Abstract. Various forms of international inter-institutional collaboration in higher education, such as university alliances, have flourished during the last decades, yet their purposes vary. This study examines the possible roles of such collaborations in governmental policymaking through a case study of a policy-oriented university alliance in Europe. In this study, we propose a two-dimensional framework distinguishing policy uploading versus downloading, and open versus closed dialogues, yielding four potential roles of policy-oriented university alliances as expertise providers, insider lobbyists, implementers of policy, and ambassadors. Interviews with five institutional leaders of member universities and analysis of the selected alliance’s website and publicly available documents were conducted. While policy-oriented university alliances often have a primary purpose to advance the individual member institutions’ interests, findings reveal the ways in which such alliances can benefit their members, for example, through mobilising public opinion, evaluating legitimacy of policy, and strengthening the member institutions’ future strategic positions at both European and national level. The contribution of this study lies in strengthening our understanding of four potential roles that policy-oriented university alliances can play in policymaking processes and in discussing how these roles may be important for higher education institutions that are members of these types of alliances.
Full reference: Stensaker, B., Koh, Y., Maassen, P. et al. The Roles of Policy-Oriented University Alliances: A European Case. High Educ Policy (2026). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41307-026-00447-1