Bilateral Agreements
In accordance with the FLHE and its provision on autonomy of universities, these have directly established bilateral inter/institutional agreements and cooperation with different universities in the region, EU, USA, Turkey, Malaysia, countries in Asia and other regions. Sometimes this implies a joint double degree. BiH has signed different bilateral agreements (approx. 27) related to higher education with different countries and regions. Also, RS has signed bilateral agreement with the Republic of Serbia by which the higher education diplomas from both parties are automatically mutually recognized. A more detailed list can be found at
http://www.mcp.gov.ba/org_jedinice/sektor_obrazovanje/dokumenti/medj_sporazumi/Archive.aspx?langTag=bs-BA&template_id=108&pageIndex=1
Cooperation and Participation in Worldwide Programmes and Organisations
PROGRAMME EU ERASMUS + After officially expressed interest for partial participation in the Programme, BiH as a partner country may participate in certain activities of the programme to be managed in a centralized manner by the EACEA (mobility for learning purposes, cooperation projects, capacity building, support for the reform policies, activities for young and Jean Monnet initiative).
At this stage, BiH may, in addition to the foregoing activities, participate in European educational networks: - Eurydice, - Euroguidance, - Europass, and - European Qualifications Framework (EQF), in IT platforms (eTwinning platform - a portal for international cooperation and development of teaching and non-teaching staff from preschool to high school) and EPAL platform (European Platform for Adult Education).
Since 2007, Bosnia and Herzegovina has been a signatory to the international Agreement CEEPUS III and a Programme partner including other 15 members states who joint the current CEEPUS III agreement.
CEEPUS is the short form for Central European Exchange Program for University Studies and is a multilateral University exchange program in the extended Danube region, which has provided more than 90,000 monthly scholarships for mobility in 16 European countries participating in the Programme.
In academic year 2021/2022, despite the difficulties caused by Covid-19, 111 visiting professors and students were awarded a scholarship, while 331 outgoing professors and students from Bosnia and Herzegovina received a scholarship for their visits to the foreign partner universities.
The Ministry of Civil Affairs of BiH, as a signatory to the agreement CEEPUS II and III CEEPUS, is responsible for running the programme and coordination of programme activities in BiH, and the entity ministries of education are responsible for the implementation of financial obligations, i.e. the payment of scholarships for incoming students and professors.
The main objectives of the current CEEPUS III programme are linking scientific research areas and developing academic cooperation through the creation of university networks that will, among other things, work on joint programmes and eligibility for joint degrees. CEEPUS is directed towards the development of the field of European higher education and the use of regional academic mobility as a strategic programme for the implementation of the Bologna objectives.