National Policy regarding Mobility and Internationalisation in Education

In the field of higher education, in 2005 Moldova signed the Bergen Communiqué and joined the Bologna Process. The Republic of Moldova has carried out structural reforms to align with the key principles and objectives of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). Since 2005, the Diploma Supplement has been issued free of charge both in English and Romanian, and the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) has been adopted to ensure comparability and transferability across Europe.  

In Moldova, the academic mobility and the recognition of qualifications and degrees are part of the evaluation criteria of the National Agency for Quality Assurance in Education and Research (ANACEC), in line with the Standards and guidelines for quality assurance in the EHEA (ESG), proposed by the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA).

The higher education system of the Republic of Moldova is organised in 3 cycles (Bachelor, Master, and Doctoral), in accordance with the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED). The National Qualifications Framework was implemented in Moldova in 2017 and is aligned with the European Qualifications Framework.

To promote higher education institutions from the Republic of Moldova at the European and international level, the Roadmap for the Internationalisation of Universities for the years 2020-2025 and the Action Plan for the Internationalisation of Higher Education Institutions in Moldova for the years 2024-2025 have been approved at the ministerial level. 

The Roadmap establishes 4 strategic priorities in the internationalisation of higher education:

• Policy Development – establishing a comprehensive policy framework for the internationalisation of higher education.
• Capacity Building – enhancing the human resource capacity of academic and administrative staff to support international cooperation and internationalisation.
• Programme Internationalisation – continuous modernisation of university curricula, increasing the number of joint programmes with foreign institutions, and expanding the offer of programmes taught in internationally spoken languages.
• Student Mobility – increasing the involvement of domestic students in internationalisation initiatives and attracting more international students to study in the Republic of Moldova.

The Action Plan aims to increase the number of foreign students in Moldovan higher education institutions, develop joint programmes with European universities, expand the number of programmes offered in foreign languages, increase the number of teaching staff/professors with a high level of foreign language proficiency, and encourage participation in international projects. The "Study in Moldova" online platform was launched in 2025.

To promote academic mobility, the government of the Republic of Moldova approved in 2014 the Framework Regulation on Academic Mobility in Higher Education, which establishes the guidelines for academic mobility at the university level, aligned with the National Qualifications Framework (NQF). In 2020, the Ministry of Education approved the Framework Recommendations on the Organisation of Academic Mobility and the Recognition of the Mobility Periods.

Moldova was granted EU candidate status on June 23, 2022. The European Commission recommended to open accession negotiations in November 2023, and the formal negotiations officially began on June 25, 2024. In the frame of these negotiations, Moldova expressed the objective to become a country eligible to participate fully in all actions of the Erasmus+ Programme. 

Moldova has been participating in the Erasmus+ Programme since 1994. Over this time, more than 80 TEMPUS projects have been implemented in higher education institutions in Moldova, alongside about 40 capacity-building projects in higher education and over 30 Jean Monnet projects, more than 5000 mobilities for students and academic staff in higher education and more than 8000 mobilities in the field of youth. As an eligible non-associated third country under Erasmus+ Programme, Moldova has so far participated primarily in projects related to higher education and youth. Since 2022, new cooperation opportunities have also been extended to the fields of vocational education and training (VET), youth and sport.      

Recognition and Validation of Qualifications and Degrees

Moldova has developed a strong regulatory framework to support the recognition of diplomas and qualifications. This framework facilitates the recognition abroad of both diplomas and qualifications issued in Moldova, as well as the recognition of foreign diplomas and qualifications in Moldova.

Since 1999, Moldova became a party to the Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education in the European Region (Lisbon Convention, 1997). In 2023, Moldova ratified the Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education.

Additionally, Moldova has signed bilateral agreements for the mutual recognition of diplomas, academic titles, and teaching qualifications with several countries, including: Romania, Italy, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, the Russian Federation, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the People’s Republic of China, and others.

In the field of vocational education and training, the Republic of Moldova became part of the Torino Process in 2010. Since 2014, the VET institutions in Moldova have been using the European Credit System for Vocational Education and Training (ECVET). In 2022 Moldova became a member of the European Alliance for Apprenticeships.

Since 2010, general education in Moldova has been aligned with the educational policies of the European Union through the development of competence-based school curricula.

In early childhood education, Moldova follows the European Council's Recommendations, including: the European Guarantees for Children (EU Council Recommendation of 22 May 2019), High-Quality Early Childhood Education and Care Systems (EU Council Recommendation 2021/1004 of 14 June 2021), and Early Childhood Education and Care: Barcelona Objectives for 2030 (EU Council Recommendation of 8 December 2022).

The National Development Strategy "Education 2030" establishes the main directions of government policies in the field of education in accordance with European and international educational guidelines and standards. The document was developed on the basis of the following international initiatives and regulatory documents: UN Sustainable Development Goals; Association Agreement between the Republic of Moldova and the European Union, Key Competences for Lifelong Learning (Brussels, 2018), Incheon Declaration (2015); Council of Europe Charter on Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education. Transforming lifelong learning and educational mobility into a reality accessible to all is one of the nine strategic priorities established in this document in the field of education.

The internationalisation of education in Moldova is being implemented with the support of important international partners, including the European Union, the World Bank, UNDP, UNICEF and other organisations.

Most international mobility opportunities for Moldovan students and academic staff are at the higher education level, especially within the Erasmus+ Programme. 

The Ministry of Education and Research of the Republic of Moldova annually publishes scholarship offers, open study opportunities in various countries, including Romania, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Egypt, Czech Republic, Latvia, Poland, Japan, Hungary, Slovakia, Turkey, etc., or through the programmes: FLEX, CEEPUS, la Francophonie, DAAD, Fulbright, etc.

The objective of national policies in the field of higher education is not only to provide students and university staff with an international academic mobility experience, but also to attract foreign students to university studies in Moldova. The proportion of international students in universities in the Republic of Moldova is increasing, reaching approximately 10% of the total student population in 2025. In recent years, a growing number of students from Romania, India, Israel, Italy, Azerbaijan, China, Greece, Finland, Ukraine, the United States of America, Turkey and other countries have chosen to pursue higher education in Moldova, attracted by a diverse academic offer, accessible tuition fees, and the international recognition of degrees.

The Regulation on the studies of foreigners in educational institutions in the Republic of Moldova, approved by the Government, establishes the procedure for admission of foreigners to general, vocational and higher education institutions in the Republic of Moldova.