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For each of the eight main areas, the authors have National Profiles, which are available online on the considered the state of development, the main chalproject website. The authors caution readers on ‘overlenges and possible policy directions. This book is a interpretation’ of the comparative analysis and warn fine piece of work! that the social dimension of higher education is ‘tied Moving right along, Student Finance in a Welfare to multifarious national issues’ (p. 15). State also relates to student welfare in Europe. It is a The report covers a range of areas, and provides key doctoral thesis comprising new and previously pubfindings on each.There are chapters on demographics, lished work on student finances in Norway. As is the access, social make-up, accommodation, funding and case in several European countries, PhDs in Norway state assistance, living expenses and spending, student are typeset and published as books, and therefore employment and time budget and internationalism become reasonably accessible to researchers or others and mobility. With apologies for paraphrasing, here are interested in the research topic. a few key facts, to whet the appetite: The benefit of work such as this is that it provides • The average age of students varies from 21 to 27 in researchers with analyses of systems or parts of sysdifferent countries, and of first year students from tems at a level of detail that is unlikely to be available 19 to 26.There are more female than male university in such a compact form elsewhere. In most instances, a students in the majority of countries that are party standard published book would need to be broader in to this project. The proportion of women in Latvian, scope than one written as Swedish and Slovenian a PhD dissertation thereby universities is close to The report covers a range of areas, and losing the benefit of fine two-thirds. provides key findings on each. There detail. Such is the case • Most students enter uniare chapters on demographics, access, with this work: about 85 versity via ‘traditional’ social make-up, accommodation, funding pages introduce, describe, pathways, and most stuand state assistance, living expenses and compare and analyse the dents in most countries Norwegian system and are enrolled full-time. spending, student employment and time recent changes to it, and The authors point out budget and internationalism and mobility. another 60 or so pages feathat although there are ture four journal articles relatively few part-time published in recent years. students in many countries, some students are forThe first two chapters introduce the Norwegian mally enrolled full-time but spend only some of their higher education and student welfare systems. Norwetime at study. Low socio-economic groups are undergian higher education has no tuition fees, a common represented in all countries, but with considerable arrangement in Scandinavian countries, but there is variation. an opportunity cost for full-time students associated • In most countries, the majority of students live in with attending a university. Further, the Norwegian private flats or lodgings, but national patterns vary education system avoids streaming in lower secondary considerably between that and living in the family levels, and provides options for access to post-secondhome or in student halls. Living at home, for examary education based on ‘non-formal’ qualifications. The ple, is the predominant student residence in Spain, student welfare system is universal, simple and transPortugal, Italy and Latvia, but almost non-existent in parent. The philosophy behind this is to increase uniFinland, Norway and Sweden. versity access by removing structural and economic • The distribution of student income varies between barriers. In relatively few pages, the author describes countries as to whether it comes from families, the the Norwegian system in such a way that readers can state or employment and accommodation is the quickly compare and contrast Norwegian policy and biggest single financial burden in the majority of practice with systems more familiar to them. countries. Student employment is frequent in all No higher education system, including Norway’s, countries. is immune from change. The author reports on the The concluding chapter examines policy consideratwo most recent reforms. The so-called ‘competence tions. This is no mean feat considering the vast array reform’ (1999) was instituted, inter alia, to increase of data on which Eurostudent III is based. This chaphigher education participation by mature-age stuter draws together the threads of the study very well.
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Down and out in London and Paris (and Helsinki and Berlin…and Oslo), Reviews by Ian R Dobson
vol. 52, no. 1, 2010