Higher education is organized in universities, academies of studies, institutes, schools of higher studies, hereinafter referred to as higher education institutions or universities, which have obtained provisional operation authorization or accreditation.

Higher education institutions are education-providing organizations that carry out teaching activities based on provisional/authorized study programs accredited under the law, for initial and continuous university-level training, programs that operate on the principle of quality and the correlation of the educational offer with the labor market.

The national higher education system includes all accredited higher education institutions. A higher education institution authorized to operate provisionally, according to the legal procedures in force, becomes part of the national higher education system only after accreditation. For more information, you can also visit the website of the Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education - www.aracis.ro .

Higher education institutions can be public, private, or denominational. These institutions have legal personality, are non-profit, and apolitical. Higher education institutions are legal entities of public law, or, as the case may be, legal entities of private law and of public utility.

University autonomy is guaranteed by the Constitution. Academic freedom is guaranteed by law. Also, public accountability is regulated for any higher education institution, whether state or private.

By an annual government decision, the following are validated:

• The nomenclature of fields and of university study programs per domain
• The structure of accredited state and private higher education institutions or authorized to operate provisionally, with:
  • fields of bachelor's degree studies and the specializations/programs accredited or authorized to operate provisionally,
  • geographical locations of activity,
  • number of transferable study credits for each university study program,
  • form of education and teaching language,
  • the maximum number of students who can be enrolled

The mission of higher education is to generate and transfer knowledge to society both through initial and continuous university-level training, for the purpose of personal development, professional insertion of the individual, and meeting the competence needs of the socio-economic environment, as well as through scientific research, development, innovation and technological transfer, through individual and collective creation, in the fields of science, engineering sciences, arts, literature, by ensuring performances and physical and sports development, as well as the valorization and dissemination of their results. All these are carried out with respect to the following principles:

a) the principle of university autonomy;

b) the principle of academic freedom;

c) the principle of public accountability;

d) the principle of quality assurance;

e) the principle of equity;

f) the principle of managerial and financial efficiency;

g) the principle of transparency;

h) the principle of respect for the rights and freedoms of students and academic staff;

i) the principle of independence from ideologies, religions, and political doctrines;

j) the principle of freedom of national and international mobility of students, teaching staff, and researchers;

k) the principle of consulting social partners in decision-making;

l) the principle of student-centered education.

The structure of the academic year (according to Law no. 1/2011 – art. 136)

• The academic year usually begins on the first working day of October, includes two semesters, and ends on September 30 of the following calendar year.
• A semester usually has a duration of 14 weeks of teaching activities, followed by at least 3 weeks of exams.
• The structure of the academic year is approved by the university senate.
• When assigning transferable study credits for a semester, a period of at least 17 weeks is taken into account.
• The university senate of each higher education institution annually approves, at least 3 months before the start of the academic year, the regulations on students' professional activity, as well as the calendar of educational activities specific to the academic study semesters.