Report

European higher education in the 2020s

Think tank: The Policy Institute

Author(s): Alison Wolf; Eliel Cohen

May 11, 2026

This report from UK think tank the Policy Institute brings together essays from leading higher education figures across Europe.

Despite taking very different approaches to financing, higher education sectors across major European economies are experiencing the same underlying pressure. Universities have grown enormously since the 1950s, but public funding has not kept pace. The tools to fix this are often deeply unpopular. And the increasingly super-national nature of higher education is creating major political challenges for what were once purely national systems.

The report, published by the Policy Institute at King’s College London, brings together essays from leading higher education figures across England, France, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland, Despite the differences between their systems, the contributors identify a striking set of common challenges.