The Bachelor studies (Undergraduate studies), with a length that varies according to the field:
6 semesters (3 years) for sciences, humanities, economic and social sciences, political sciences, etc.
8 semesters (4 years) for engineering, technique
12 semesters (6 years) for general medicine, dental medicine, veterinary medicine and architecture.
Branches of study
The reference domains and specialisations of study in higher education are established through a Government Decision (GD 493/2013).
Admission requirements
Admission to higher education for every cycle of academic studies – first degree (bachelor), master, and doctorate – is organised based on the admission methodology of each university, with the observance of the legislation in force.
For all cycles of academic studies, the number of places funded from the state budget is set by a Government Decision. Every public higher education institution is allocated by an Order of Minister a number of places funded from the state budget for which they can organise admission. Besides these places, public higher education institutions are authorised to admit a number of students who accept to pay tuition fees (Law 441/2001).
The applicants can apply for more specialisations or to several higher education institutions at the same time. But a successful applicant can attend only one specialisation funded from the state budget during the normal length of studies. Students from private accredited higher education institutions who are admitted for places funded from the state budget can benefit from the recognition of the studies they already completed in accordance with the provisions of the university senate and based on the transferable credits they have acquired. This provision is also valid for students from public higher education if they are admitted by an accredited private higher education institution. The graduates of a private accredited institution are entitled to pursue a second specialisation in a public higher education institution in compliance with the law and under the conditions established by the University Charter.
For admission to first degree programmes, the admission to public and private higher education is organised for fields of study. This category of studies is associated with a number of study credits varying between 180 and 360. Admission is organised in one or two sessions. The periods of the admission sessions, as well as the admission tests, are established in the methodologies of faculties and are made public. The admission tests can be conducted in the Romanian language or in one of the national minority languages if the subjects tested were studied in one of these languages in high school, and also in an international language for studies in that language, with an obligatory test in linguistic competence.
Those who can apply for admission to first degree programmes are high school graduates with a baccalaureate diploma or an equivalent diploma. For the applicants who during their high school studies got a distinction in national school olympiads and school competitions recognised by the Ministry of National Education or in international competitions, higher education institutions can provide, in their methodologies and in compliance with the legislation in force, special admission requirements, other than enrolment without going through an admission competition, for places funded from the state budget and for the courses in two specialisations. An applicant can benefit from this provision only once, in compliance with the legislation in force.
Curriculum
Curricula are established autonomously by the higher education institutions, according to the national strategies for higher education development and the national academic standards. According to the provisions of the law regarding higher education institutions accreditation and diploma recognition, the higher education curricula have to include compulsory, optional and facultative subjects. Compulsory and optional subjects belong to any of the following categories: fundamental, profile/specialisation and complementary subjects.
For each reference domain and specialisation of study recognized by the law (GD 493/2013), the higher education institutions establish the educational plan. The educational plan is a complex document comprising duration of studies, subjects by type and year of study, types of activities, number of allocated periods by subject and activity, examinations, and number of credits allocated, etc.
The structure and content of the educational plan regarding subjects, activities and number of periods has to comply with the national academic standards. The specific standards provide the indicative list of fundamental, profile/specialisation and complementary subjects and the ranges of the weights of the subjects in the each specialisation’s curriculum. Depending on the specialisation of studies, the weights of the different types of subjects in the total number of periods may range between 15% and 30% for fundamental subjects, between 50% and as high as 80% for profile and/or specialisation subjects, and between 5% and 10% for complementary subjects. Most of the education and training programme is compulsory (at least 60% of the time, but can be as high as 90% for certain specialisations); optional subjects can also contribute to the study credits, but facultative subjects usually do not. Regarding the activities, the national standards establish for each reference domain/specialisation the ration of theoretical activities (courses) and practical ones (seminars, laboratories, practical training, project work, etc.). For most specialisation this ration is 1:1 with a maximum of 20% deviation in either sense; however, for certain specialisations, the time allocated to the practical activities has to be significantly larger than for the theoretical ones (e.g. for medicine 1:2).
