funding and governance of higher education in norway senior adviser mads gravås...

Funding and Governance of Higher Education in Norway

Senior Adviser Mads GravåsYerevan/Armenia/September 8-9 2011

2 Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Norway (2010)

• State sector:– 8 universities – 6 specialised university institutions– 2 academies of the arts– 21 university colleges– The Police Academy and 5 military academies

(under the auspices of other Ministries)• Private sector:

– 34 HEIs with recognised study programmes – 5 accredited university colleges – 3 accredited specialised university institutions– 24 receive state funding– approximately 10 % of students


Structural features

• Decentralisation– successful in terms of access

• Fragmentation (figures from 2008)– state institutions have total of 55 campuses– 39 campuses have less than 2000 students– 17 campuses have less than 1000 students– 23 institutions (3 private) have the right to

award doctoral degrees (2011)

• Move from (partially) binary structure to hierarchy of similar institutions– university colleges increase their research

ambitions and activities


Policy framework

• All HEIs governed by same legislation– high degree of institutional autonomy

• All HEIs required by law to carry out research and development work – no formal division of responsibilities between types of institutions

• One common set of indicators for output-based financing, including indicators for research

• Structure of academic positions and salaries regulated nationally – same for all institutions

• Possible for HEIs to be accredited in higher category – main criteria related to number of master and doctoral programmes


Steering of HEIs in Norway

• HEIs have extensive delegated powers and decide their own strategies

• The HEI landscape, i.e. the geographical distribution of institutions and campuses, is decided by the Government

• We govern by “hard” and “soft” incentives– the funding model is part of the overall

steering of Higher education in Norway


Delegated powers of HEIs

• Freedom to establish new study programmes (according to institutional category) and decide on student numbers

• Freedom to decide internal organisation • Choice between two governing models

– Elected rector as president of the board– Rector appointed by board with external

president


Steering of HEIs in Norway – “soft measures”

• Governance meetings and dialogue:– Pass on the expectations of the

Government• Guidance• Peer pressure through statistics and analyses

– All the results of all the HEIs are transparent an published


Cooperation, Division of Labour, and Concentration” (CDLC)

• Policy initiative to enhance quality– Stimulate autonomous institutions to

develop clearer profiles– Supported by financial incentives


Steering of HEIs in Norway – “hard measures”

• The state budget – Result-based funding system, with an

average of 30 % of the block grant funding based on results

• New student places allocated by the Government/the Storting (Parliament)

• Legislation• National Curriculum Regulations • Direct instruction

– Rare, and only where authority is not delegated by law


Different sources of funding (2010)

• Directly to the HEIs 23,4 billion NOK (the funding model).

• To the HEIs from the Norwegian Research Council 2,2 billion NOK

• External funding 2,1 billion NOK• EU funds 196 million NOK


The funding model (1)

• Introduced in 2002 to support the aims of the Quality Reform – From an activity based model to a model

partly based on results– Incentives to:

• Increase quality in higher education and research

• Increase student progression• Increase student exchange



• A Block grant with the following elements:– A long term and strategic grant

(approximately 70% of the allocation) – Two elements of allocation based on

performance:• Education incentives, fixed per capita

rate (no budget limit), (approximately 24% of the allocation)

• Research incentives (“zero sum game”), (approximately 6% of the allocation).

• The HEI board priorities within the block grant



• Evaluated in 2009– The evaluation showed that the system is

working according to its conditions - i.e. no major changes


Target oriented management

• New objectives from 2012– From: 5 overall objectives, 16 second level

objectives and 34 result parameters– To: 5 overall objectives and 13 result

parameters• The point here is:

– A massive delegation to the HEIs to set the second level objectives

– The indicators of the funding model are not part of the result objectives• Remember: the funding model shall

support the overall aims of higher education in Norway


Goal achievement

Goal achievement

Block grantBlock grant

Indirect impacts

Performance-based allocationsSelected indicators:•Study credit points•Incoming/outdoing students•Scientific publication points•PhDs/graduates from National Norwegian Artistic Research Fellowships Programme•EU funds•Resources from Research Council of Norway/regional research funds

Performance-based allocationsSelected indicators:•Study credit points•Incoming/outdoing students•Scientific publication points•PhDs/graduates from National Norwegian Artistic Research Fellowships Programme•EU funds•Resources from Research Council of Norway/regional research funds

Political prioritiesIncludes:•Division of labour and academic concentration •Recruitment positions•Study places•Buildings and equipment•Decentralised education

Political prioritiesIncludes:•Division of labour and academic concentration •Recruitment positions•Study places•Buildings and equipment•Decentralised education

Board priorities

ActivitiesActivities

Direct impacts

Incentives

Impacts

The funding system as part of target-

oriented management

External revenuesExternal revenues


Thank you for your attention!

funding and governance of higher education in norway senior adviser mads gravås...

Documents

researchsteering of

governance of higher

state institutions

accredited university

state sector

students23 institutions

doctoral programmes

recognised study programmes