The goal of the reform, that was initiated by the then Minister of Education, Gudmund Hernes from the Labour Party, was to effectivate the operations at the colleges through economy of scale.
Herned had led the public committee that in 1988 had launched the idea of merging and co locating the colleges.
It also showed that the reform gave the educational personnel more administrative work.
[citation needed] It did, however, standardize teaching and syllabus throughout the country's university system.
Also Bodø, Buskerud, Telemark, Vestfold, Hedmark, Lillehammer and Gjøvik have announced that they wish to convert to universities, either by themselves or through mergers.