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Mergers in Higher Education -- Success or Failure?

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Abstract

The demands for greater efficiency, higher quality and reductions in public budgets have meant that continually more countries are looking closely at the structure of their higher education systems, and this has often resulted in extensive reforms. The objective of creating larger units has resulted in mergers or closures of institutions of higher education. This article tries to elaborate the experiences of mergers in higher education in Australia, USA and several Western European countries (Norway, Sweden, Finland, The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Great Britain). What were the intentions with the different mergers? What kind of processes did this involve and what were the end results? We have focused on some of the problems and what went well. In the conclusion, lessons to be learned from mergers in higher education are highlighted.

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  1. Norwegian Institute for Studies in Research and Higher Education, Hegdehaugsveien 31, N-0352, Oslo, Norway

    Ole-Jacob Skodvin

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  1. Ole-Jacob Skodvin
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Skodvin, OJ. Mergers in Higher Education -- Success or Failure?. Tertiary Education and Management 5, 63–78 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018749021147

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