EURASHE as the main representative of professional higher education (PHE) in Europe sees as its mission to lead an harmonisation process of the sector across the EHEA. In order to do so, the HAPHE project has been launched in 2012 working on ‘harmonising approaches to professional higher education in Europe’. Together with our member experts, we established the Task Force on the Mission of PHE, EURASHE will continue developing initiatives and supporting its members in strengthening the sector on national and European level.

The term professional higher education cannot easily be defined. From the current absence of any categorisation we may conclude that PHE is just part of higher education and therefore operates within the same triangle of education, research and services to the community. PHE can occur in all kinds of institutions in the broad spectrum of academic, professional and vocational strands, in the same way as it can be offered in several modes of learning (including the traditional ones). Identifying academic institutions with ‘highly theoretical courses’ and professionally orientated institutions and programmes with ‘practical skills development or training’ means to disregard the fact that the comprehensive universities have offered and continue to offer vocational trainings such as for prospective physicians, dentists, veterinary surgeons and architects, which are all ‘professionals’ in their own right. In past decades, we could witness various convergent and divergent processes in higher education, which have had an influence on what is perceived as professional versus academic higher education.

PHE may play an important role as an intermediary between higher education, vocational education and training and the labour market. In particular, PHE institutions are – in a way – ‘bilingual’; they speak both the academic and professional language, and can thus be key players in the process of a better understanding between higher education and the world of work. To attain this aim, it is important to elaborate multidimensional characteristics of PHE with adequate indicators of good practice or even excellence, and to make a comparative review of existing higher education structures in European countries, identifying also problems and weak points of present systems.

(adapted from ‘A Look at Professional Higher Education in Europe’, in Gleichartig – aber anderswertig? Zur künftigen Rolle der (Fach-) Hochschulen im deutschen Hochschulsystem, 2014, Stefan Delplace)

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Following are documents in EURASHE’s library that are related to the field, you can search our library here:

•  11 Expert-interviews on the topic of HEI-Business Cooperation (2010) (0.7 MB)
•  2013 23rd Annual Conference: Evaluation summary (0.5 MB)
•  2013 23rd Annual Conference: Portfolio (1.8 MB)
•  2013 23rd Annual Conference: Programme (0.6 MB)
•  2013 23rd Annual Conference: Rationale (0.5 MB)
•  2013 23rd Annual Conference: Report - Higher Education - Making the Knowledge Triangle Work (10.6 MB)
•  2014 Seminar PHE: Programme (0.4 MB)
•  2014 Seminar PHE: Rationale (0.4 MB)
•  2014 Seminar PHE: Reader (2.1 MB)
•  2015 25th Annual Conference: Flyer (0.1 MB)
•  2015 25th Annual Conference: Invitation (0.3 MB)
•  2015 25th Annual Conference: Portfolio (6.8 MB)
•  2015 25th Annual Conference: Programme (1.1 MB)
•  2015 25th Annual Conference: Rationale (0.3 MB)
•  2015 Seminar Regional: Agenda (0.5 MB)
•  2015 Seminar Regional: Invitation (0.3 MB)
•  2015 Seminar Regional: Invitation - Serbian (0.2 MB)
•  2015 Seminar Regional: Programme (0.3 MB)
•  2015 Seminar Regional: Report - Profiling Professional Higher Education (1.7 MB)
•  2015 Workshop Cooperation: Programme (0.3 MB)
•  2015 Workshop Cooperation: Report (0.8 MB)
•  2016 26th Annual Conference: Flyer (0.2 MB)
•  2016 26th Annual Conference: Portfolio (6.7 MB)
•  2017 27th Annual Conference: All contributions (65.2 MB)
•  2017 27th Annual Conference: Call for contributions (0.6 MB)
•  2017 27th Annual Conference: Evaluation summary (0.4 MB)
