It is considered that higher education started in Romania in the middle of the 17th Century, when the
Academia Vasiliana (1640) was founded under the reign of Vasile Lupu – a higher education institution
dedicated to the study of Latin and Slavonic. Later on, the first higher education with tuition in Greek
was founded in Bucharest – the Academia Domneasca de la Sf. Sava (around 1680). The Academy
functioned until 1821, being reorganised several times during the 17th Century. A similar institution
with tuition in Greek was established in Iasi in 1707.
In 1814, Gheorghe Asachi (1788-1869) organized and taught alongside the Academia Domneascã of
Iasi the first course for engineers with tuition in Romanian. Later on, in 1835 under the reign of Mihail
Sturza, Gheorghe Asachi organised the Academia Mihaileana in Iasi – a higher education institution
with tuition in the Romanian language and four faculties: Philosophy, Law, Theology and the
'extraordinary courses' of engineering, economy, classic and modern philology. Gheorghe Lazar
(1779-1823), born in Avrig, a small village near Sibiu, established in Bucharest in 1818 the first institute
covering all education levels with tuition entirely in Romanian. It is considered that the first university
based on modern principles was established in Iasi, in 1860. Four years later the University of
Bucharest was set up with the law, philosophy, philology and sciences faculties and not long after, the
School of Medicine (Bucharest), the Conservatory of Music and Dramatic Art (Bucharest and Iasi) and
the Art School (Bucharest and Iasi) were also set up.
The first Education Law was promulgated in 1864 under the reign of Alexandru Ioan Cuza (1820-1873)
and established the modern education system in Romania. According to the provisions of the law, the
education system was organised uniformly throughout the country with the following education levels
and durations starting September 1865: primary – 4 years, secondary – 7 years and university – 3
years. During the Modern Era the most important reforms were promoted by Spiru Haret (1851-1912)
through the Secondary and Higher Education Law (1898) and the Vocational Education Law (1899).
With the foundation of the National Unitary Romanian State on December 1st 1918, higher education
developed rapidly with the increasing demand of specialists and with the awareness of the importance
of science, culture and free access to education. Higher education was provided during the two World
Wars in the universities of Bucharest, Iasi, Cluj and Cernauti, the polytechnic institutes in Bucharest
and Timisoara, the academy of architecture in Bucharest, the academies of fine arts in Bucharest and
Iasi, the academies of music and drama in Bucharest, Iasi, Cluj and Cernauti, the institute of physical
education in Bucharest, the academies of industrial and commercial sciences and the agronomic
academies in Bucharest and Cluj, and the War College in Bucharest. The course of study at these
institutions ranged from three to six years, with some graduates continuing their training and research
work and obtaining PhDs.
After World War II, all the three major periods of the communist regime brought significant changes in
the administration, structure, content and finalities of education in Romania, according to the
orientation and political priorities of the moment. During the Stalinist era, lasting up to the late 50s,
access to higher education was forbidden directly or through impossible education fees to all
youngsters with a 'non-healthy background' (children of former land owner, entrepreneurs, politicians,
priests, etc.). In the beginning of the 60s, the communist authorities started a process of national
reconciliation, altogether with the reorientation of the Romanian foreign policy. Higher education
developed accordingly. As a consequence, at the end of 1970, 164,567 students were enrolled in the
existing 42 higher education institutions, including the seven universities (Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Iasi,
Timisoara, Craiova, Brasov, and Galati). With the 'Theses of July 1971' Romania entered the 'cultural
revolution' and the final stage of the communist regime: the stage of the dictatorship. Preserving some
of the provisions of the 1968 Education Law (basic principles, length of compulsory education, etc.),
the new Education Law promulgated in 1978 by the totalitarian regime officially introduced ideological
propaganda in schools and blended education with industrial production. Higher education institutions
were put under the tutelage of the state-owned enterprises, pupils and students receiving production
quotas. The enrolment quotas for higher education – entirely established at the central level – were
reduced dramatically and were strongly oriented towards technical studies (the largest number of
places by far was offered in polytechnic institutions). The economic policy promoted by the regime, the
degradation of the technology and the blending of education with industrial production led to a narrow
and highly specialised technical and vocational education and training with severe effects on the
professional mobility of the work force, still resented today.
After the overthrowing of the communist regime the number of higher education institutions (including
private ones) and the enrolment quotas increased rapidly, altogether with a large diversification of the
specialisation of studies offered. Following this development, in 1993 the legal framework for the
accreditation of the higher education institutions and diplomas recognition procedures was established
(Law 88/1993 amended through Law 144/1999) – setting the national quality standards for higher
education providers.
Through the Education Law (Law 84/1995) promulgated on July 24 1995 university autonomy was
guaranteed, higher education institutions being granted the right to establish and implement their own
development policies, within the general provisions of the legislation and under the coordination of the
Ministry of Education, Research and Youth. Altogether with the reforms measures promoted in preuniversity
education, in 1997 the Romanian Government launched the Higher Education and University
Science Research Project – financed from the state budget, a 50 million USD loan from the World
Bank and 9.6 million USD as non-refundable financial assistance from the European Union.
Implementation of the project led to the improvement of the management capacity of the higher
education institutions, the elaboration of new curricula for higher education and continuing education
and development of post-graduate studies and research programmes. The implementation of the new
financing mechanism of higher education (based on contracts between the Ministry of Education,
Research and Youth and the higher education institutions See 2.8.Methods of Financing Education)
was facilitated with the support of the European Union through the Phare programme. The Phare
project Higher Education Reform (HER) was accomplished in 2001 and led to the establishment of an
integrated financing system for higher education. More specifically, following the infrastructure
development (ICT and LAN equipment, basic and specific software), the project main outcomes were
(CNFIS – the National Council for Financing Higher Education; CNCSIS – the National Council for
Scientific Research in Higher Education): design and execution of the budgets as a result of a
continuous interaction between the higher education institutions and CNFIS-CNCSIS; financial
management and administration of each higher education institution and of the CNFIS-CNCSIS as part
of their financial autonomy; entire allocation and financial management of the research funds from
internal/external sources; resources strategic planning and allocation at the level of the Ministry of
Education, Research and Youth and CNFIS-CNCSIS and management of the higher education
institutions.
The current stage of the education reform began in 2002 with the accomplishment of some of the
major reform projects from the previous stage and with the endorsement by the Romanian
Government of the European programme 'Education & Training 2010'. By the end of 2002, the need
to accelerate the development of higher education in line with the 'Bologna Process' concluded the
strategic planning phase for the period up to 2010. Following the full endorsement by the Romanian
Government of the programmatic documents foreseeing the development of the European area of
higher education, the Ministry of Education, Research and Youth, in cooperation with the higher
education institutions and its strategic partners established the 'Strategy for development of higher
education in the period 2002-2010'. The Strategy establishes the objectives for the development of
higher education in Romania in line with the European trends in the area. Concrete measures have
been taken between 2001/2002 and 2003/2004 in order to address these objectives, according to the
new educational policy. Out of these, probably the most important is the preparation of a new
legislative framework meant to better support the restructuring of the higher education system with a
view to the integration into the European area of higher education. The project of the law on Higher
Education Studies is currently under public debate.
Institutions:
National Agency for Qualifications in
Higher Education and Partnership with the Social and Economic Environment
Ministry of Education, Research and Youth
Ministry
of Labour, Family and Equal Opportunities
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