in the early years after the fall of the Berlin Wall with the countries of Central and East Europe – many of which are now members of the expanded EU. With its focus on cooperation projects in the areas of curriculum development, teacher training, university management, and structural reforms in higher education, the Tempus program offers an ideal vehicle for the promotion and exchange of Bologna ideas to interested neighboring countries.

Today, the program promotes exchange with non-EU countries in the Western Balkans, East Europe, Central Asia, North Africa and the Middle East. Although many of the nations participating in the Tempus Program are not signatory to the Bologna Process, much of the work they are doing through the program is aimed at incorporating Bologna principles as part of an overall higher education reform effort. In Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia for example, the latest round of Tempus exchanges are focused on developing curricula for new bachelor/master/doctoral programs in a range of subject areas. In the five Central Asian states there appears to be a greater focus on developing quality assurance and accreditation procedures in higher education.

Alfa

Similar avenues of cooperation with 18 Latin American countries are encouraged through the Alfa Program. Cooperation through this program is focused on building networks between universities in member countries, increasing academic mobility between the two regions, and promoting the “attractiveness” and “excellence” of the European Higher Education Area.

Erasmus Mundus

In a bid to reach beyond the 26 partner countries involved in the Tempus program, the European Commission launched in 2004 the Erasmus Mundus program with an aim of “enhancing the quality of European higher education by fostering cooperation with third countries.” Unlike the Tempus program, Erasmus Mundus is focused more on academic exchange at the graduate level and the promotion of Europe as a destination for highly talented students and scholars. By 2008, almost 9,000 graduate students and 2,000 academics will be moving to and from Europe on Erasmus Mundus grants.