The final curricula for each subject are elaborated by the higher education institutions departments according to these specific standards, analysed by the departments’ councils, and approved by university senates. Foreign languages courses are compulsory regardless of the domain or specialisation attended. A number of higher education institutions provide complete tuition in a foreign language for certain specialisations.
The persons belonging to the national minorities have the right to study and be instructed in their mother tongue at all levels and forms of education as well as in all types of education – providing there is a sufficient demand. In consequence, study lines in Hungarian and German for students belonging to these national minorities are organised in several higher education institutions. Besides this, certain higher education institutions organise departments for initial teacher training for teaching the languages of national minorities in Pre-tertiary education. At the same time, the Law Education states that learning of Romanian, as the official language, is compulsory for all Romanian citizens, irrespective of their nationality.
Teaching methods
The teaching-learning activities have to comply in what regards fundamental types and ratios with the national academic standards for each reference domain and specialisation.The teaching-learning activities for most academic subjects include lectures (theoretical courses), seminars, laboratory classes, practical activities and projects preparation and presentation. Lectures, usually held to a large number of students, provide the basic knowledge in a specific field of study. Seminars are devoted to a thorough study of the themes approached in lectures and require an active participation of the students. Laboratory classes, taught to small groups of students, are devoted to research activities and practical training under the supervision of a tutor. For certain specialisations practical activities – in the form of field work, scientific research, teaching practice, etc. – are required. Teachers are free to choose their own teaching methods. During all the teaching-learning activities, according to the specificity of the specialisation and subject, professors use a variety of teaching methods, include:
Expository methods (description, explanation, etc.) and conversational methods (conversation, heuristic conversation, questioning on a special subject, etc.) – mostly during lectures.
Exploratory learning methods such as direct exploration of objects and phenomena (systematic and independent observation, experiments, practical work, etc.) and indirect exploration (problem solving, demonstration through pictures, films, etc.) – mostly during seminars, laboratory classes and practical activities.
Project preparation and presentation.
The teaching aids used in higher education depend on the specialisation and subject. Teaching through ICT is used on an extensive scale for modelling, designing, calculating, presentations, information acquisition, communication, etc. In higher education institutions as well as in numerous universities campuses students have full-time free of charge access to public computers connected to Internet.
Progression of students
The organization of the higher education process using the transferable credit system has begun during the 1998/1999 academic year. This mode of organization makes the use of an analytical evaluation system of the time and effort necessary to carry on activities composing the education process possible. Moreover, it has advantages both for the mode of organization and its management and for its validation with the education process in other universities in Romania and abroad. The total number of credits associated to a higher education programme is set and is of 180, 240, 300 or 360 credits – corresponding to duration of studies full time respectively (one year more for evening courses, part-time or distance education). Thus, a year of day course study is the equivalent of an average of 60 credits. The maximum number of transferable credits in the ECTS (European Credits Transfer System) is set by the council of each faculty. If a student follows a study period in other higher education institutions (domestic and/or abroad), according to the regulations set by each institution, the credits obtained will be recognized.
Within the university autonomy, each higher education institution establishes its own promotion requirements, according to the general provisions of the law and the national standards for higher education. Students are granted the possibility to try to pass the examination for a given subject three times: regular examination, second examination and re-examination. If failing both regular and second examination (the latter performed in a dedicated session), the student may be allowed to enroll in the next year of study and sit the examination again, subject to the rector’s approval. Nevertheless, the deadline for the third examination (the re-examination) is the first regular session of the next academic year. If failing for the third time, the student has to attend once more all the teaching-learning activities related to the respective subject.
