DIPLOMA SUPPLEMENT

As part of the Bologna Process for creating a European Higher Education Area in the European Union, the European Union has been developing educational policies and encouraging and supporting their implementation throughout the member and candidate countries. Please see the following web site for more information on the Bologna Process: http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/policies/educ/bologna/bologna_en.html
The Socrates/Erasmus programs serve a crucial role in achieving this aim. Student Mobility programs and the implementation of the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) and the Diploma Supplement (DS) across the higher education institutions in the European Union are important components of the ongoing Socrates/Erasmus programs. The Higher Education Council in Turkey and Bilkent University are already committed to the implementation of these instruments.

Bilkent University will issue the Diploma Supplement automatically and free of charge to every graduate as from 2005 along with his or her diploma at all degree levels except the doctoral level. The full use of the Diploma Supplement by institutions and employers provides "the advantage of improved transparency and flexibility of the higher education degree systems, for fostering employability and facilitating academic recognition for further studies." (From the Berlin Communiqué of Ministers responsible for Higher Education, September 2003 (Bologna Process).

The Diploma Supplement is a document attached to a higher education diploma providing a standardized description of the nature, level, context, content and status of the studies that were successfully completed by the graduate. The Diploma Supplement provides transparency and facilitates academic and professional recognition of qualifications (diplomas, degrees, certificates). For more information on the DS please see the following web site: http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/policies/rec_qual/recognition/diploma_en.html
The DS is produced according to a template that has been developed by a Joint European Commission - Council of Europe - UNESCO working party that tested and refined it. This template forms the basis for the template adapted by the Higher Education Council of Turkey and used by Bilkent University.