Europe
Proving the value of European higher ed
European universities remain globally respected, but rising pressure around employability and outcomes is reshaping how students judge educational value.
By Andy Plant, Executive Director – Europe, QS Quacquarelli Symonds
"Europe remains one of the most intellectually rich, diverse and historically significant higher education ecosystems in the world.”
"At scale students choose regions over individual institutions"
"But we’re a magical part of the world, and all magicians have tricks up their sleeves. Ours is collaboration."
I was recently asked to return to my alma mater to talk to several hundred scholars about my career so far. It was a great honour – and also a disturbing realisation that I’m now in the bracket of “wise old sage who can dish out advice”. My chest puffed up with pride, my lower back ached with middle-age.
Jokes aside, it was indeed a great honour and I enjoyed every interaction with these amazing young people. I was buoyed by the intelligence, curiosity and motivation of talented students hailing from all corners of the world. I shouldn’t have been surprised, this is a QS World University Rankings top 100 university, arguably one of the best institutions of learning in the world.
So, I was particularly disturbed when I spoke to the university employability team after my time on stage. They told me that one of the world’s largest consulting firms had stopped directly recruiting their graduates – stating that they weren’t “job-ready” – and that they would now only be employing graduates with existing work experience.
A firm that had, for decades, fuelled their business with eager young minds from universities like this was now turning its back on them. Rather than addressing the problem and working with the university as a partner, they would strategically poach talent further into their career journeys – when another, more patient organisation had already trained them up.
Why am I telling you this?
I’ve spent two decades working inside and alongside universities and to be honest, I’m starting to worry.
Not about the quality of what we do. Europe remains one of the most intellectually rich, diverse and historically significant higher education ecosystems in the world.
But about whether that still matters in the way we think it does.
Because the uncomfortable truth is this: excellence alone is no longer enough.
Across the sector, universities continue to deliver outstanding teaching, world-leading research and deeply meaningful student experiences. Yet increasingly, that excellence is not being received in the way we expect. Students are questioning the value of a degree with a sharper, more commercial lens – with louder, cynical voices telling them that there are more alternatives. Employers, like the consulting firm I mentioned, are more vocal about gaps between graduate capability and workplace readiness. Governments, meanwhile, are looking to higher education not just as a public good, but as a driver of economic performance.
In that environment, employability has moved from the periphery to the centre. It is no longer something that happens after education; it is the measure by which education (and your university) is judged.
It’s a subtle shift, but it is huge culturally and it is also because it changes how Europe competes.
While other regions are becoming more explicit - and more confident - in linking education to outcomes, Europe still tends to tell a more nuanced story. We talk about culture, mobility, intellectual depth and diversity, all of which are important and distinctive and make our systems great. But for a prospective student weighing up options globally, the question is simpler and more direct: will this degree take me where I want to go?
If we can’t answer that question clearly, someone else will.
For a long time, European institutions have benefited from reputations built over decades, even centuries. But we can’t keep talking about our history when students are interested in their own futures. Reputation is being shaped continuously - by graduate outcomes, by employer confidence, and by whether the promise made to students is realised after they graduate.
The challenge for Europe is that there is a growing gap between what we know we deliver and how that value is perceived externally. And in a market that is becoming more competitive and more outcomes-driven, perception has a habit of becoming reality.
Part of this is structural. Europe is not a single system or a unified brand, but a complex landscape of institutions operating across different national contexts, funding models and policy environments. That diversity is one of our greatest strengths, but it can also make it harder to present a clear, compelling proposition to the world. You might argue that we don’t need to, but QS’ Global Student Flows data shows clear regional trends over time – at scale students choose regions over individual institutions.
At the same time, the pressures facing Europe are intensifying. Skills shortages are becoming more acute, technological change is reshaping industries faster than curricula can evolve, and international student demand - while still strong - is becoming more selective, more discerning and more unpredictable. The global competition for talent hasn’t slowed down, it’s become more sophisticated.
I recently presented about a “virtuous circle” of Reputation, Recruitment and Employability – that they all feed each other. Afterwards, I was rightly challenged by the audience that universities are not just there to feed a jobs market, that students should be free to study as they wish.
I wasn’t diminishing the role of universities, nor reducing education to a purely economic transaction. It was trying to convey that the expectations placed on our sector have changed, and that meeting those expectations is now fundamental to maintaining Europe’s position on the global stage.
But we’re a magical part of the world, and all magicians have tricks up their sleeves. Ours is collaboration.
Collaboration is deeply embedded in the DNA of European higher education. Whether through research partnerships, mobility programmes or cross-border initiatives, there is a long-standing instinct to work collectively rather than in isolation.
That instinct now needs to be channelled with greater urgency and intent.
If Europe is to remain competitive, it must become far more confident in demonstrating the value it creates - not just in terms of knowledge, but in terms of skills and outcomes. That means taking employability seriously as a defining measure of success, engaging more meaningfully with employers, and being clearer about the role international education plays in shaping both our economies and our societies.
Because ultimately, this is not just a question of reputation or recruitment.
It is about the future workforce Europe is building, the competitiveness of its economies, and the role the region will play in an increasingly contested global landscape.
So, my challenge to you, is to seek out collaboration that will not only serve your role or your institution, but that can be a building block in the future of students that choose to study here. Because they have more choice than ever before.