•  2017 27th Annual Conference: Portfolio (1.7 MB)
•  2017 27th Annual Conference: Proceedings (3.7 MB)
•  2017 27th Annual Conference: Rationale (0.5 MB)
•  A broader perspective for the EHEA (0.2 MB)
•  A Short Survey of the 10 Year History and Activities of EURASHE (0.1 MB)
•  A Unitary System: IUTs in France (2.0 MB)
•  Alumni power (3.2 MB)
•  An Industry Sourced Platform for Academic Quality Assurance Processes (0.3 MB)
•  Analysis of the Tertiary Short Cycle (TSC) Educations in Europe (0.1 MB)
•  Analysis of TSC Education in the new signatory countries of the Bologna Declaration (0.3 MB)
•  Applied Universities as Platform-Based Innovation Hubs (1.5 MB)
•  Asociación Europea de Instituciones de Educación Superior - ES (2.1 MB)
•  Assessment of cooperation between higher education institutions and employers in Europe (1.4 MB)
•  BaLaMa Report FI (0.2 MB)
•  Barriers and Drivers in European University-Business Cooperation (2011) (0.9 MB)
•  Beyond the Bologna Process: Creating and connecting national, regional and global higher education areas (0.8 MB)
•  Big Data STEM Education: “The Skills Key” (0.1 MB)
•  Bridging companies & University college towards co-creation & co-innovation (2.5 MB)
•  Building bridges for a more professional higher education (1.9 MB)
•  Building bridges for a more professional higher education - workshop session: Policy and Strategy (0.4 MB)
•  Building Strategic Partnerships (2.2 MB)
•  Call: Alignment of PHE with Regional Development Strategies (0.5 MB)
•  Call: Organising and monitoring student placements in the world of work (0.5 MB)
•  Call: Personal Learning Environments in PHE (0.3 MB)
•  Call: Promotion of PHE to respond to skill shortages (0.4 MB)
•  Career services/Journey to the future starts today! (6.3 MB)
•  Career services/Journey to the future starts today! - material (4.3 MB)
•  Chambers of Commerce in Industry Business Cooperation. Present Experience and Future Role (0.4 MB)
•  Changing Patterns of the Higher Education System and the Pernnial Search of the Second Sector for Stability and Identity (0.2 MB)
•  Closing Address (0.4 MB)
•  Co-Makership in the Region (0.7 MB)
•  Companies’ role in integrating industry and HE (0.2 MB)
•  Considering university-business cooperation from the perspective of graduates’ early careers - paper (0.7 MB)
•  Considering university-business cooperation from the perspective of graduates’ early careers - presentation (0.5 MB)
•  Cooperation in and between Education and Business Life (0.5 MB)
•  Cooperation with the world of work as a key characteristic of Professional Higher Education (2.5 MB)
•  Croatia perspective of the Knowledge Triangle (0.5 MB)
•  Customized x-Learning Environment: e-portfolio integration (0.5 MB)
•  Czech Tertiary Education Role & Potential Development of the Professionally Oriented Sector (2.0 MB)
•  Diversity is Beautiful, Binary HE – Systems and Governance (0.4 MB)
•  Diversity of Professional Higher Education in Europe / HAPHE project outcomes (0.8 MB)
•  E-EMCOSU Emerging modes of cooperation between private sector organisations and universities (0.7 MB)
•  Elaboration of Key Economic Strategies and Economic Sectors (1.3 MB)
•  Emerging Modes of Cooperation Between Private Sector Organisation and Universities - Presentation of the project and its preliminary results (0.6 MB)
•  Employability in the European context and ensuring the quality of work based learning (0.3 MB)
•  EMREX Supporting Student Mobility (0.3 MB)
•  Engaging Effectively with European Partners (post-Brexit) (1.1 MB)
•  Enterprise Engagement and Regional Development in Ireland: the research role of the Institutes of Technology (2.3 MB)
•  Entrepreneurship & Innovation in EU (0.8 MB)
•  Erasmus+ Capacity Building in the field of Higher Education (2.9 MB)
•  Erasmus+ International Mobility for higher education students and staff (2.4 MB)
•  EURASHE 10 Commitments for the EHEA in 2020 (0.1 MB)
•  EURASHE a consultative member of the Bologna Follow-up Group (0.1 MB)
•  EURASHE Annual Report 2011 (6.0 MB)
