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 according to the law, for initial and continuous university-level training, programs that operate on the principle of quality and the correlation of educational offer with the labor market.

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

Higher education institutions can be state, private, or confessional. These institutions have legal personality, are nonprofit, and are apolitical. Higher education institutions are legal entities under public law or, as the case may be, legal entities under 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, state or private.

By an annual government decision, the following are validated:

The nomenclature of fields and specializations/university study programs per union

- the structure of state and private higher education institutions accredited or authorized to operate provisionally, with:

• fields of undergraduate university studies and specializations/accredited study programs or authorized to operate provisionally,
• geographic locations of operation
• the number of transferable study credits for each university study program,
• form of education and language of instruction,

the maximum number of students that can be enrolled
The mission of higher education is to generate and transfer knowledge to society both through initial and continuous university-level training, for the purpose of personal development, professional integration of the individual and meeting the competence needs of the socioeconomic environment, as well as through scientific research, development, innovation and technology transfer, through individual and collective creation, in the fields of sciences, engineering, arts, letters, by ensuring performance and physical and sports development, as well as the capitalization and dissemination of their results. All these are carried out in compliance with the following principles:

a) the principle of university autonomy;

b) the principle of academic freedom;

c) the principle of nodal 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 respect for 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 munational and international mobility of students, teaching staff, and researchers;

k) the principle of consulting social partners when making decisions;

l) the principle of learner-centered education.

Structure of the academic year (according to Law no. 1/2011 – art. 136)
The academic year generally begins on the first working day of October, includes two semesters, and ends on September 30 of the following calendar year.
A semester generally lasts 14 weeks of teaching activities, usually followed by a minimum of 3 weeks of exams.
The structure of the academic year is approved by the real university senate.
When assigning transferable study credits for a semester, a period of at least 17 weeks is taken into account.
The university senate of each higher education institution annually approves, at least 3 months before the beginning of the academic year, the regulations regarding student academic activity, as well as the calendar of educational activities specific to the academic study semesters.