About
Higher Education is at the heart of the national public agenda in a growing number of countries in Europe and globally. Effective policy formulation and debate on a continental scale require access to comparable higher education data and reliable, common benchmarks and indicators, which are both politically relevant and methodologically sound.
The European Tertiary Education Register (ETER) is a European-level database providing a reference list of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Europe and data at the institutional level on HEIs’ activities and outputs, such as students, graduates, personnel and finances, complementary to educational statistics at the country and regional level provided by EUROSTAT. The ETER database is currently integrated into the European Higher Education sector Observatory (EHSEO). While most of the content of this website is related to the ETER databse, the maintainnce of this website is already provided under the EHESO.
As of Spring 2024, ETER included 41 countries in Europe and provided data from 2011 to 2021, with a total number of 3,497 observations.
ETER was implemented together with a network of data providers in the National Statistical Authorities and National Education Ministries in the participating countries. While not part of the European Statistical System, ETER is largely compliant with statistical regulations and manuals, specifically with the UNESCO-UIS/OECD/EUROSTAT (UOE) data collection on formal education manual (UOE manual) and with the OECD Frascati Manual on research and experimental development (R&D) statistics.
ETER also closely cooperates with different institutions and projects, providing data and analyses on European Higher Education. The register is further embedded within the OECD Analytical Database of Higher Education Providers (ADHEP) project.
The European Higher Education Sector Observatory is possible thanks to funding from Erasmus+, the European programme for education, training, youth and sport. It is an initiative by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport, and Culture. It is operated by a consortium under a service contract with the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA).