The coming salutory effects of the Bologna Process?

This article is about how some of the lessons of the Finnish higher education world might apply to us, but its larger question is whether the Bologna Process in Europe will eventually end up transforming American higher education as well. The implication is that we have a lot to learn from a system where degrees are completed in three years, credits are easily transferable between institutions, the focus of higher education is on students and not faculty (teaching instead of research), and credits are determined on the basis of how much time it will take to complete various learning objectives instead of how much time a student spends in a seat.

I particularly like that last piece. I recall being allowed to go through material at my own pace for awhile in elementary school. I loved it, and I got two or three grades ahead. Then I got caught up in the “system” and was forced to be in class with everyone else doing what everyone else was doing, so I had to basically sit there for a couple years while others caught up. Ugh! Perhaps this move in Europe toward learning objectives instead of seat time will eventually help open up our accreditation systems a bit more? Just a thought.

http://chronicle.com/weekly/v55/i20/20a03301.htm?utm_source=pm&utm_medium=en