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Vocational university

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A vocational university, (also named Professional university or University of Applied Sciences), is an institution of higher education and sometime research, which grants academic degrees at all levels (bachelor, master, and sometime doctorate) in a variety of subjects. A university provides both tertiary and quaternary education. The word university is derived from the Latin universitas, meaning corporation, since the first medieval European universities were simply groups of scholars.

The education which takes place at vocational universities combines teaching of both practical skills and theoretical expertise. Higher vocational education might be contrasted with education in a usually broader scientific field, which might concentrate on theory and abstract conceptual knowledge. This has to do with the fact, that in the Middle Ages, an educational institution was called a (medieval) university only if a certain classical canon of subjects was taught (including, of course, philosophy, medicine and theology). In modern times, other subjects, namely natural and engineering sciences became more important — but still, institutions of tertiary education focusing on these and not offering the classical canon were denied the prestigious denomination "university", so they had to use the general word Hochschule in German Haute Ecole in French, Hogeschool in Dutch, Högskola in Swedish, etc. (higher school, i.e. school for tertiary education).

There exist vocational universities of applied sciences (also named polytechnics or institute of technology), vocational universities of liberal arts, etc. In recent years many vocational universities get full university statut, like the University of Music and Performing Arts in Austria (Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst).

Vocational universities by country

Belgium

French part

Haute Ecole

  • Business
  • Nursing
  • Teacher Training
  • Social
  • Technical

Dutch part

Hogeschool

  • Music

France

  • Instituts Nationaux Polytechniques (INP)
  • University institutes of technology (IUT)
  • University teacher training institutes (IUFM)
  • Vocational university institutes (IUP)
  • Conservatoire Nationaux Supérieurs de Musique (CNSM)
  • Ecoles Supérieur des beaux Arts

Switzerland

French part

Haute Ecole

  • Music

German part

Hochschule

Germany

Fachhochschule translated "University of Applied Sciences"

Hochschule

  • Music

Hungary

  • Hogescholen

Netherlands

  • Hogeschool, translated university and "University of Applied Sciences"

Poland

  • Politechnika

USA

Sweden

Högskola, translated University College or College

  • Music

See also

  • [1] List of vocational universities. PDF
  • [2] Higher Vocational Education in Switzerland
  • [3] Higher Vocational Education in China1
  • [4] Higher Vocational Education in China2
  • [5] Higher Vocational Education in Czech Republic
  • [6] Higher Vocational Education in Russia
  • [7] The Copenhagen Process
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