Graduate Education in the U.S.

October 25th ‐ 30th, 2009

Study Tour offered a one-week seminar to seven higher education professionals appointed by the Academy of Finland on graduate education to the United States. Participants focused on comparing U.S. and Finnish strategies to provide graduate education and to identify possible applications of the American practice to the Finnish system. The participants discussed leadership structures and decision-making processes and the management and governance of American graduate institutions. The group learned about the American system from expert speakers and through direct observation at private and public universities. Topics included the autonomy of graduate schools within the university, financial structures, quality assurance, recruitment and admission of students, the relationship between graduate programs and the job market, and other issues.

 Read the Study Tour report (in Finnish, PDF).

Agenda

Participants traveled to the United States for a five-day higher education management seminar focusing on graduate education. The program will consist of a one-day workshop, 5 site visits to public and private universities in Washington, DC and Maryland to observe graduate school operations in action, and a final wrap-up discussion session.
 

Links related to the study tour

• Council of Graduate Schools
• The Carnegie Foundation
• The National Research Council
• Association of American Universities
• National Science Foundation
• National Institutes of Health
• National Endowment for the Humanities
• Council for International Exchange of Scholars
• Institute of International Education
• U.S. Department of Education
• Georgetown University
• George Washington University
• George Mason University
• John Hopkins University
• University of Maryland
• Oregon State University
• Academy of Finland
• Ministry of Education
• University of Oulu
• University of Helsinki
• Aalto University
• Embassy of Finland, Washington, D.C.
• Trends in Higher Education Series