Higher education in the Republic of Macedonia, as stressed in the National Programme for Development of Education 2005-2015 [[../../National programme for development of education in Macedonia 2005-2015.pdf|..\..\National programme for development of education in Macedonia 2005-2015.pdf]] is devoted to development and promotion of knowledge and strengthening of the culture of living of young people and adults. It is aimed towards maintaining, strengthening and further deloping following goals:

• producing a high-quality workforce and responsible citizens, capable of satisfying the needs emanating from the existential, social and individual manifestations of mankind;
• ensuring opportunities for quality education and learning throughout the entire life;
• promoting, creating and disseminating knowledge through development of scientific and technological research in the technical, natural, bio-technical, artistic, medical and humanistic sciences;
• helping understand, interpret, preserve, improve, promote and disseminate national and regional, international and historic cultures, in the context of cultural pluralism and diversity;
• nurturing traditional characteristics and values of all communities in the Republic of Macedonia,  nurturing multi-culturalism and multi-linguaism;
• aiding the protection and promotion of societal values through educating young people in the values democratic society is based on;
• developing and pursuing its autonomy, ethic role, responsibility and anticipative function;
• aligning its academic offer with the needs of the labour market and its social and cultural environment, and being in a constant dynamic relation to them;
• creating a stimulative environment for higher education teaching staff, enabling them to develop their abilities, for the purpose of achieving its mission.

On 19th September 2003, the Republic of Macedonia became an equal member of the European family of countries committed to following and implementing the recommendations of the Bologna Process and the common determination for creating a common European Area of Higher Education. In addition to the regular efforts to raise the quality of the studies and their efficiency, higher education faces also the responsibility for its own structural, organisational and programmatic designing, which will be transparent, competitive, compatible and recognisable on the European market of academic services and wider. This requires consistent adherence to the resolutions contained in the Bologna Declaration and their bringing to life. The initiative for the establishment of a common European Area of Higher Education obliges higher education institutions to re-examine themselves and provides them with an additional stimulus for increasing their efforts on the road to active membership in the family of European universities and gaining a status of respectable providers of educational services on the broad European academic market.

As one of the signatories to the Bologna Declaration, Republic of Macedonia and the Ministry of Education and Science committed themselves, in the Strategy for the Development of Education in the Republic of Macedonia 2005-2015,  first decade of the 21st century, to adapt their policies and facilitate the realisation of the goals emanating from the Bologna Process:

1. Adoption of a system of easily recognisable and comparable degrees, and introduction of a diploma supplement, in order to enable access to employment for European citizens and international competitiveness of the European system of higher education;

2. Adoption of a three-cycle system - undergraduate, post-graduate and doctoral studies. Access to the second cycle is conditioned on successful completion of the first cycle of studies, which must have a duration of at least three years. The degree attained after three years is regarded as a level of qualifications necessary for the European labour market. The second cycle leads to a Masters degree, whereas the third cycle leads to a Doctorate.

3. Introduction of a credit system, such as ECTS , as a suitable means for promotion of the broadest possible student exchange. Credits can be acquired outside of higher education, including lifelong learning, under the condition that this is accepted by the university receiving the students.

4. Promotion of mobility by overcoming the barriers to free movement, primarily of: students: to give them an opportunity to learn and to facilitate their access to studies and relevant services; teachers, researchers and administrative personnel: to acknowledge and validate the time they have spent in Europe in research, teaching or learning, regardless of their statutory rights.

5. Promotion of the European collaboration in quality assurance through development of comparable criteria and methodology.

6. Promotion of the necessary European dimension in higher education, especially in the development of subject syllabuses, inter-institutional cooperation, mobility schemes and integrated study programmes, training and research.

7. Lifelong learning, as a crucial element of the European Higher Education Area. In Europe, as a knowledge-based society, acceptance of the lifelong learning concept is necessary in order to face the challenges of competition, the use of contemporary technologies and perseverance in advancing social cohesion, equal opportunities and quality of life.

8. Inclusion of students as partners in the process of building the European Higher Education Area.

9. Increase of the attractiveness and competitiveness of the European Higher Education Area, with the goal of expanding the opportunities for collaboration, European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System and mobility with countries outside the European Higher Education Area.

10. Doctoral studies and synergy between the European Higher Education Area and the European Research Area, by strengthening the role of research and capacity building for research and promotion of inter-disciplinarity. Increasing the mobility at doctoral and post-doctoral level and strengthening the institutional collaboration within the framework of doctoral studies. The realisation of these goals, which should be conducted with full respect of the cultural differences, languages, national education systems and university autonomy, should facilitate the establishment of the European Higher Education Area. From the perspective of higher education in the Republic of Macedonia, this should result in: increased efficiency of the studies; student and academic staff mobility; improved quality of the educational process; active role of the students in quality assurance; increase of the possibilities for employing graduates at the national and European labour market; enhanced science and research; ensured competitiveness and compatibility with the European and global academic market.

The Amended Law for higher education of Republic of Macedonia constitutes legal framework for the implementation of the three-cycle higher education system that recognises the goals of the Bologna process and the goals of a common European higher education space. The first cycle study programmes or bachelor degree programmes are academic or professional. The second cycle programmes are master programmes. The common master study programmes that lead directly to master's degree are focused on education and training for occupations or professions according to the EU directives or special rules of the Republic of Macedonia. The third-cycle programmes are PhD programmes. The higher education institutions may develop, accredit, and provide programmes of further training, i. e. within the scope of lifelong learning. The implementation of the credit system (ECTS) has been required since 2005.