The question has been raised whether the entire orientation of higher
education might be fundamentally different between the U.S. and Finland
(as well as many other European countries).
According to B. Nagel, as reported by Dr. Ulf-Daniel Ehlers of the European Quality Observatory (EQO) at the University of Duisburg-Essen (Essen Campus) in a presentation on the Quality of E-learning in a seminar in Tampere on 17 December 2004, it is.
In Finland, if not the Nordic area in general, according to Nagel,
students are seen as "young citizens" whom the state has a responsibility
to educate. In the U.S. (and England), students are regarded as investors
or investments, or customers of educational services.
In the U.S., the institution invests in a student; the student "buys"
from a market of educational services. In the U.S., education is seen as
an individual duty or responsibility, rather than being the responsibility
of the state. The state's function in the U.S. is rather to oversee the
market of services adequately to ensure the quality and diversity of the
services being offered (via the provision of public educational
institutions and allowance of private alternatives, the accreditation of
higher education institutions to insure quality standards, etc.)
Expanding from Nagel's idea, one might regard the spectrum of U.S.
higher educational institutions as being similar to the spectrum of
shopping options available to the consuming public: high-end full-range
'status' department stores, specialty boutiques, mid-level department
stores, shopping malls and supermarkets frequented by the general public,
membership cooperatives, discount markets, and online distributors, to
mention only a few of the range of options open to potential consumers of
commercial merchandise.
Would the comparison of Finns choosing to buy, respectively, from
Stockmann, Lindroos or Tillander, Citymarket or Anttila, the neighborhood
K-kauppa or Siwa, 'fairtrade' shops, Verkkokauppa, etc. [considering the
differences in 'products' available, their cost levels, the
personalization of service, the 'branding' and packaging, etc.], be a
rough indicator of distinctions between Harvard and Stanford, MIT, Vassar,
Brandeis or Johns Hopkins, public 'state' universities generally,
religiously or ethnically-affiliated colleges and universities, community
colleges, distance-education degree programs, etc., in the U.S.? Would
there be comparable distinctions in Finnish higher education?
Source: NAGEL, B. Bildungsfinanzierung in Deutschland.
Analyse und Gestaltungsvorschläge. Vortrag anlässlich der
Konferenz der GEW Thüringen zur Bildungsfinanzierung am 13.03.2004 in
der Fachhochschule Erfurt (vgl. auch Kommission Finanzierung lebenslangen
Lernens (2002). Auf dem Weg zur Finanzierung lebenslangen Lernens.
Zwischenbericht, Universität Bielefeld). Erfurt 2004.