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

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

The national system of higher education 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 system of higher education 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 state, private, or confessional. These institutions have legal personality, are nonprofit and apolitical. Higher education institutions are legal entities under public law or, as the case may be, legal entities under private law and of public utility.

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

By an annual government decision, the following are validated:

• The nomenclature of fields and specializations/programs of university studies per union
• The structure of accredited or provisionally authorized state and private higher education institutions, including:
  • fields of undergraduate studies and specializations/programs of study accredited or provisionally authorized to operate,
  • geographical locations for activities,
  • the number of transferable study credits for each university study program,
  • form of education and language of instruction,
  • maximum number of students who can be educated

The mission of higher education is to generate and transfer knowledge to society both through initial and continuous university-level training, for personal development, professional integration of the individual, and meeting the competency needs of the socioeconomic environment, as well as through scientific research, development, innovation and technology transfer, individual and collective creation in sciences, engineering sciences, arts, letters, ensuring performance and physical and sports development, as well as valorization and dissemination of their results. All these are carried out respecting 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 respecting 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 for students, teachers, and researchers;

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

l) the principle of student-centered education.

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 30th of the following calendar year.
• A semester usually has a duration of 14 weeks of teaching activities, followed, as a rule, by at least 3 weeks of exams.
• The structure of the academic year is approved by the university senate.
• In awarding transferable study credits from 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 regulation regarding students’ professional activity, as well as the calendar of educational activities specific to academic study semesters.