To Join or Not to Join? That Is the Question

At this point in the discussion, it is important to make clear that no institution of higher learning can be forced to adopt the reforms outlined by the Bologna Process. Institutions can be encouraged strongly to do so, in some instances through the threat of losing government funding; but they cannot be forced. The process must prove itself and also its value, and by 2010 it seems to have succeeded in this effort. Some 47 nations had decided to join, with participation spreading to China, India, African countries, and Latin American countries. A large part of this growing success was attributable to the fact that France, Germany, Italy, and Britain had begun outdrawing the United States in the foreign student market. One obvious reason for doing so was that undergraduate degrees recognized throughout the world could now be earned from European universities after only three years of study for those properly prepared, while U.S. universities continued to require four years of study.