•  EURASHE Annual Report 2012 (2.2 MB)
•  EURASHE Annual Report 2013 (1.9 MB)
•  EURASHE Annual Report 2014 (2.0 MB)
•  EURASHE Annual Report 2016 (1.0 MB)
•  EURASHE Conference 2018 April 19-20 Tallinn (1.0 MB)
•  EURASHE introduction (0.9 MB)
•  EURASHE Overarching Policy Paper 'Towards a Diversified, Responsive and Competitive European Higher Education' (4.8 MB)
•  EURASHE statement on the legislative changes to the Hungarian National Higher Education Act (0.3 MB)
•  EURASHE: Supporting European Professional Higher Education (0.7 MB)
•  EUROGRADUATE - Feasibility study for a European graduate study (0.5 MB)
•  European Association of Institutions in Higher Education (EURASHE) (3.8 MB)
•  European Association of Institutions in Higher Education (EURASHE) Introduction (3.0 MB)
•  European University-Business Cooperation: Collaborating to innovate and innovating to collaborate (2016) (2.7 MB)
•  Evaluating the multiple missions of higher education (1.1 MB)
•  Evidence-based UBC development: key results from surveys and directions to move forward (3.2 MB)
•  Factors influencing the extent of European University-Business Cooperation (2011) (0.9 MB)
•  Findings of the SEPHE II-study (7.4 MB)
•  Focusing on innovation competencies –examples of successful projects with the help of EU co-funding (2.9 MB)
•  Funding in the Netherlands - Simple… or Not??? (0.1 MB)
•  Funding Model of Professional Higher Education in Kazakhstan (2.1 MB)
•  Green Skills for Sustainable Development: the SUSDEV project (2.2 MB)
•  HAPHE General Introduction (0.7 MB)
•  HAPHE project context (3.7 MB)
•  Higher Education and Entreprise: Working together for Regional Development (1.8 MB)
•  Higher education for learning and skills development 4.0 (0.8 MB)
•  Higher education in Croatia – new challenges (0.8 MB)
•  Higher Education Institutions' Regional Cooperation - Lessons from International Experience for Governance and Action (1.1 MB)
•  Higher Education Making the Knowledge Triangle Work - Closing Observations (1.1 MB)
•  Higher Education –Business Cooperationas a factor for development (1.5 MB)
•  Higher Education, Democratic, Culture and Social Responsibility (0.8 MB)
•  Higher Education-Enterprise Engagement for Regional Economic and Social Development (1.2 MB)
•  Highlights in EURASHE’s 20 Year History 1990-2010 (0.4 MB)
•  Hogescholen moeten hun positie verstevigen - NL (0.2 MB)
•  How do the Mission and Role of Professionally Oriented HEIs impact internal QA proceedings? (1.6 MB)
•  Implication of employers improves the attractiveness of the trainings and the career success of the students (0.4 MB)
•  In-company training & education provided by higher education institutions: Work Group Discussion (0.2 MB)
•  Increasing South Baltic Mobility and Understanding Via Virtual Communication Platforms in Nurse Education (5.1 MB)
•  Industry 4.0 and higher education (2.1 MB)
•  Innovation at Estonian UAS: Knowledge triangle - Education - Research - Innovation (0.3 MB)
•  Integrating an industry perspective into HE (56 KB)
•  International Business College Mitrovica (IBCM) (2.8 MB)
•  Interview with prof. Franc Mali (University of Ljubljana) on University-Business Cooperation (0.5 MB)
•  Introduction to the theme Professional Higher Education (0.6 MB)
•  IUT of Nantes and the Factory of the Future / Industry4.0 in machining / Cyber Physical production System (9.5 MB)
•  Key findings of the EMCOSU project (considerations for higher education institutions and employers) (0.8 MB)
•  Les Instituts Universitaires de Technologie An original system of higher professional education (2.9 MB)
•  Lifelong Learning, Entrepreneurship and Social Development: The Role of Higher Education (0.1 MB)
•  Linking Education - Research - Innovation (0.1 MB)
•  Making an Impact: Higher Education and/in the Knowledge Society (1.4 MB)
•  Making European Professional Higher Education a Key Player in the Development of a Fastly and Unpredictably Changing Society (0.2 MB)
•  Mapping and Characterising PHE in Europe (0.5 MB)
•  Mapping and characterising PHE in Europe - Report (0.3 MB)
