Report on the governance of educational offerings

In June 2024, the Association of Swedish Higher Education Institutions published the report “Styrningen av lärosätenas utbildningsutbud - Så kan akademin ta större ansvar för framtidens kompetensbehov” (“Governance of higher education institutions’ educational offerings: How academia can take greater responsibility for the skills needs of the future”).

The report proposes various measures to encourage higher education institutions (HEIs) to take a proactive role in the public debate on higher education and the courses and programmes offered.

Strengthen the connection between education and research

The authors of the report emphasise that HEIs should continue to have real and substantial freedom to control their educational offerings based on student demand and labour market needs.

The authors recognise that the hallmark of higher education is its research basis and make several suggestions to strengthen the link between education and research, including:

• An integrated policy for education and research, preferably presented in a single government bill.
• A single grant of government funding for education and research together.
• Education for lifelong learning should continue to come under the HEIs’ funding ceiling, but if the scope of lifelong learning is to increase, the funding ceiling needs to be raised if the number of places for new students is not to decrease.

Stable conditions

The report also emphasises that HEIs need long-term and stable conditions to deliver top quality courses and programmes and to develop and renew their educational offerings.

The report includes the following proposals:

• increase resources for higher education
• the degree outcomes specified in the System of Qualifications in the Higher Education Ordinance should be kept general
• to increase the motivation to invest in new courses and programmes, performance-based funding should be made less important.

Recommendations for higher education institutions

The report also contains a number of recommendations to HEIs on how best to develop higher education to meet society’s need for skills for sustainable and democratic development.

The suggestions include:

• Prioritise the adaptation and development of teaching and learning in line with the necessary research basis, which may involve reallocation of teacher time and thus resources.
• Develop partnerships with societal stakeholders to design programmes in dialogue, based on the understanding of needs.
• HEI managements are recommended to work together on the dimensioning of doctoral education based on national skills supply needs.

Anders Berndt