17 - Lithuania - Private education
Currently there are 7 private universities and 12 private colleges Kolegija operating in Lithuania.
The activities of private higher education institutions (colleges and universities) are subject to the same
laws, Government resolutions, Minister’s orders and other legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania as the
activities of State-run higher education establishments. The only difference is in certain provisions of
the above legal acts that regulate the establishment, funding and admission to higher education
institutions. A non-State HEI is a public or private legal entity and the founder has full discretion as to
the legal form of its activities. The State university statute and its amendments or supplements are
subject to the approval of the Seimas; the State college statute and its amendments or supplements
are subject to the approval of the Government. The statute of a non-State HEI is adopted in a manner
prescribed by its founder and any amendments are passed in compliance with its statute. The
autonomy as well as governance and management rules and procedures of a non-State higher
education institution are established in its statute.
A non-State higher education institution or a branch of a foreign HEI may only be established by a
legal person (except State HEIs of the Republic of Lithuania) having material facilities necessary to
ensure the quality of higher education activities and permission, obtained in accordance with the
procedure prescribed by the Government, authorizing provision of higher education programmes. State
colleges may be established by the Government on the advice of the Ministry of Education and
Science. A college Kolegija may be established on the joint advice of the Ministry and the university, in
which case the statute of the college is subject to the approval by the university council.
Non-State HEIs receive no funding from the State budget. Their admission rules and tuition fees are
not regulated by any government entity. The Ministry can conclude agreements with private HEIs
under which the latter would offer programmes in certain fields of study, funded from the State budget,
if State HEIs do not prepare specialists of this field, or the number of specialists they prepare is not
sufficient.
The decisions concerning the structure and purpose of the funds of a non-State HEI come within the
competence of its founder. The rules and procedures of funding and the use of funds in private higher
education institutions are laid down in the laws and the statutes of private HEIs.
Eurydice - the information network on education in Europe
Date: 2009
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