CHEPS is a research institute located in the Faculty of Governance and Management within the University of Twente, a public university established by the Dutch government in 1961. CHEPS is a specialized higher education policy centre that combines basic and applied research with education, training and consultancy activities.


CHEPS is a dynamic organisation which research programme is revised periodically on the basis of research findings and developments in the field. Yet within the changing portfolio of activities there are some core features that characterise work at CHEPS:

• Inter-disciplinary perspectives: Higher education research is an applied field of study. CHEPS is an inter-disciplinary research institute: researchers are drawn from a wide range of academic backgrounds including policy analysis, economics, political science, education, sociology and history.
• Multi-level approaches to higher education: CHEPS' work is focused at the macro and meso levels of higher education. Research is concerned increasingly with the interaction between policies and agencies at the supranational (OECD, European Union), national (Governments and Ministries), intermediary (buffer organisations and national bodies) and institutional levels (universities and colleges, and their constituent faculties and departments).  
• Broad and comparative research interests: In its specialised focus on macro and meso level aspects of higher education, CHEPS is not a narrow organisation. Primary research interests fall into three broad fields: HE governance and management; HE economics and finance; and quality and accreditation in HE. Comparative higher education policy studies have been a distinct feature of CHEPS research, and have helped extend CHEPS field of expertise way beyond its Dutch roots and location. 
• Integrating basic and applied research with education, training and consultancy: One of the goals of CHEPS is to contribute to the identification of practically relevant answers to the challenges confronting higher education systems and institutions. CHEPS aims at an interaction between basic and applied research, and at disseminating its findings and sharing its expertise via a range of education, training and consultancy activities (in addition to books, journal articles and reports).
• International networks: Over the years, an increasing part of CHEPS activities has been carried out for organisations outside of the Netherlands. Its position in strong international networks allows the center to work together with colleagues around the world. CHEPS has strong working relationships with higher education research groups and centres in many countries, including Norway, Portugal, Germany, the UK, Italy, France, Finland, Russia, the United States, Australia, South Africa, Japan, Mexico and Brazil.

The combination of these characteristics is particular to CHEPS, helping to create a unique research environment, and a recognisable CHEPS approach to higher education policy studies.