Vucic announces changes to the higher education law
In a TV Prva interview, the president announced entry of foreign private universities with partial budget funding. Academics want details on accreditation, language and money.
- President Aleksandar Vucic announced on June 16, in an interview with TV Prva, changes to the higher education law before his term ends.
- The proposal would let foreign private universities operate with partial funding from the state budget and scholarships for students.
- The government withdrew a similar proposal in November after a sharp reaction from academics and a strike threat.
- The rector of the University of Arts and several deans want concrete details on accreditation, language and funding.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said in an interview with TV Prva, broadcast on June 16, that he would change the higher education law before his term ends. The aim, he said, is to allow foreign private universities to operate in Serbia with partial funding from the state budget and a scholarship system. The president framed the move as an opportunity for students from poorer families, arguing that such a model would open the door to higher quality education without steep tuition fees.
In the same conversation, Vucic insisted he would not back down. “I will do it even if they shoot me for it when they win the elections,” the president said, describing the changes as a reform he considers necessary. At the same time, he downplayed objections that the state system already works well, asking: “The University of Belgrade is among the best in the world, so why a reform then.”
This is not the first time the proposal has been on the table. The government launched a similar initiative in November but pulled it after a sharp reaction from the academic community and a threatened strike. Reopening the issue only a few months later, amid the student movement, brings the same fault line back into focus: how to define the terms under which foreign institutions can use public money.
What exactly is the government proposing, and what do academics dispute?
The core of the proposal is a dual mechanism. Foreign private universities would be able to open programs in Serbia, with part of the cost covered from the budget, alongside scholarships aimed at students with fewer resources. The government defends this model as a way to widen choice and to keep young people who would otherwise study abroad.
The academic community does not reject the idea outright, but it wants the rules spelled out. University of Arts rector Mirjana Nikolic and a group of deans have asked for concrete answers to three questions: by what criteria foreign institutions would be accredited, in which language classes would be taught, and exactly how budget funding would be distributed. Their central objection is that all universities, domestic and foreign, must go through the same accreditation procedure, with no privileged terms for newcomers.
Why is the reform being opened right now?
The timing is hard to separate from the political context. The Austrian news agency APA assessed that the real aim of the proposal is to weaken the support that state universities give the student movement, rather than primarily to broaden the educational offer. On that reading, the entry of competing, budget funded institutions would indirectly pressure existing faculties that have been a backbone of the protests in recent months.
The government rejects that motive and insists this is a social measure for students from poorer families. Between those two readings sits an empty space that has not yet been filled by a draft text, deadlines or clear criteria. Until it is, the debate stays at the level of intentions rather than rules.
One question remains open, and every reader should ask it before forming a view: is partial budget funding of foreign private universities a step toward wider access to study, or pressure on state faculties, and what would an accreditation system that reconciles the two actually look like?
