2025

The Ministry of Education and Research has continued to implement educational policies to enhance the quality of the educational process through: 

Access to quality education 

The programme The First in My Family to Go to University, funded under the Education and Employment Programme, aims to support young people with a disadvantaged background to have access to higher education and contributes to the reduction of the socioeconomic gap between urban and rural areas. The key measures of the project include:

• “Bridge” measures to facilitate the transition from high-school to university, such as support for students at risk of failing the Baccalaureate or students who graduated from high-school in the previous years. Such measures include student counselling about university programmes and the promotion of educational offers in high schools with a low participation rate in higher education.
• Measures to prevent academic dropping out. With the creation of some mechanisms to identify and monitor students’ needs within the Centres for Counselling and Career Guidance, university students at risk of dropping out will receive support to continue their studies. Remedial programmes will be implemented for students with learning difficulties, and support to cover the costs for accommodation and meals will be provided in order to facilitate access to education.
• Making higher education accessible for students with disabilities. With the purchase of IT equipment and the development of accessible educational tools, universities will ensure physical and digital access for students with disabilities. Moreover, support services will be provided, such as interprets and assistive technology, and customised counselling for these university students.

In September 2024, contracts began to be concluded for the 68 projects that have been selected. 

Public policies in higher education 

In 2024, the Executive Unit for Funding Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation (UEFISCDI), in a partnership with the Ministry of Education and Research, initiated the implementation of three strategic projects funded under the Education and Employment Programme, which will contribute to the development of educational public policies with several components (equity and access, internationalisation, employability, information systems to support policy making):

The project Romania on the horizon of 2030: Increasing international relevance with the internationalisation of higher education. 

This is a non-competitive call for proposals intended for all the development regions of Romania. The call aims to enhance the quality of Romanian higher education and the educational provision through the implementation of a programme for the internationalisation of higher education so as to improve its quality, efficiency and relevance. The eligible target group is of minimum 30 higher education institutions. For just one project under this call, the implementation began in July 2024. 

The project Interventions for tertiary education: Systemic measures to prevent and reduce academic dropping out. 

This is a non-competitive call for proposals intended for all the development regions of Romania. The call aims to implement some measures to prevent and address academic dropping out through:

• the development of a tool for monitoring the transition to higher education and academic dropping out, which will serve as an early warning mechanism for focusing the interventions in the area in connection with improving access to and participation to tertiary education
• measures that support the operationalisation of PNRAU (the national programme for the reduction of academic dropping out), so as to increase student retention in the academic sector (a strategic intervention)
• specific support, guidance and counselling activities in the framework of the Centres for Counselling and Career Guidance, including the exchange of good practice and studies that are coordinated at national level
• relevant counselling, mentoring and tutoring services
• other support services for students at risk of dropping out (need-based grants, accommodation, free meals, reimbursement of transport costs etc.).

The eligible target group is made of university students. Just one project was submitted and its implementation started in July 2024. 

The project Adaptation of the educational provision to the demands of the labour market with evidence-based policies in the area. 

This is a non-competitive call for proposals intended for all the development regions of Romania. The call aims to develop systemic tools (including digital tools) and institutional mechanisms at university level in order to ensure a coherent framework for the development and monitoring of public policies related to the employability of graduates and to encourage the development of tertiary education programmes that are correlated with the dynamics of the labour market by: 

• updating/improving the mechanism for anticipating the need for competences and monitoring tertiary education graduates
• sustaining the employability of tertiary education graduates by carrying out analyses to identify horizontal needs for the development of the educational provision (e.g. AI, digitisation, big data, green skills, etc.).

There is only one project in this call, for which the implementation process began in July 2024.   

Strengthening dual higher education 

The new regulations in place and the access to the call for proposals Developing 29 regional consortia and developing and equipping 29 integrated vocational campuses, with funding under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, allow for a wide-ranging development of dual school education and higher education. 

A consortium has to include at least four types of entities, namely: (1) Public/Private accredited higher education institutions; (2) Public/Private accredited or temporarily authorised VET/technical schools; (3) Administrative-territorial units (ATUs); (4) Economic operators.

A total number of 29 complex projects have been funded, with various measures and generous budgets, for which grant agreements covering two phases have been signed. Because these agreements were signed at different times, the 29 consortia are now at different stages in their implementation. 

Twenty-nine integrated vocational campuses for VET will be built. Each consortium will receive a grant to develop their campus infrastructure. Each integrated campus that has been built will be equipped for digital workshops, based on a digitisation concept which is adapted to the profile of technological high-schools and technological universities. Therefore, technological universities and high-schools involved in a partnership structure related to dual education centres may receive specific grants. Consortia will offer training programmes at basic (ISCED 3-5) and advanced (ISCED 6-8) levels. NRRP will provide the funds for the construction of 16 integrated vocational campuses, while the funds for 13 campuses will come from the state budget. 

Government Decision No 1030/2024 and Order of the education minister No 4275/2024 approved 18 dual education bachelor programmes, offered from the 2024/2025 academic year by Politehnica National University of Science and Technology of Bucharest, Babeș-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca, Politehnica University of Timișoara, Ovidius University of Constanța, Ștefan cel Mare University of Suceava. The actual list of the 18 programmes, with their specialisations (e.g. engineering, computer science, technical applicative fields, etc.), is published by each university on their website. 

Dual higher education already accredited

• In the 2024/2025 academic year, there were 18 bachelor programmes offered as dual higher education, accredited by ARACIS (Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education) and implemented in five Romanian universities.
• For the 2025/2026 academic year, ARACIS has accredited 10 master programmes delivered in a dual system, with 3 495 students expected to participate.

For instance, the University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest will implement in the 2025/2026 academic year a dual education programme – Circular engineering and the green transition.

2024

Access to quality education 

• Support for school students during the transition between high-school education and higher education with the implementation of grants for bridge summer programmes, as well as support for university students at risk of dropout in their first year at university by implementing projects for learnings centre and student support in universities (funded under the Romanian Secondary Project).
• Implementation of the call for proposals First one in the family going to university under the Education and Employment Programme, which provides funding for prevention, intervention and compensative measures contributing to the establishment of a framework allowing a fair access to quality university studies for any youth irrespective of their socioeconomic background while providing support to prevent and address university dropout.
• Implementation of the call for proposals Interventions for Tertiary Education – Systemic measures to prevent and reduce university dropout (funded under the Education and Employment Programme). This aims to implement measures to prevent and address university dropout by developing a tool for monitoring the transition to higher education and university dropout as an early warning mechanism for focusing interventions in the area related to increasing the access to and participation in tertiary education.
• Participation in Erasmus+ projects involving Romanian and Ukrainian higher education institutions in order to promote the integration of learners and staff from Ukraine into their new learning environments.

A correlation between the higher education provision and the needs of the labour market  

• Implementation of the project Adapting the educational provision to the needs of the labour market by evidence-based policies under the Education and Employment Programme, which aims to develop systemic tools (including digital tools) and institutional mechanisms within universities in order to ensure a coherent framework for the development and monitoring of public policies on graduates’ employability
• Implementation, under the Education and Employment Programme call for proposals Promoting the development of high-quality tertiary programmes that are flexible and correlated with the needs of the labour market – Traineeships for university students, of 10 projects distributed across less developed regions.
• For piloting a full dual route (levels 3 to 8 in the National Qualifications Framework), within the call for proposals A pilot programme for developing regional consortia for dual education (funded under the National Recovery and Resilience Plans), there are 23 higher education institutions involved in its implementation (with 11 of them being partnership leaders), distributed across the development regions as follows: Bucharest-Ilfov Region  – 2; North-East Region – 3; South-East Region – 2; Central Region – 2; South-West Region – 1; West Region – 5; North-West Region – 6; South Muntenia Region -2. 

Internationalisation of the higher education system  

• An increased presence of Romanian universities in European alliances with the inclusion of other four Romanian universities in networks of European universities.
• Participation of Romanian universities in cooperation partnership projects and higher education mobility projects in the programme countries and third countries within the Erasmus+ programme.
• Implementation of the call for proposals Romania on the horizon of 2030: Increasing international relevance through the internationalisation of higher education (with funding under the Education and Employment programme). Its goal is to enhance the quality of Romanian higher education and the educational provision by implementing a programme for the internationalisation of higher education with a view to increase its quality, efficiency and relevance.
• Perfecting promotional tools through participation in fairs under the umbrella StudyinRomania and a cooperation with the project StudyinEurope, as well as through participation in the competitions “European School” and “Made for Europe”
  Obtaining a positive endorsement for accession to OECD’s programmes in the field of education, as well as a memorandum adopted on the topic Romania’s participation in the second cycle of OECD’s Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) 2024-2029.

Improving the capacity of academic management to implement national policies  

• Ensuring the sustainability of the Human Capital Operational Programme project A Career Start with a Master Degree in Teaching by providing funding from the state budget for places in the teaching master programme in each of the eight higher education institutions which are partners in the project.
• The projects concerned with the digitalisation of universities and their preparedness for the digital professions of the future (funded under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan) aim to improve the digital infrastructure, to develop university students’ and university teachers’ competences and to create and operationalise some innovating technological centres for the creation of the new skills of the future. Departments/centres/laboratories/digital libraries will be established for students to acquire competences that are specific to emerging professions and for strengthening entrepreneurial skills in the digital sector.
• Modernized documents of studies: QR codes and a bilingual format. As from 2024, diplomas issued in Romania have included QR codes for validation and conformity checking in the database of the Ministry of Education. From the 2024/2025 academic year, all documents of studies will be drawn up in Romanian and English and will be accompanied by a diploma supplement with the Europass format.
• A Single National Integrated Register for Diplomas and Documents of Studies (RUNIDAS). This provides an integrated digital system for the management of documents of studies in Romania. Funded under the 2021-2027 Education and Employment Programme, RUNIDAS will ensure traceability and efficiency in the handling of official documents.

