Higher education in Kiravia

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Higher education in Kiravia is provided by a rich ecosystem of public, quasi-public, religious, and independent institutions following a variety of academic models and educational philosophies, and serving a wide range of subject-matter specialties and workforce needs. Most Kiravian adults born after the Restoration have completed some higher education, and rates of participation in post-secondary education continue to rise in tandem with economic development. The theory and practice of higher education in Kiravia are different from that of the Occident, being built on foundations of Shaftonist philosophy and centuries of native Coscivian developments, and later pervasively influenced by the academic traditions of the Catholic Church and Insular Apostolic Church.

Higher education is largely unregulated at the national level, which has been credited with allowing a high degree of innovation, flexibility, and diversity in the sector, but also faulted for producing inconsistency in expectations and outcomes. Most regulation is legislated at the provincial level or takes the form of self-regulation by interstate associations of institutions, independent accreditation bodies, and sponsoring institutions (e.g. religious denominations).

Institutional Typology

By Governance

Like hospitals, Kiravian tertiary schools are commonly classified as public, ecclesiastical, or independent.

Public universities organised by, funded by, and accountable to the provincial governments, and are overseen by elected or politically appointed regency boards. Public universities offer subsidised tuition to residents of their province, and may be used as instruments for other public policy goals. Public universities vary in size, but the 20-30 largest Kiravian universities by enrollment are consistently public. Every inhabited federal subject except Daridia operates at least one public university or college, but most operate multiple institutions, sorted into two or three tiers of [Degree 1] institutions based on admissions selectivity and research output, above the network of [Degree 0] junior colleges, usually referred to as "countyship colleges", which are also public. A smaller number of universities, including most of the venerable "ancient" ones, are best classified as quasi-public (χūthovondix), often having relationships with the civil authorities rooted in a pre-modern context where distinctions between the public and private spheres were not as clearly defined.

Most non-public universities are organised by a religious denomination or religious order. The Catholic Church oversees the largest number of universities, colleges, and seminaries, followed by the Insular Apostolic Church, Coscivian Orthodox Church, various Iduan orders, the Archepiscopal Church, and Rurican scholarly confraternities and temple associations.

Independent universities and colleges are stand-alone private organisations not accountable to another sponsoring organisation. Most are nonsectarian, but many claim affiliation with a particular faith tradition or have an ecumenical ethos.

By Rule

[What this means] Kiravian colleges are regarded and regard themselves as following a particular "rule" or "régime" (régula, from the Latin regula). A college's rule is a prescriptive, holistic model of its institutional praxis, rooted in its educational philosophy and manifested in its curriculum, teaching methods, and organisational structures. The rule also extends to the discipline, lifestyle, and customs expected of students and faculty.

Notions of rule are attested as far back as the Second Empire, usually referred to as isér ("order") or agar ("custom"); the concept was reified after the arrival of Christianity by analogy to monastic rules.

[Ancient Dialectic vs. Monastic traditions] [Examples]

Admissions

For most of Kiravian history, universities were open to anyone able to read High Coscivian and pay tuition. Only in Early Modernity did universities - and even then, only the most prestigious ones - establish formal admissions requirements. Entrance exams began appearing during the late 19th century AD. Each school wrote and administered its own exam on its own campus, and as such most students only applied to one or two colleges. The first standardised entrance exams were used by regional associations of Catholic colleges in the early 1900s. The first 'nationwide' exams were adopted separately in the Kiravian Union (the NEE, which was overhauled into the modern CAPE) and Kiravian Remnant (the ARSE).

In several heavily populated provinces, such as the Kiygrava, Etivéra, Devahoma, Sydona, and Sixua, the undergraduate admissions process for public universities is consolidated: Students apply to the university system, sorted by merit, and then admitted to a tier of colleges in which they may enroll.

Some colleges today continue the tradition of admitting anyone (with a secondary diploma or equivalent, for accreditation compliance) who can read and write High Coscivian, as demonstrated on the Collegiate Literacy Assessment.

Examinations

The two most commonly completed standardised university admissions exams are:

Common Aptitude Proficiency Exam (CAPE) - Developed as the common entrance examination used by the public university systems of the Kiravic-speaking states, the CAPE is now administered nationwide and considered by both public and private universities outside its original geographic scope. The CAPE is written in Kiravic Coscivian only, and tests Literary Kiravic, Mathematics, Analogical Reasoning, and [three other things I forgot].