•  Measuring the impact of university-business cooperation (1.8 MB)
•  Međunarodni Poslovni Koledž Mitrovica (IBCM) (1.6 MB)
•  Mission and Strategy in Professionally Oriented Institutions - The Irish Institutes of Technology (0.8 MB)
•  New approaches in co-operation between employers and HEIs in the UK and view of the employers (0.4 MB)
•  Non-University Sector (69 KB)
•  Opening Address (0.4 MB)
•  Opening Address (80 KB)
•  Opening the ivory tower – third mission activities of small universities of applied sciences in context of economy 4.0 (1.7 MB)
•  Optimizing translator training and student employability through project-based learning: The case of the IATE terminology project (0.1 MB)
•  Overview of Trends in Professional Higher Education in Europe (1.9 MB)
•  Ovidius University of Constantza (Romania), an "Engaged University" (6.2 MB)
•  Paving the path towards Universities of Applied Sciences in Hungary – Summary on the Hungarian developments in the field of Professional Higher Education (1.1 MB)
•  Perceptions of Professional Higher Education in Europe (0.8 MB)
•  Perceptions of Professional Higher Education in Europe - Report (0.7 MB)
•  Performance funding and agreements across the globe: Myths and realities (1.3 MB)
•  PHE Definition and Characteristics Framework (2.2 MB)
•  Policy Challenges for Professional Higher Education in Central and South-Eastern Europe (1.1 MB)
•  Polytechnic Sector in Norway – the University Colleges (3.7 MB)
•  Portuguese Public Polytechnic Higher Educatitition (UAS) Funding (1.7 MB)
•  Practices of regional cooperation with stakeholders (2.6 MB)
•  Preliminary Findings of the SEPHE II-study (6.6 MB)
•  Presentation 23rd Annual Conference (6.6 MB)
•  Priority rozvoje neuniverzitního sektoru v evropském kontextu - CZ (4.6 MB)
•  Professional Higher Education as a solution to the economic crisis (2.2 MB)
•  Professional Higher Education in Croatia (0.1 MB)
•  Professional Higher Education in Europe - EURASHE’s perspective and policies (3.4 MB)
•  Professional Higher Education in Europe: Characteristics, Practice examples and National differences (1.2 MB)
•  Professional Higher Education in Europe: Characteristics, Practice examples and National differences (1.2 MB)
•  Professional Higher Education in Europe: state of the art and emerging trends (0.6 MB)
•  Professional Higher Education in Europe: Towards an emerging model?! (1.4 MB)
•  Professional Higher Education: EURASHE's Perspective and Policies (5.1 MB)
•  Professionnaly-oriented Programmes in Canada The Knowledge Triangle, Why and How it Works (3.9 MB)
•  Profiles and differentiation of the higher education landscape and the role of U-Multirank (2.1 MB)
•  Profiling and Quality Assuring Professional Higher Education (1.6 MB)
•  Profiling and Quality Assuring Professional Higher Education (1.7 MB)
•  Project Proposals’ Assessment and Evaluation The Point of View of the Evaluator (1.0 MB)
•  Promoting Sustainable Entrepreneurship In Professional Higher Education (0.6 MB)
•  Promoting Sustainable Entrepreneurship In Professional Higher Education: a pilot project (2.0 MB)
•  Qualitätsentwicklung im dualen Studium - Ein Handbuch für die Praxis - DE (2.4 MB)
•  Questions for follow-up on the institutional level for the implementation of the Bologna process in Russia (0.2 MB)
•  Regional Cooperation for Development Through PHE in Europe (4.5 MB)
•  Regional Integration Concepts (0.3 MB)
•  RELEASING THE FULL POTENTIAL OF PROFESSIONAL HIGHER EDUCATION TO SERVE OUR SOCIETIES (25.0 MB)
•  Relevant in the era of industry 4.0 (1.9 MB)
•  Research digest: Mapping international data capacities for studying HE graduates (0.2 MB)
•  Research digest: National-level capacities for studying HE graduates in Europe (1.3 MB)
•  Research digest: Stakeholders’ requirements for a European graduate study (0.7 MB)
•  Roadmap for succesful harmonisation of professional higher education in Europe - General Conference Report (2.1 MB)
•  Saradnja sa zemljama Zapadnog Balkana kao deo strateškog planiranja promocije više škole (0.8 MB)