Student transfer requirements are regulated by the university senates of the higher education institutions. Usually the transfer may take place at the beginning of the academic year (under exceptional circumstances it may occur at the beginning of the second semester) and is allowed between related reference domains/specialisations. The transfer is a multiple step process, involving a series of formal approvals from the deans and the rectors of the higher education institutions involved. The receiving higher education institution has to issue a registration decision for the new student, and to control if the credits are transferable.
Employability
In order to support educational and vocational guidance of the students and to facilitate their insertion on the labour market, in each higher education institution were established departments for career advice and employment guidance. Keeping a close link with the labour market, the departments have the following attributions:
To provide full information on the study programmes offered by the respective higher education institution.
To offer career and employment advice.
To ensure guidance to students willing to chose or change their vocational career.
To encourage graduates to affiliate into graduates’ associations meant to support higher education institutions and students’ interests in the relationship with firms, cultural communities and administrative bodies, at local and national level as well.
To carry out prognosis studies on the labour market, and provide information about companies needing and recruiting qualified personnel trained in higher education institutions.
To provide counselling, and support for the vocational training of students by maintaining a close contact with economic units.
The departments can also involve specialised teaching staff, assistant deans, students’ associations and non-profit vocational organizations in their actions and activities. A director appointed by the university’s rector heads the department.
Student assessment
Students assessment in higher education is accomplished through periodic (summative) examinations organised for each subject in the curricula. Assessments are performed in the form of oral questioning, written papers and practical examinations as well as, in some cases, project presentations. The evaluation criteria for the academic and professional performances of the students are established by the higher education institutions according to the university autonomy. The concrete requirements and evaluation criteria for each subject are regulated in the introductory section of each subject. Evaluations of the students’ performances during higher education are materialized for each subject in marks on a 10-level scale. The examination of the students for each subject is performed by a commission comprising the professor lecturing on the given subject assisted by at least one other specialist from the same chair/department. After each examination the mark assigned to the student is registered in the students’ personal indexes and the official records of the institution.
Higher education institutions organise two regular examination sessions for the students during each academic year – usually held in February and May-June respectively – and at least one second examination session in autumn, before the beginning of the academic year. The second examination sessions are organised for the students that did not attain or failed one or more subjects’ examinations during the regular examination sessions. Students are granted the possibility to try to pass the examination for a given subject (regular examination, second examination and re-examination) for three times; if failed each time, the student has to attend once more all the teaching-learning activities related to the respective subject. According to the provisions of the Law of National Education (Law 1/2011), the higher education institutions may establish certain fees for the second examinations and re-examinations in order to cover for the supplementary costs.
Certification
Finalisation of the long-term higher education is accomplished through an exam – examen de licenţă organised based on the general criteria established by the The Ministry of National Education. The content of the exams and the specific criteria are established by the university senates.
Graduates passing the examenul de licenţă receive the title Licenţiat in the corresponding profile and specialisation, attested through a diploma issued by the higher education institution organizing the exam. Long-term higher education studies lasting for more than 4 years are finalised through the diploma exam, as the case may be. Graduates passing the diploma exam receive the title diplomat in the corresponding specialisation, according to the international standards, attested through a diploma issued by the higher education institution organizing the exam.
Graduates that do not pass the examenul de licenţă or the diploma exam can receive, upon request, a long-term higher education certificate – certificat de studii universitare de lungă durată and a copy of the matriculation fiche listing all the subjects and the corresponding marks. Students or graduates wanting to pursue a teaching career have the obligation to attend and pass the courses organised by the Teacher Training Department. Passing of these specific courses is attested through a graduation certificate.
For higher education, the final exams have to be taken before an exam commission established for each specialisation. The exam commissions are established through decision of the rector of the higher education institution organizing the exams, based on the propositions of the faculty, college or department councils. The exam commission has to comprise at least three members with doctorate degrees and the chair has to be a professor or a lecturer.
The Diploma Supplement was introduced on the basis of the Ministerial Order adopted in April 2000. At present it is issued automatically, free of charge, by all institutions and for all Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes, in Romanian and English.