Favorable terms for private universities
Government launching the establishment of non-state institutions of higher education
The government is offering more favorable terms to entice renowned foreign universities such as Stanford, Harvard, Yale, UCL, ETH Zurich and others to establish branches in Greece.
International Institutions will be allowed to establish at least one school, with at least one degree program, as long as the parent institution occupies one of the top 20 positions in the international university rankings, according to the first two ministerial decisions on the licensing of non-state institutions of higher education.
The deadline for applications is January 2 to March 1. The minimum cost to issue a license is 2,600,000 euros in Attica and Thessaloniki and €1,300,000 for the rest of the country. So far, only two Cypriot institutions have expressed their desire to establish a branch in Greece.
The question is how many of the 33 Greek private colleges will be able to secure licenses. Based on the financial restrictions set forth in the law, only between five and seven are expected to become “universities.”
The two ministerial decisions stipulate that foreign universities (not only from the European Union) can establish branches in Greece, either independently or in cooperation with a Greek private college in operation.
The application for a license to establish and operate a non-state university must be accompanied by a letter of guarantee of €2 million for each application, plus €500,000 for each additional school, and a fee of €600,000.
If the branch is outside the Region of Attica and the Regional Unit of Thessaloniki, the letter of guarantee and deposit will be lowered by 50%, with the exception of the Regional Unit of the Attica Islands. In case of revocation of the establishment and operation license, the letter of guarantee will be forfeited in favor of the Greek state.
The branches will have the legal form of Legal Entities of University Education, which are non-profit organizations dedicated solely to providing higher education services. They will have undergraduate and postgraduate programs, and are required to conduct “innovative research,” as stated in the relevant ministerial decision.
The entities will be under the supervision of the Education Ministry in cooperation with the National Authority for Higher Education and the National Organization for Certification of Qualifications & Vocational Guidance (EOPPEP), which will assess the application for licensing.
Before they can begin offering courses of study, the National Institute of Higher Education must accredit the programs.
