A new university year
October 1 marks the beginning of a new university year in Romanias higher education institutions
Mihai Pelin, 01.10.2018, 13:50
It is October 1 and a fresh university year has begun in Romanias higher education system. Nearly half million students are expected in all the three education cycles, graduation degree, PhD and doctoral courses. Romania has a total of 54 higher education institutions of which 7 are military schools. In most universities the 2018 – 2019 school year has 32 weeks of courses, 6 exam sessions and four holiday weeks except for the summer holiday which is longer. Roughly one third of the total number of students is attending courses in Bucharest universities. 22 thousand have enlisted with the Academy of Economic Studies and 5 thousand of these are freshmen. A new university offering courses in medicine, pharmacy, science and technology has opened its doors in Targu Mures, central Romania. Founded last year, after the merger of the two higher education institutions in the city, the aforementioned university is expecting over 11 thousand students.
Calin Enachescu, Pro-rector with the Targu Mures University: “The effects will be categorically positive in time by putting together these human and material resources by increasing education performance inside a large university with significant funding, technical and administrative resources.
Among the issues facing Romanias higher education system this year is the poor funding as well as the lack of accommodation facilities for the students. So, we can say that for many parents and students the university year started pretty earlier, as they had to find accommodation before hand. Single-room apartments are in high demand at this time of the year as they are also the cheapest. However, scarce accommodation facilities is an issue currently affecting almost all university centers.
Petrisor Laurentiu Tuca, chairman of the National Alliance of Student Organizations in Romania with more on the issue: “There are a little over 107 thousand places in accommodation facilities in university centers across Romania, which means that only 23% of the students can find proper accommodation. And thats quite worrisome from our point of view.
Roughly 100 thousand students are also being expected to commence studies in Cluj Napoca, one of Romanias main university centers. Over 5 thousand of them are foreign students attending the courses of the Iuliu Hatieganu University here. The center is also boasting the largest community of Francophone students coming from France and other French-speaking countries like Tunisia or Algeria.
The number of students in state institutions has sharply dropped in the past years in Romania as a result of a decreasing birthrate and the thriving private universities. The highest number of students was registered in 2007, when over 900 thousand students had been enlisted for a graduation degree.
