2026

New higher education Act

In October 2025, the Slovak Parliament approved a new Higher Education Act (Act No. 300/2025 Coll.), which introduces changes giving higher education institutions greater autonomy, increasing their global competitiveness, and enabling them to respond more effectively to the needs of the 21st-century labour market. The new law will enter into force on 1 September 2026. 

The new law introduces flexible study options — the possibility to combine in-person, online, and practical forms of instruction. Higher education institutions (HEIs) will also be able to recognize credits earned through professional experience or study abroad. It also introduces joint study programmes that higher education institutions can offer together with other Slovak or foreign institutions. This will allow students to complete part of their studies at home and part abroad — all within a single official programme. 

The law introduces new types of study programmes — short study programmes and professionally oriented bachelor’s degrees. Short study programmes will focus primarily on practical skills and rapid employability, and graduates will receive the title “DiS.” (Diplomovaný špecialista – Certified Specialist). Professionally oriented bachelor’s programmes will prepare students directly for specific professions. Employers will be involved in teaching, providing internships and practical training. 

Students will be able to choose whether to complete their studies with a final thesis or a professional internship — both will carry equal weight. The outcome of the internship will be a portfolio or another deliverable, which the student will defend during the state examination in the same way as a final thesis. 

Higher education institutions now have a new obligation to provide free counselling for students — psychological, career, and academic. The aim is to help with stress, learning, and job searching, while also improving mental health. 

Several changes will also affect doctoral studies. Doctoral students will be required to complete part of their studies in a so-called doctoral school, which aims to improve the quality of training — not only in research, but also in managerial skills and teaching. 

The changes also concern the duration of employment contracts for HEI teachers. Unlike the previous fixed-term contracts of five years, teachers who have worked at a HEI for at least nine years will receive a contract extension up to the age of 70. 

HEIs that offer joint study programmes with foreign institutions will also be able to award other academic degrees, such as internationally recognized MSc or MA, provided that at least one of the partner universities grants them. 

The law abolishes the traditional “standard” years of study and replaces them with a credit-based system. The length of study will be calculated according to the number of credits earned, rather than a fixed number of semesters. However, to prevent abuse of the system and to allow for tuition fees in case of exceeding the standard duration, a minimum and maximum length of study will be maintained. 

The use of artificial intelligence will be defined in the internal regulations of each HEI, with specific conditions set by the institutions themselves. Students will be required to honestly declare if they used AI tools when preparing final papers. The aim is to enhance the credibility of academic outputs and prevent fraud.  
 

2025

New system of funding of excellent scientific outputs 

The Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Youth of the Slovak Republic has introduced a new system of funding of excellent scientific outputs from January 2025 , which will streamline the rewarding of public higher education institutions (HEIs) and authors of scientific papers and reduce the administrative burden on HEIs.

This mechanism aims to incentivise scientists through direct financial support. It is an immediate, automatic and ongoing system for rewarding outstanding scientific performance and innovation. The Ministry will check international databases and automatically pays HEIs a subsidy for their results three times a year (31 January, 31 May and 30 September). The rewards are linked to scientific outputs published in prestigious databases such as the Nature Index, citations in the Web of Science (WoS) or European and US patents of Slovak HEIs. The financial support will be paid in the same year in which these outputs are officially published.  

HEIs are obliged to pay half of the subsidy directly to the authors of the excellent outputs and innovations, and half of the subsidy can be used for the development of the workplaces where the outputs were produced.  

An overview of the subsidies paid is available on the website of the Ministry of Education. 

 National project Support for Entrepreneurial and Innovative Potential of Students 

 In February 2025, the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Youth of the Slovak Republic introduced the national project Support for Entrepreneurial and Innovative Potential of Students (Národný projekt Podpora podnikateľského a inovačného potenciálu študentov), which aims to provide students with the knowledge needed to develop their entrepreneurial skills and implement their own innovative ideas and prepare them more for the needs of the labour market. 

