Autonomireformen : En analys av svensk högskolepolitik

The Swedish system for higher education has its origin in the 15th century and the founding of Uppsala University. Until the 20th century the Swedish system for higher education was elitist and the education aimed to serve the state with qualified labor, but at this time the system started to transform into an education system available to all. Since the 1970’s until today the government has implemented three major reforms with different objectives. In addition to these major reforms minor changes have taken place continuously. The higher education system has become more and less regulated by the government with these reforms and minor changes. In the autumn of 2006 a new liberal government formed in Sweden, Reinfeldt cabinet, and soon after it decided to analyse how the institutions for higher education in Sweden were regulated. This led to the autonomy reform which took place January 1st 2010. With this thesis I want to analyse the history of the Swedish system for higher education and the implications of the autonomy reform from a perspective of governmental authority and regulations but also using the theories of Governance and New Public Management. Subject for my analysis are three official documents, the directive (Dir. 2007:158), the report (SOU 2008:104) and also the bill (prop. 2009/10:149). I will compare the proposed changes regarding regulations within these three documents and try to classify them relative to each other accordning to their degree of autonomy. The reform is influenced by the theories of Governance and New Public Management with creation of markets for higher education and a higher degree of competition of students, personnel and resources. There is also a difference in governmental regulations between the three subjects for my analysis.