Collegiate Literacy Assessment (CLA) - Tests students’ proficiency in High Coscivian vocabulary and grammar, as well as their ability to understand and engage with sample academic texts. The CLA comprises two sections taken in separate sittings. These two sections are officially known as the First Paper and Second Paper, but more commonly referred to as the “Classical”/”Traditional” and “Modern” Papers. The First Paper is based mainly on cultural classics and other premodern works written in more conservative registers of High Coscivian, and tests students on grammar, etymological/morphological analysis, “philological” vocabulary, and relevant elements of history and Coscivian philosophy. The Second Paper is based mostly on academic texts from the Sunderance or later written in the Modern or (less commonly) Reformed registers of High Coscivian, and tests students on textual analysis, information literacy, modern scientific-technical-systematic vocabulary, and elements of style. The two sections are scored separately, as different universities and departments weigh the importance of the two sections differently, with many technical and business programmes only considering the Second Paper.

Other major exam batteries include:

Academic Readiness Standardised Examination (ARSE) - Developed in the Kiravian Remnant during the Sunderance, the ARSE is the common entrance examination used by the public university systems of Æonara, Sarolasta, the Melian Isles, and the Overseas Regions, though it is now widely administered on the Mainland as an alternative and competitor to the CAPE and considered by many universities as a substitute or supplement to the CAPE or comparable regional exams. Texts in the literacy section are all Modern High Coscivian, but the rest of the test is available in multiple languages.

Quantitative Thinking & Information Proficiency (QTIP) - Tests mathematical aptitude at a higher level and greater length than the CAPE, ARSE, or regional exams, has been expanded over the last 10 years to cover topics from computer science and formal grammar/programming. Required by a growing number of polytechnics and STEM departments.

Western Universities Examination Yuan - Developed as the common entrance examination used by the public university systems of the West Coast states and Lataskia after the Restoration, later joined by several Western Highlands states and territories to encourage out-of-province students to apply there. The WUEY exam is accepted on equal footing with the ARSE in Atrassica and on equal footing with the CAPE in the Northwest Territory. The exam is made available in West Coast Marine Coscivian, Serradan Coscivian, and Standard Kiravic.

South Kirav’s Big Damn Test - Common entrance examination used by the public university systems of South Kirav. Notably tests students on the basic rules of common collegiate sports.

Tristate Educational Suitability Test (TEST) - Developed as the common entrance examination used by the public university systems of Hanoram, Ventarya, and Trinatria. Widely taken and considered across the Middle Belt and Southwest, the Coscivian Catholic College of Ardmore, and [other Kalvertan-speaking regions].

Qualifications

Academic degrees

  • [Degree 0] - 16-24 months of study. Awarded by countyship colleges/protocolleges and university extension programmes.
  • [Degree 1] - 3-4 years of study
  • [Degree 1½] - "Specialty" - Usually six straight months to one year following [Degree 1]. Usually offered by [Degree 1] schools or specialised institutions, [Degree 1½] courses are very high-level and intensive, with a 25-55% dropout rate for most programmes.
  • [Degree 2] - You know what it is.
  • [Degree 1+2] - Combined [Degree 1] and [Degree 2] for certain fields of study, such as Theology or Engineering.
  • [Degree 3] - Equivalent to the Western doctorate
  • [Degree 4] - Highly advanced degrees awarded to [Degree 3] and [Degree 1+2] holders after ~1-2 years of intensive study and a a solid record of professional research and publishing. [Degree 4] courses focus on a specialised topic within a discipline (e.g. organometallic chemistry within chemistry, third-generation Shaftonist music theory within musicology) and are regarded as conferring a right to "speak with authority" (arda akrovirdas) on that topic within the scholarly community. [Degrees 4] are most common in field regarded as humanities in the Occident, but are also awarded in the natural sciences and juristics. Most [Degree 4] holders are full-time academics or clergy; those who are not are overwhelmingly surgeons, as the [Degree 4] is an important and lucrative qualification among the Kiravian surgical profession and a requirement to teach surgery in most provinces.

Monstrations

Selected List of Institutions

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