AMERICAN UNIVERSITY EDUCATION MODEL AS A GUIDE FOR IMPLEMENTING TRANSFORMATIONS OF GERMAN UNIVERSITY EDUCATION

Abstract

When considering the advantages and disadvantages of the German and American higher education sys- tems, the following is manifested: in the German higher education system the disadvantages prevail over the benefits that do not allow themselves to be identified within the narrow framework of state regulation of the university activities on the background of chronic underfunding by the state and the overcrowding universities by students. This significantly reduces the level of international attractiveness of the German higher educa- tional institutions for the best students, young scientists and researchers. The benefits of the American higher education system almost completely coincide with the shortcomings of the German higher education system. First of all, American elite universities have high international rankings and as a result acquired worldwide popularity, despite the high tuition fees for students. In addition, US universities have an autonomous funding system that allows them to carry out their tasks at the required level. Reviewing the advantages and disadvan- tages of both higher education systems points to important reasons why the American higher education system should become a model for the reforms of German higher education. The status of US universities as a model for imposition is determined by the full utilization of the benefits of the US cultural and structural context. When comparing the shortcomings of both systems, it is evident that in both systems of higher education, not only the issue of efficient and targeted use of funds, but also the issue of financing higher education reveals the existence of common basic problems. German university education is in the process of transformation since the Bologna reform introduction. According to German scientists, the Bologna process focuses on implementing the American research university model, the most effective at the global level, in the European educational space. However, the question arises about the way of implementing this model in the conditions of German and European realities. The German academic community faces the choice between the mechanical introduction of the American model of universities or its individual components into German universities or the gradual mutual convergence of these rather different models of research universities and their further convergence.