•  SCAASS Student Conference of Academies of Applied Studies Serbia (0.2 MB)
•  SEPHE (Promoting Sustainable Entrepreneurship in Professional Higher Education) (0.1 MB)
•  Setting up systematic structures for policy-recommendations and best-practice sharing: PROCSEE project (1.0 MB)
•  SKASSS Studentska konferencija akademija strukovnih studija Srbije (0.2 MB)
•  Strategic Partnership for Building Professional Higher Education Capacity in Europe: the BuildPHE Project (0.8 MB)
•  Strategic Partnerships And Building A Consortium Of Universities Of Applied Sciences: The Good Practice Of The Urban Research And Education Knowledge Alliance (U!REKA) (2.7 MB)
•  Strengthening the ties between tertiary education and the labour market (0.1 MB)
•  Summary of the sessions (0.8 MB)
•  Supporting mechanisms in European University-Business Cooperation (2011) (1.0 MB)
•  Tackling the disconnect between universities, Small businesses and graduates in cities and regions (1.1 MB)
•  Teaching and Learning at Kauno Kolegija/University of Applied Sciences (5.5 MB)
•  Teaching Programmable Logic Controller with 3D virtual production line (2.6 MB)
•  Testing the Feasibility of a European Graduate Study - Final report of the EUROGRADUATE feasibility study (3.5 MB)
•  The Cooperation of Private Universities with the Business Sector (4.9 MB)
•  The Implications of University-Business Cooperation in Europe: the TUNING perspective (3.5 MB)
•  The role of Governments & stakeholders in the Bologna Process - Presentation (0.3 MB)
•  The role of Governments & stakeholders in the Bologna Process - Speech (94 KB)
•  The role of higher education institutions in the European Higher Education Area (0.2 MB)
•  The smart factory with a part production concept in higher education - paper (0.2 MB)
•  The State of European UBC (2012) (1.6 MB)
•  The UBC Ecosystem (2012) (1.0 MB)
•  The University Institutes of Technology (IUT) (0.2 MB)
•  The University Institutes of Technology (IUT) (2.0 MB)
•  UBC country profile: Austria (2013) (2.9 MB)
•  UBC country profile: Belgium (2013) (2.9 MB)
•  UBC country profile: Finland (2013) (3.0 MB)
•  UBC country profile: France (2013) (3.0 MB)
•  UBC country profile: Germany (2013) (3.0 MB)
•  UBC country profile: Ireland (2013) (3.0 MB)
•  UBC country profile: Italy (2013) (3.0 MB)
•  UBC country profile: Netherlands (2013) (3.0 MB)
•  UBC country profile: Poland (2013) (3.0 MB)
•  UBC country profile: Portugal (2013) (2.9 MB)
•  UBC country profile: Spain (2013) (2.6 MB)
•  UBC country profile: Sweden (2013) (2.1 MB)
•  UBC country profile: Turkey (2013) (3.0 MB)
•  UBC country profile: United Kingdom (2013) (2.7 MB)
•  University Fourth Mission. Spin-offs and Academic Entrepreneurship: a theoretical review through the variety of definitions (0.6 MB)
•  Updating curricula in response to labor market needs (3.7 MB)
•  Updating curricula in response to labor market needs - paper (0.1 MB)
•  Virtual Classroom as a method to keep in touch with your students during the externship (5.5 MB)
•  VLHORA Flemish Council of University Colleges (1.6 MB)
•  Warsaw University of Technology (1.4 MB)
•  Warsaw University of Technology - 2 (1.5 MB)
•  What characterizes excellent policies and strategies? (0.4 MB)
•  Where Would We Go from Here?- The Dilemmas of the Acedemic and Practice-Orientation of Universities of Applied Sciences (0.6 MB)
•  Wirtschafts-Wissenschaftskooperationen an Fachhochschulen in Europa (2012) - DE (0.5 MB)
•  Work Based Learning Partnerships between Higher Education Institutes and External Employer Organisations (0.2 MB)
•  Work Based Learning Partnerships between Higher Education Institutes and External Employer Organisations - material (1.6 MB)
•  Високе школе Војводине (3.1 MB)
•  Еразмус+ УЧЕШЋЕ РЕГИОНА ЗАПАДНОГ БАЛКАНА У ПРОГРАМУ ЕРАЗМУС+ (3.3 MB)
•  Менеджмент качества в российском высшем образовании: состояние и перспективы развития (0.8 MB)
• Profile of PHE
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EURASHE’s activities in the field are carried out by: