Higher education institutions in the Slovak Republic are legal entities. In terms of funding, ownership, and their seat, they are divided into:

• public higher education institutions with the seat in the Slovak Republic,
• state higher education institutions with the seat in the Slovak Republic,
• private higher education institutions and
• foreign higher education institutions (based in the territory of a member state of the European Union or a state that is a party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area and the Swiss Confederation).

Public higher education institutions

Public higher education institutions are public service and independent institutions founded and closed by law. The law also determines their name, classification, and seat. If a public higher education institution is divided into faculties, the faculties are founded with the institution.

Public higher education institutions are autonomous and self-governing. They are managed by self-governing bodies in compliance with their internal rules. 

State higher education institutions

State higher education institutions include police, military, and healthcare higher education institutions. Police higher education institutions train experts for the police force in particular. They can also be attended by students who are not police employees. Military higher education institutions train specialists primarily for the Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic. Students of military higher education institutions are students performing their military service. Students who are not preparing for state service as professional soldiers and are not in a service under a special regulation governing the service of members of security forces can also study at these institutions. Healthcare higher education institutions educate students preparing for various healthcare professions.

Some state higher education institutions are not autonomous when defining the number of admitted applicants and setting admission criteria, creating study programmes, and creating an organisational structure. In this respect, they are subject to the approval of the corresponding ministry. 

State higher education institutions are linked by their budget to the State budget as contributory or budgetary organisations of the respective ministry. The study fields offered by state higher education institutions are not exclusively limited to these institutions; study programmes in the given study fields, providing they meet the accreditation conditions, may also be provided by public and private higher education institutions. 

Private higher education institutions

A private higher education institution is a legal entity with its seat in the Slovak Republic or another member state; it was founded for education and research. The Government of the Slovak Republic approves private entities to operate as private higher education institutions. The Slovak Accreditation Agency for Higher Education gives an opinion on the application. The highest managing and decision-making authority of a private higher education institution is its management board. The scope of a private higher education institution's managing board is defined by the statute of the private higher education institution.

Foreign higher education institutions

Foreign higher education institutions provide higher education in the Slovak Republic in compliance with the legislature of their home country based on the authorisation granted by the Ministry of Education, Research, Development, and Youth of the Slovak Republic.