Skip to main content
European Commission logo
EACEA National Policies Platform:Eurydice
Management staff for higher education
Estonia

Estonia

10.Management and other education staff

10.5Management staff for higher education

Last update: 27 November 2023

A university as well as an institution of professional higher education shall be directed by a Rector. The Rector is responsible for the general state and development of the institution and for the lawful and expedient use of financial resources.  

Requirements for Appointment for the position of Rector

Any person who is or has been elected to the position of a professor may be a candidate for the position of Rector of a university.

Any person who is or has been elected to the position of a professor or has been awarded at least a Master's level degree or a qualification equal thereto may be a candidate for the position of Rector of an institution of professional higher education. If Master’s study is conducted at an institution of professional higher education, any person who has been awarded a Doctoral level degree or a qualification equal thereto may be a candidate for the position of Rector of the institution of professional higher education.

Any person who, in addition to the requirements specified above has work experience as a public servant may be a candidate for the position of Rector of an institution of professional higher education for public defence.

An active serviceman with at least the rank of a senior officer who has been awarded a Master’s degree or a qualification equal thereto may be appointed to the position of the commander of an institution of professional higher education for national defence. 

If Master's study is conducted at the institution of professional higher education for public defence or national defence and its Rector / Commander has not been awarded a Doctoral level degree, he or she is required to have a respectively longer work experience as a public servant or hold a higher military rank. 

Conditions of service

Conditions of service of a Rector of a public university are laid down in the act on the university.  

A Rector of an institution of professional higher education shall be elected by way of a public competition for up to five years pursuant to the procedure established by a regulation of the minister who directs the ministry under whose area of government the institution of professional higher education belongs. The minister shall approve the election results and shall enter into, amend and terminate the employment contract with the Rector.

 Upon the termination of his or her authority or employment contract, the Rector has the right to return to a position equivalent to the one he or she occupied in the university or the institution of professional higher education prior to his or her election as Rector. 

Since 2018, members of the Rector’s Office have been given an opportunity to apply for the title of the Head of an Educational Institution of the Year accompanied by an education award of 10,000 euros, or for the Lifetime Achievement Award in Education of 65,000 Euros.

Legislative References

Employment Contracts Act

Higher Education Act

Civil Service Act