Discussion on the quality of European higher education systems using cluster analysis

Abstract

The enormous increase in the number of students of higher education and transition from elite to mass and universal higher education are worldwide trends in recent years and further expansion is expected in the coming years. This situation, however, raises the need for higher expenditure on higher education and many countries have to deal with under-financing of their higher education. Involving or increasing student participation in funding is currently under discussion. From the point of view of financing are distinguished three basic higher education financing models in OECD countries which are characterized by none, smaller, or larger student co-financing. The aim of this paper is to choose appropriate indicators for describing quality of European higher education systems and with using cluster analysis to display similar higher education systems and discuss their funding. Findings of this paper indicate that models of higher education systems with multi-source funding achieve higher quality. However, there are other influences that affect the quality of higher education systems - contextual indicators, such as economic, demographic, or historical development.