US Higher Education

This article aims to explore the history and philosophy of US higher education and to compare it to the European situation. It discusses the implications of these two entirely different approaches to the role of the higher education institution in society, while highlighting the consequences of the different post-secondary missions on all aspects of internationalisation. The article focuses in particular on the different concepts of mobility, education at home, cooperation and competition, to be found on each side of the Atlantic, as well as the increasing impact of globalised markets on higher education institutions. New concepts of institutional cooperation are discussed and criteria for successful cooperation with US institutions are proposed.