EUROSTUDENT DATABASE

The EUROSTUDENT VI target group

The EUROSTUDENT VI target group includes all students who are – at the time of observation (usually: semester) – enrolled in any national study programme regarded to be higher educa­tion in a country. Usually that corresponds to ISCED levels 5, 6, and 7.

This means all students should be included regardless of

• Nationality – National and foreign students should be included, as long as they are studying for a full degree in the country of observation (and are not only obtaining a limited number of credits, e.g. as an Erasmus student).
• Full-time/part-time status – Full-time, part-time, and/or correspondence students should be included as long as the study programmes the students are enrolled in offer a minimum of physical face-to-face interaction in lectures/classes (not only exams).
• Character of the higher education institution (HEI) or study programme – General as well as professional orientations of HEIs and study programmes should be included, as long as the programmes and institutions are considered to be higher education in the national context.
• Legal character of the HEI – Public and private institutions should be included, as long as private institutions are considered to be a regular part of the higher education system in the national context.

Excluded from the EUROSTUDENT VI target group are:

• Students on (temporary) leave, i.e. students who have officially or non-officially interrupted their studies at the time of observation for whatever reason.
• Students on credit mobility, short-term mobile students (e.g. Erasmus students), i.e. students who are currently studying in the country of observation (incoming) or who have currently left the country of observation (outgoing) for a short time period (e.g. one or two semesters) with the purpose of gaining only a relatively small number of credits.
• Students in ISCED 8 study programmes (PhD and doctoral programmes).
• Students in distance learning study programmes which do not offer any physical face-to-face lecture period at all, but are solely based on written/online interaction (apart from exams).
• Students at very specialised HEIs, e.g. military or police academies, or HEIs directly affili­ated with one company. This might also include programmes providing training only for public administration.
• Students in programmes classified as ISCED (2011) levels 5 or 6 which are not regarded to be higher education in the national context. This could encompass, for example, further vocational training programmes for Master crafts(wo)men, or upper secondary schools or post-secondary programmes not regarded as higher education.

Notes on national samples and deviations from the EUROSTUDENT VI standard target group

Not all countries were able to fully comply with the standard target groups. The following list provides additional information on the national samples and indicated deviations from the EUROSTUDENT VI conventions (see above).

Albania (AL) Only full-time students included in sample. This constitutes a deviation from the EUROSTUDENT target group.

Austria (AT) Survey conducted in 2015. The focus group “students with higher education background” presented throughout the report does not include students with parents whose highest degree is at ISCED level 5 (in Austria: Master crafts(wo)men and post-secondary education, parts of vocational upper secondary school) as these degrees are not considered to be higher education in Austria. There are no short cycle programmes in the Austrian HE system.

Switzerland (CH) Short-cycle programmes (post-secondary professional programmes, i.e. ‘höhere Berufsbildung’/ ‘formation professionnelle supérieure’) are not included in sample because they are not considered to be higher education.

Czech Republic (CZ) No short-cycle programmes included in sample as they do not exist or are not considered to be higher education. Part-time students are understood to be students studying during the weekend, etc. Full-time students go to school on a daily basis.

Germany (DE) The German sample does not include students with non-German citizenship holding foreign higher education entry qualifications (“Bildungsausländer”). International students according to EUROSTUDENT conventions are therefore not part of the target group. This constitutes a deviation from the EUROSTUDENT target group. While the German data with regard to parents’ higher education background have been calculated according to EUROSTUDENT conventions, the classification of parents who are Master crafts(wo)men at ISCED level 6, and thus as “with higher education”, is not in line with the national understanding of these degrees as vocational. No short-cycle programmes included in sample as they do not exist or are not considered to be higher education.

Estonia (EE) No short-cycle programmes included in sample as they are not considered to be higher education. Finland: Short-cycle programmes not included in the sample as they do not exist or are not considered to be higher education. Private universities in Finland offer foreign degrees which can be obtained in Finland and were not included in the sample.

Georgia (GE) No non-universities exist in Georgia. No short-cycle programmes included in sample as they do not exist or are not considered to be higher education.

Croatia (HR) Short-cycle programmes not included in the sample due to the very small size and number of these programmes.

Ireland (IE) No private institutions included in the sample. This constitutes a deviation from the EURO­STUDENT target group.

Iceland (IS) No non-universities exist in Iceland.

Italy (IT) No international students are included in the sample. This constitutes a deviation from the EUROSTUDENT target group. Specialised higher education institutions (HEIs) (for arts and interpretation; AFAM – Alta formazione artistica e musicale; SSML – Scuole superiori per mediatori linguistici) are – in line with the EUROSTUDENT conventions – not included in sample, due to the very small size of the sector and the very specialised character. No short-cycle programmes included in sample as they do not exist.

Lithuania (LT) No short-cycle programmes included in sample as they do not exist or are not considered to be higher education.

Latvia (LV) Part-time students are not included in the sample. This constitutes a deviation from the EUROSTUDENT target group.

Norway (NO) Short-cycle programmes not included in the sample as they are not considered to be higher education. Poland: No short-cycle programmes included in sample as they are not considered to be higher education.

Romania (RO) No non-universities exist in Romania. No short-cycle pro grammes included in sample as they do not exist or are not considered to be higher education.

Serbia (RS) Non-universities not included in sample. This constitutes a deviation from the EUROSTUDENT target group. No short-cycle programmes included in sample as they do not exist or are not considered to be higher education.

Sweden (SE) No non-universities exist in Sweden. Slovakia: No short-cycle programmes included in sample as they do not exist or are not considered to be higher education.

Turkey (TR) Online students are – in line with the EUROSTUDENT conventions – not included in the sample, although these make up a large part of the student population. No non-universities exist in Turkey.

Further information can be found in the comprehensive EUROSTUDENT VI Synopsis of Indicators (methodological notes are covered in chapter A3).