Development of university infrastructure  

• Contracting, implementing and monitoring projects (funded under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan) related to the university infrastructure (hostels, canteens, recreational facilities). The intention is to create new recreation and reading facilities in university campuses, especially for disadvantaged students, and to build/extend/modernise canteens and accommodation places for students from a disadvantaged socioeconomic background, students with disabilities, ethnic minority students or students from single-parent families.
• Continuation of the investment programme of the Ministry of Education for the construction of student hostels, funded under the National programme for constructions of public or social interest – Construction of student hostels, the sub-programme Public higher education institutions, which is handled by the National Company for Investments. 

2023

Improving the quality of higher education and its correlation with the labour market 

Quality in higher education: internationalisation and databases for the development of Romanian education

In the project, co-funded from the European Social Fund through the human capital operational programme, the Executive Unit for Funding of Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation (UEFISCDI) developed and distributed, in a partnership with the Ministry of Education, a national questionnaire on the employability of higher education graduates. UEFISCDI also drew up a Study on the employability of Romanian graduates.

The main purpose pursued was to enhance the link between the academic system and the dynamics of the labour market by some research into the routes taken by graduates. 

These are some of the conclusions of the study: 

• higher education graduates have a high capacity of gaining initial employment which increases in time, from 81.1 % (one year after graduation) to 92.4 % (five years after graduation)
• half of the university students who work have a contract for at least 8 hours a day
• female graduates, graduates born in rural areas and university students for the first time in their families earned a lower income from their first job after completing their studies
• for graduates of bachelor programmes, a higher grade at the final examination brings in significantly better opportunities in the future. 

Career start with a master degree in teaching

The project Career start with a master degree in teaching, funded through the human capital operational programme 2014-2020, is implemented by the Ministry of Education in a partnership with eight higher education institutions (Politehnica University of Bucharest, University of Bucharest, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Babeș Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca, Ovidius University of Constanța, University of Craiova, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași, Western University of Timișoara) and the Executive Unit for Funding of Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation. 

The project aims:

• to improve the quality and the efficiency of tertiary education through a diversification of the educational provision in university tertiary education
• to improve the skills of teachers in university tertiary education in connection with:
  • innovatory educational content and modern and flexible learning resources,
  • encouraging access to higher education. 

The project had the following outcomes:

• the profile of the graduate of a master's degree in teaching (partially completed),
• 510 master students,
• 354 certified people following the completion of the teaching master programme,
• 14 educational provisions,
• 80 trained and certified teachers,
• an impact study on the implementation of the teaching master programme (partially developed),
• an innovative virtual network developed and in course of implementation.

The support for the adaptation of the curriculum to the requirements of the labour market continued with specific institutional development projects funded from the Fund for Institutional Development of Public Higher Education Institutions. 

In 2022, a distinctive funding line was introduced – D7 Labour Market – in connection with the correlation between the educational provision and the demand in the labour market and career counselling and guidance.

In 2023, higher education institutions conduct 39 institutional projects concerning the correlation between the educational provision and the demand in the labour market and career counselling and guidance.

Equal access and participation

In order to support university students from rural areas, disadvantaged groups and non-traditional university students to participate in tertiary education, the Ministry of Education continues to implement its social programmes: special places for students from rural areas, scholarships, subsidies for accommodation and meals, partial reimbursement of transportation costs.

For the 2022/2023 academic year, distinct allocations of enrolments were made for places dedicated to graduates of high-schools situated in rural areas (2 000 places, out of which 1 207 places have been occupied), places for Romania’s priority development areas (5 000 places – bachelor programmes, 4 500 places – master programmes, 300 places – doctorate programmes), as well as 400 places for initial teacher training (the teaching master programme). 

For Romanian citizens belonging to the Roma minority, special places have been allocated for bachelor studies (312 places), master studies (64 places) and doctorate studies (six places). 

The ROSE Project concerning the secondary education

To encourage graduates of upper secondary education to continue their studies in tertiary education (higher education or other forms of post-secondary education), the implementation of the grant scheme for high schools has continued in the framework of the ROSE project for secondary education. 

In the ROSE project, 105 grants have been implemented under the grant scheme for universities Summer programmes, in order to support the participation of high-school students at risk in summer programmes organised by universities. Thus, the students can become familiar with the academic context, and they can initiate the development of relevant skills for a successful completion of tertiary education. 

The universities’ internationalization

As far as the mechanisms for promoting Romanian higher education are concerned, the mobile phone application StudyinRomania was launched in June 2022. The application is addressed both to young people abroad and young people in Romania, aged between 18 and 30 years, who are interested to enroll in a programme in Romanian universities for a whole cycle of study or for a semester. The application can be downloaded from online shops for users of Android and iOS, being interconnected with the platform StudyinRomania. 

Furthermore, at the end of 2022, the VR application StudyinRomania Journey was also launched. The application includes 46 videos about public universities, a Trivia game about Romania, an exploration of Romanian towns based on the model of “Google street view” and a VR clip promoting the application. 

The application may be accessed both by downloading from online shops (Google Play, Sidequest) and at the link direct through VR glasses.