Every person who finishes a four-year secondary school has an open access to higher education in Republic of Serbia. The latest 2011 census shows, 10.59% of the population of Serbia have higher education qualifications. 

Higher education is divided into three levels: 

• First level (Bachelor Studies);
• Second level (Master Studies, Specialized Studies);
• Third level (PhD Studies).

Serbia joined the Bologna Process in 2003. The adoption of the Law on Higher Education supporting the implementation of Bologna Process followed in 2005. This law formally introduced:

• the European Credit Transfer System;
• three-cycle system of study;
• diploma supplement.

All newly admitted students study under the reformed study programmes as of the academic 2007/08.

The reform process was continued by the adoption of the standards for accreditation, self-evaluation and external quality control in 2006. This has set conditions for the start of the process of accreditation of higher education institutions and study programmes in 2007.

Strategy for Development of Education in Serbia until 2020, was adopted in 2012. It seeks to identify purposes, goals, directions, instruments and mechanisms for the development of the education system in the Republic of Serbia until 2020. It includes chapters relevant for higher education.

According to the Law on Higher Education, every study programme is defined through the number of ECTS. Each course within the study programme is valued through the number of ECTS. Total sum of ECTS varies from a minimum of 180 for three year programmes to a minimum of 240 ECTS for four year programmes at the bachelor level.  At the master level a number of ECTS may vary from minimum of 60 to 120 ECTS depending on the length of the programme (one or two year). Programmes at the PhD level comprise at least 180 ECTS.

The higher education system in Serbia offers two types of studies:

• academic studies realised at universities;
• applied studies organized either at colleges of applied studies or at universities.

First level of studies includes:

1. Undergraduate Academic Studies (Bachelor) – lasting for 3-4 years, carrying 180 to 240 ECTS;
2. Bachelor Applied Studies – lasting for 3 years, carrying 180 ECTS.

Second level of studies includes:

1. Master Academic Studies – lasting for 1-2 years and carrying 60 to 120 ECTS;
2. Master Applied Studies – lasting for 2 years and carrying at least 120 ECTS for students who have previously achieved 180 ECTS;
3. Specialised Applied Studies – lasting for 1 year and carrying 60 ECTS;
4. Specialist Academic Studies – lasting for 1 year and carrying 60 ECTS, for students who have achieved at least 300 ECTS in previous studies.

Third level of studies includes Doctoral Academic Courses (PhD), including a minimum of 3 years of study or 180 ECTS. In the field of medical science (studies of medicine, dentistry and veterinary medicine), integrated courses are organized. They are 6 years long and carry a minimum of 360 ECTS. Pharmacy studies also offer integrated courses that carry 300 ECTS.

There are no short cycle programmes in higher education in Serbia.

Higher education in Serbia is provided by universities and colleges that are either public or private. Academy of Applied Studies has also been envisaged by the law, but no such institution has been founded yet.

All higher education institutions must be accredited before obtaining a working license issued by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development. The Ministry is the governmental authority in charge of higher education. It recommends educational policies to the Government, plans admission policies for students, allocates financial resources to higher education institutions, and acts as a general supervisor of the overall higher education development.

Another authority in charge of higher education is the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE). It is responsible for strategic planning and decision making regarding key issues relevant to the HE system coherence such as setting standards for the internal assessment and quality evaluation of HE institutions and establishing standards for the issuance of work permits. The Council is an independent body. It consists mainly of academics proposed by the Conference of Serbian Universities (CSU) and appointed by the National Assembly.

The National Council establishes a separate working body called the Accreditation and Quality Evaluation Commission to carry out tasks related to the accreditation and quality evaluation of higher education institutions and their individual units and those related to the evaluation of study programmes.

The Conference of Universities of Serbia and the Students’ Conference of Universities of Serbia are the two consultative bodies. They also act as very important factors in the governing of higher education.

All students pay administrative fees.  There are two options concerning students’ tuition fees. 

• “Budget-financed“ students have their tuition fees paid by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development. There are 42.96 % of these students in 2016. They still need to pay administrative and other costs ranging from RSD 4 000 to 30 000 per year. The costs may include:

• entrance and application fees when enrolling in a higher education institution,
• fees for issuing diploma and diploma supplement,
• obligatory payments for exams (in certain cases applicable only to self-financing students),
• issuing certificates - of student’s status, of passed exams etc.

• “Self-financed” students are paying both administrative fees and tuition fees. The fees range from 30.000 to 248.500 RSD per year on Bachelor level and 40.000 to 785 492.000 RSD on Master level. This applies for both academic and applied studies.

All students in the Republic of Serbia are full-time students (part-time students are not envisaged by the Law on Higher Education). Their status (budget-financed or self-financed) is determined only by the source of financing of their studies. Student status is achieved through merit-based ranking, determined by the number of ECTS accomplished during previous school year, or total score on the entrance exam for bachelors.

The academic calendars are determined each year at institutional level, meaning that higher education institutions may have different calendars during the same academic year. The teaching part of an academic year consists of two semesters:

• First semester usually starts in the beginning of October and ends in mid-February;
• Second semester usually starts at the end of February and ends in the beginning of June.

There are 3 breaks during the school year:

• Winter break (New Year’s and Christmas holidays, usually between 31^st of December and 7^th of January);
• Spring break (usually 5 work days around Orthodox Easter Holiday in April or May);
• Summer break (between the second semester of the ongoing academic year and first semester of the following).

In addition, there are several one or two-day breaks for national or religious holidays, as regulated by the Law on National and Other Holidays.

Higher education institutions determine the dates and the number of examination periods during the academic year. Usually there are 4 to 6 periods. They can be at the end of each semester and prior to the end of the academic year, after summer holidays.

The national action plan in accordance with the Strategy for Development of Education in Serbia 2020 ensures the increased number of students from underrepresented groups on all higher education levels by 2017. This will be accomplished through establishing the system for monitoring availability of higher education higher education programmes and the mechanisms of support for students from underrepresented groups.

As a part of their self-evaluation and external evaluation, higher education institutions are required to provide the data about their students. Also, at the beginning of each academic year, students have to fill in a form in order to enrol in the current year of study. This form is used to collect data about their socio-economic status. The data is collected on the national level for purposes of the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia.