This book deals with the development and transformation of the part of the educational system that has been called 'the non-university higher education sector', 'the polytechnic sector', and 'the college sector'. In most Western European countries, higher education has to an increasing extent developed outside universities, partly through the establishment of new institutions, and partly through the up-grading of professional and vocational schools into higher education colleges. Yet, there is a shortage of in-depth studies on the changes that have taken place in this part of the educational system, and on the processes that have driven this development.

This book gives an overview of the stepwise transformation of higher education systems. It uses Norway as a national case for in-depth analyses, and then compares this with parallel developments in Western Europe. The development is discussed within the frames of three phases: fragmented expansion, horizontal integration, and vertical integration.

Zusammenfassung
In most Western European countries, higher education has to an increasing extent been developing outside universities, partly through the establishment of new ins- tutions, and partly through the upgrading of professional and vocational schools into higher education colleges. The main trend in countries with a binary system has been that student numbers have increased more in the college sector than in the university sector. Yet, there is a shortage of in-depth studies on the changes that have taken place in this part of the educational system, and on the processes that have driven this development. The aim of this book is to improve our understanding of these processes, through developing concepts and theoretical perspectives which might offer new insights of complex phenomena. This book is based upon a large number of studies on college education in Norway and in other Western European countries. I have studied change processes in this field over a period stretching back to the late 1970s (Kyvik 1981), and this book synthesises my former publications, as well as updates the development until August 2008, and presents new analyses based on my gradual attainment of deeper insight into the processes that have taken place.

Inhalt
The Transformation of the College Sector.- Explaining Change in the College Sector.- Fragmented Expansion.- Differentiation and Diversification.- Geographical and Institutional Decentralisation.- Horizontal Integration.- Field Contraction.- Regionalisation.- Vertical Integration.- Academisation.- Field Coupling.- Conclusion.- The Dynamics of Change.