CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Registrars, administrators and others involved in graduate education programs in Europe, Australia and the United States met Saturday in Washington, D.C., to discuss current European legislation that would move European nations to a standardized three-year undergraduate program.

The conference was hosted by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers.

The program, known as the “Bologna Process,” is a European agreement signed by 45 nations to create a uniform higher education system by 2010, according to the agreement’s Web site.

One of the main goals of the Bologna Process is to create a more fluid education system on the Continent, said Lisa Rosenberg, assistant director for consulting services at AACRAO.

“The (European Union) … is trying to standardize its system so that people can operate in any one of the EU countries and be able to transfer those skills elsewhere,” she said, noting that European students “can rely on a certain set of standards and understandings.”

One of the main objectives of the conference was to discuss the effects the new system would have on graduate admissions in the United States, Rosenberg said.