Estonia Scores High in University Autonomy Rankings
Estonia was given high marks in all four categories covered by the University Autonomy Tool - an online application that compares the political independence of higher education systems in 28 European countries.
Launched by the European University Association (EUA), the application measures 38 indicators divided between four major aspects of autonomy: organizational, financial, staffing and academic.
The Estonian system did best in the staffing autonomy category, where it came out number one. The category refers to universities’ ability to freely decide issues related to the management of human resources, including staff recruitment, salaries and promotions. The United Kingdom was ranked second in this division, followed by the Czech Republic and Sweden.
Estonia landed second in the financial independence category, which was topped by Luxembourg.
The country placed fourth in both organizational autonomy, which refers to freedom in establishing decision-making bodies and appointing executive leadership, and academic autonomy, universities' ability to independently decide issues regarding the student body.
Ingrid Teesalu