A Common Yardstick for Graduate Education in Europe
| Recent policy changes and demographic and geographic shifts in students seeking postgraduate educational experiences in Europe have transformed the very concept of graduate education within the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). These changes have dramatically improved mobility in postgraduate education within the EHEA, both for European students and those in the rest of the world, in ways that have positive implications for the future competitiveness of the European Union (EU). However, to ensure the most qualified candidates are placed in the limited number of spots in graduate programmes, European institutions must make very different judgment calls than in the past, when candidates were localised and often determined by individual professors or programmes. Now institutions must weigh the relative merits of students from their own country, across the EU, and around the world. Standardised testing can play an important role in helping European institutions create clear and fair admissions procedures for graduate education. However, to date there has been limited public discussion about the role standardised testing can play in this process. In this article, the author, who oversees the GRE® and TOEFL® programmes for ETS, outlines the key issues involving the use of standardised testing, including the GRE General Test, in graduate admissions and explain the potential benefits within a European context. |
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