Excellent overview John, and important advice for anyone heading to European academia.
May I add a few comments?
Firstly, for researchers, the EU 'Horizon' funding scheme will be relevant. It is the largest research funding scheme in the world, with €93 billion allocated for this 6 year program. It covers everything from blue sky research to combined academic/commercial company collaboration on innovation, to landmark science & infrastructure projects, to social and cultural studies. Applications and all administration can be in English and the process is relatively quick and painless, with lots of advice and advisors to hand.
Secondly, as someone who has taught in England, I would say European culture is still more academically inclined than Britain or, I think, America. Students here (in France) appear more serious, committed and start with a generally higher level of education from their schooling.
Here in France, both students and staff will be offered free intensive French courses to bring them up to speed quickly. Whilst some will feel dread at that prospect, it is a major advantage in assimilating in both university and the wider social life.
I believe I am right in saying a foreign student gaining a first Degree in a French university can also get fast-tracked Residency and access to citizenship and a French passport in 2 years rather than 5 years, though of course there are further rules too.
Lastly, as a general point on Europe, there are 27 EU countries out of 44 European countries, and each operate their own academic institutions, and all are different in rules, access, funding, and yes, quality. Generally the big players are France, Germany and the Netherlands, followed by Scandinavian countries. Many larger universities now offer courses taught in English, but that doesn't mean the university administration is necessarily English speaking.
Then there is England. For many Americans, English universities seem to have obvious attractions, with so many similarities to the American universities, and of course the language too. But the UK's university system was privatised decades ago, student fees are high, yet it is in long-term financial difficulty, institutions are shedding staff, cutting departments, offering short term contracts to staff, underfunded, and over-dependant on foreign students (paying much higher fees) whose numbers have dropped drastically since Brexit. Some universities became dependent on Chinese students, such as Exeter, but as Chinese universities have risen in the rankings, those students find it much cheaper and easier to stay home.
All this is in a context of Britain in decline, also accelerated by Brexit, and whilst the UK has nominally rejoined the EU Horizon scheme, the UK institutions seem to access far less of it's largesse, for whatever reasons.
All that said, Exeter is still a world leader in climate science, and of course Oxford and Cambridge and the Russel Group universities still score very highly in the international rankings, so mustn't be dismissed.
I hope that helps both academics and students who have difficult and complicated decisions to make.
Thanks for the thoughtful comments, and taking the time to share them. I appreciate it. I'll keep some of these things in mind for the next revision.
The audience I'm thinking of is the cohort of American students who will be entering higher education as undergraduate students, so no mention of research or funding programmes that would require status as academic staff. I'd also intended to focus only on EU universities, partly as a way of simply keeping a complex narrative somewhat manageable (I also don't speak about Canadian universities as an alternative). As you say, there are some fine UK universities, but I'd leave writing about them for the audience I've identified to someone else. I have mixed feelings about the fees; the Irish universities are similarly costly for foreign students, relatively speaking, and already recruit heavily in North America and China (agreed that recruitment from China will turn out to be a finite opportunity).
It's no doubt a tough time for decision-making for college-bound students and their parents. I know my efforts won't be very impactful since my little newsletter doesn't reach very far, but as a career academic whose worked in US and EU jurisdictions, I feel like I ought to try to offer what help I can.
I had assumed you would also be expecting academics to be reading this, planning their own escapes. Apologies.
I added the '44 European countries' because I have heard that some Americans are using their heritage status to move to European countries and claim residency, including Eastern European countries. Whilst Italy has recently said it will limit 'Grandfather Rights', apparently some countries still accept them, which means a quicker route to residency and a passport, and also cheaper tuition fees.
Excellent overview John, and important advice for anyone heading to European academia.
May I add a few comments?
Firstly, for researchers, the EU 'Horizon' funding scheme will be relevant. It is the largest research funding scheme in the world, with €93 billion allocated for this 6 year program. It covers everything from blue sky research to combined academic/commercial company collaboration on innovation, to landmark science & infrastructure projects, to social and cultural studies. Applications and all administration can be in English and the process is relatively quick and painless, with lots of advice and advisors to hand.
https://commission.europa.eu/funding-tenders/find-funding/eu-funding-programmes/horizon-europe_en
Secondly, as someone who has taught in England, I would say European culture is still more academically inclined than Britain or, I think, America. Students here (in France) appear more serious, committed and start with a generally higher level of education from their schooling.
Here in France, both students and staff will be offered free intensive French courses to bring them up to speed quickly. Whilst some will feel dread at that prospect, it is a major advantage in assimilating in both university and the wider social life.
I believe I am right in saying a foreign student gaining a first Degree in a French university can also get fast-tracked Residency and access to citizenship and a French passport in 2 years rather than 5 years, though of course there are further rules too.
Lastly, as a general point on Europe, there are 27 EU countries out of 44 European countries, and each operate their own academic institutions, and all are different in rules, access, funding, and yes, quality. Generally the big players are France, Germany and the Netherlands, followed by Scandinavian countries. Many larger universities now offer courses taught in English, but that doesn't mean the university administration is necessarily English speaking.
Then there is England. For many Americans, English universities seem to have obvious attractions, with so many similarities to the American universities, and of course the language too. But the UK's university system was privatised decades ago, student fees are high, yet it is in long-term financial difficulty, institutions are shedding staff, cutting departments, offering short term contracts to staff, underfunded, and over-dependant on foreign students (paying much higher fees) whose numbers have dropped drastically since Brexit. Some universities became dependent on Chinese students, such as Exeter, but as Chinese universities have risen in the rankings, those students find it much cheaper and easier to stay home.
All this is in a context of Britain in decline, also accelerated by Brexit, and whilst the UK has nominally rejoined the EU Horizon scheme, the UK institutions seem to access far less of it's largesse, for whatever reasons.
All that said, Exeter is still a world leader in climate science, and of course Oxford and Cambridge and the Russel Group universities still score very highly in the international rankings, so mustn't be dismissed.
I hope that helps both academics and students who have difficult and complicated decisions to make.
Thanks for the thoughtful comments, and taking the time to share them. I appreciate it. I'll keep some of these things in mind for the next revision.
The audience I'm thinking of is the cohort of American students who will be entering higher education as undergraduate students, so no mention of research or funding programmes that would require status as academic staff. I'd also intended to focus only on EU universities, partly as a way of simply keeping a complex narrative somewhat manageable (I also don't speak about Canadian universities as an alternative). As you say, there are some fine UK universities, but I'd leave writing about them for the audience I've identified to someone else. I have mixed feelings about the fees; the Irish universities are similarly costly for foreign students, relatively speaking, and already recruit heavily in North America and China (agreed that recruitment from China will turn out to be a finite opportunity).
It's no doubt a tough time for decision-making for college-bound students and their parents. I know my efforts won't be very impactful since my little newsletter doesn't reach very far, but as a career academic whose worked in US and EU jurisdictions, I feel like I ought to try to offer what help I can.
Thanks for the info.
I had assumed you would also be expecting academics to be reading this, planning their own escapes. Apologies.
I added the '44 European countries' because I have heard that some Americans are using their heritage status to move to European countries and claim residency, including Eastern European countries. Whilst Italy has recently said it will limit 'Grandfather Rights', apparently some countries still accept them, which means a quicker route to residency and a passport, and also cheaper tuition fees.
Keep up the good work!