Higher education is organized in universities, academies of studies, institutes, schools of higher studies, hereinafter referred to as higher education institutions or universities, which have obtained provisional operating authorization or accreditation.

Higher education institutions are education providers that carry out teaching activities based on study programs authorized to operate provisionally/accredited under the law, for initial and continuous university-level training, programs that operate on the principle of quality and the correlation of educational offerings with the labor market.

The national higher education system includes all accredited higher education institutions. A higher education institution authorized to operate provisionally, according to the legal procedures in force, becomes part of the national higher education system only after accreditation. For more information, you can also access the website of the Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education - www.aracis.ro.

Higher education institutions can be public, private, or denominational. These institutions have legal personality, have a non-profit character, and are apolitical. Higher education institutions are legal entities of public law or, as the case may be, legal entities of private law and of public utility.

University autonomy is guaranteed by the Constitution. Academic freedom is guaranteed by law. Public accountability is also regulated for any higher education institution, public or private.

Through an annual government decision, the following are validated:

• The nomenclature of fields and specializations/university study programs per union
• The structure of accredited public and private higher education institutions or authorized to operate provisionally, with:
  • fields of bachelor's university studies and accredited or provisionally authorized specializations/study programs,
  • geographical locations,
  • number of transferable study credits for each university study program,
  • form of education and language of instruction,
  • maximum number of students who can be educated

The mission of higher education is to generate and transfer knowledge to society both through initial and continuous university-level formation, with the aim of personal development, professional insertion of the individual, and meeting the competence needs of the socioeconomic environment, as well as through scientific research, development, innovation, and technological transfer, through individual and collective creation, in the fields of science, engineering, arts, letters, by ensuring physical and sports performances and development, as well as the valorization and dissemination of their results. All these are carried out respecting the following principles:

a) the principle of university autonomy;

b) the principle of academic freedom;

c) the principle of public accountability;

d) the principle of quality assurance;

e) the principle of equity;

f) the principle of managerial and financial efficiency;

g) the principle of transparency;

h) the principle of respecting the rights and freedoms of students and academic staff;

i) the principle of independence from ideologies, religions, and political doctrines;

j) the principle of freedom of national and international mobility of students, teaching staff, and researchers;

k) the principle of social partners' consultation in decision making;

l) the principle of student-centered education.

The structure of the academic year (according to Law no. 1/2011 – art. 136)

• The academic year usually starts on the first working day of October, includes two semesters, and ends on September 30 of the following calendar year.
• A semester usually lasts 14 weeks of didactic activities followed, usually, by at least 3 weeks of exams.
• The structure of the academic year is approved by the university senate.
• When awarding transferable study credits from a semester, a period of at least 17 weeks is considered.
• The university senate of each higher education institution annually approves, at least 3 months before the beginning of the academic year, the regulations regarding the professional activity of students, as well as the calendar of educational activities specific to academic semesters of study.