MEASURING PERFORMANCE IN HIGHER EDUCATION PROBLEMS AND PERSPECTIVES

Similar developments in European systems of higher education during the last years stimulated discussion and ‐ in some countries ‐ the implementation of policy changes concerning the financing and the future management of higher education institutions. The new measures adopted are mainly intended to introduce competition and performance assessment into teaching and research in colleges and universities. This article sketches resulting policy changes and some of their consequences, makes a rough comparison of two concepts of coordination in higher education, describes, in an overview, the American experience and closes with a description of recent developments in some Western European higher education systems which prove that measures to stimulate performance and competition can be implemented without changing proved state‐‐managed structures of educational systems.