Service Contract EAC-2021-0170 This handbook is an outcome of the collective work by the ETER team since 2014, which has been coordinated by Benedetto Lepori. We acknowledge specifically contributions and comments by Andrea Bonaccorsi, Renato Bruni, Giuseppe Catalano, Alessandro Daraio, Cinzia Daraio, Hebe Gunnes, Elisabeth Hovdhaugen, Agata Lambrechts, Giorgio Matteucci, Lisa Schön, Michael Ploder, Monica Scannapieco and Daniel Wagner-Schuster. The authors also acknowledge support and input from the European Commission, Directorate-General Education, Culture, Youth and Sports, Joint Research Centre and from EUROSTAT, as well as representatives of National Statistical Authorities and Higher Education Ministries involved in the development of the ETER database.

This document provides an in-depth description of the data collection methodology for the ETER database, i.e. the reference database on European Higher Education Institutions. It provides basic definitions, the perimeter for data collection, classification schemes for data, the definition of variables and guidelines for data collection and quality control