Under the project, higher education institutions can receive funding to develop courses aimed at increasing students' entrepreneurial and innovative potential. The curriculum innovation foresees an intensive link between academia and the business environment. Higher education institutions will cooperate with external lecturers who will be experts from practice. The plan also includes the involvement of students in the activities of incubators and accelerators at higher education institutions, as well as the organisation of trainings, workshops and career days, which will familiarise students with the issue of dealing with the results of creative intellectual activity or the creation of start-ups. These activities will also facilitate closer contact between students and their potential future employers. 

A total of 9 million euro is earmarked for the project from European funds. 

Project: "Support for Counseling and Improving Students' Mental Health"

The Ministry of Education, Research, Development, and Youth of the Slovak Republic has introduced the national project "Support for Counselling and Improving Pupils' Mental Health" (Národný projekt „Podpora poradenstva a zlepšovanie duševného zdravia študentov.“) This project aims to enhance the availability and quality of counselling and support services for university students, primarily by developing counselling services.

The project focuses on improving the staffing and efficiency of support services and counselling, as well as training university staff in key areas such as strengthening their competencies in providing support and guidance, mediation, and communication skills. It also includes support for the Buddy System and monitoring students' needs.

The project will be funded from the European Social Fund under the Programme Slovakia, with allocated EU funds amounting to €5,353,015.00.

2024

Amendment to the Higher Education Act

In September 2024, the amendment to the Higher Education Act (Act No. 170/2024 amending and supplementing  Act No. 131/2002 on Higher Education) (Zákon č. 170/2024 ktorým sa mení a dopĺňa zákon č. 131/2002 Z. z. o vysokých školách) will come into effect, addressing the modification of curricula, study interruptions, and tuition fees for specific groups of students. The changes consider the specific needs of pregnant students and students with young children, contributing to the creation of an inclusive and supportive environment in higher education institutions.

Higher education institutions are required to create conditions for pregnant students and for students who permanently care for children under the age of three, without lowering the required academic standards. Higher education institutions must also create conditions for students who care for a child with a disability under the age of five. Rectors must waive tuition fees for this specific group of students for the first academic year exceeding the standard length of study due to pregnancy or permanent childcare.

Additionally, the amendment focuses on adjusting the number of hours through ECTS credits to ensure an equal workload for students in both full-time and part-time study formats.

Performance agreements

In January 2024, Directive no. 48/2023 on measurable indicators of agreements on subsidies to higher education institutions (Smernica č. 48/2023 o merateľných ukazovateľoch zmlúv o poskytnutí dotácie verejným vysokým školám) became effective. It introduces a new element into funding of higher education institutions – performance agreements. The change is introduced in compliance with component 8 of the Recovery and Resilience Plan reform as a new tool that supports priority defining and diversification of higher education institutions based on specific strengths and potential for development.

The agreement on subsidies with each higher education institution contains measurable indicators for three years (2024-2026), which must be met for this part of the state subsidy to be provided. The measurable indicators are compiled in compliance with the methodology of the breakdown of subsidies from the state budget and according to thematic areas.

The detailed list of specific measurable indicators for 2024-2026 for each public higher education institution including all background data, as well as amounts for each measurable indicator are published on an interactive platform.

Action Plan for Open Science for 2024 

In February 2024, the Slovak Government approved the Action Plan for Open Science for 2024 (Akčný plán pre otvorenú vedu na rok 2024), which represents the second stage of the implementation of the National Strategy for Open Science for 2021 – 2028. The action plan aims to continue implementing open science principles into Slovak research and development space in compliance with the long-term priorities of the National Strategy for Research, Development, and Innovation 2030.

The planned measures also include education in open science – open science as a part of lifelong learning of the academic and scientific community with emphasis on beginning staff and PhD students. In this area, the action plan wants to create a platform that provides online courses in open science for the academic and scientific community in the Slovak Republic. The platform will provide complex and publically accessible online education in open science across institutions and with nationwide reach.  Scientists, academic staff, and students will acquire the knowledge required to implement open science principles in their daily work.