1. REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA
Ministry of Education and Science
HIGHER EDUCATION IN MACEDONIA:
Borcho Aleksov
Deputy Head
Higher Education Sector
Ministry of Education and Science

2. Macedonian Higher Education System
• Universities
• academic and professional studies of I, II and III cycle
(academic), research, applicative work
• High Professional Schools
• professional studies of I and II cycle, applicative work
• Research Institutes
• research and academic studies of II and III cycle

3. Public Universities
• Sts Cyril and Methodius in Skopje (Capital), 1949, UKIM
• 23 faculties, 5 research institutes, centers
• mainly Macedonian, 6 scientific areas
• St. Clement of Ohrid in Bitola (south-western region), 1979, UKLO
• 10 faculties, 1 research institute, 1 professional school, centers
• mainly Macedonian, 5 scientific areas
• State University of Tetovo (north-western region), 2004, DUT
• 11 faculties, 1 research institute, centers
• Albanian, Macedonian, 6 scientific areas
• Goce Delchev University in Shtip (eastern region), 2008, UGD
• 13 faculties,1 professional school, centers
• mainly Macedonian, 6 scientific areas
• St. Apostle Paul University of informatics sciences and technologies in Ohrid
(south-western region), 2009, UIST
• 5 faculties,
• English, scientific fields of informatics, robotics

4. • Public Research Institutes
 linguistic, agriculture, natural sciences, economics, social
sciences
• Private Higher Educational Institutions 15
 Universities 9
 Professional schools 6
• Private Research Institutes 10
 mainly social sciences, few: informatics, robotics, mining
• Branch of foreign higher education institutions in Macedonia
• Franklin University, Ohio, USA, branch in Macedonia
• Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana in Macedonia
• Military Academy
• Faculty of Orthodox Theology
• Faculty of Islamic Theology

5. Active international adjustment and participation
• Bologna Process member (since September 2003)
• PhD, (Salzburg I, II), since 2011
• National Higher Education Qualification Framework, 2010
• Quality Assurance: Accreditation and Evaluation of
Higher Education Board, 2001
 Associate Member of ENQA since 2011
 Members: academicians, professors, students,
employers
• National Bilateral Agreements: BG, SRB, BA, SLO, CRO, TR,
A, RUS, CZ, PL, SK, USA, AZ, etc. none: South America,
Africa, Central Asia, Australia

6. News in Legislations
• Tuition fees at public universities are 200/400 Euros per
year for first cycle studies (bachelors)
• Second and third cycle study costs vary per University
and faculty (cca. 1500 – 3000 EUR)
• External examinations on ¼ of total subjects
• Study programs on English
• Mobility is obligatory as well as university
agreements for collaboration
• High criterions for supervisors
• Electronic System for discovering plagiarism
• State Electronic System for self-evaluation

7. On going projects
• Acquisition of research equipment for public universities
research laboratories (currently acquired 85 laboratories with
estimated value 30 million euros)
• Translation of 1000 books that are used at world class
universities in Britain and USA
• Investments in improving public universities infrastructure
• Extensive support schemes for bilateral cooperation between
Macedonian and world class universities

8. • Total number of students 70 950
 Public Universities 57 088
 Private Universities 13 601
 Others 261
• Public University Staff
 UKIM 2604
 UKLO 492
 DUT 381
 UGD 471
 UIST 28
Student data

9. Increase in number of higher educations institutions –>
increase in student enrolments

10. Foreign students
• Currently estimated 2500 foreign students are enrolled at
Macedonian Universities.
• Since academic year 2010/2011 the MoES provides
scholarship for foreign students studying St. Apostle Paul
University.
 More that 50 foreign students enrolled in the last three years
 From countries such as Cameron, Ghana, Nigeria, Mongolia,
Latvia, India, Georgia
• MoES also provides scholarships for foreign students
studying Macedonian language to be enrolled at the
Macedonian universities.

11. Scholarships
• MoES offers various scholarships for domestic students
• MoES offers full scholarships for students enrolled at worlds
top 100 universities (top 200 in the technical field) for:
 I cycle of studies
 II cycle of studies
 III cycle of studies
 Specialization in medicine, dentistry and pharmacy
• MoES offers scholarships for MBA studies at Sheffield
University City College.
• Bilateral scholarship schemes with over 15 countries

12. Recognitions of foreign qualification
• Automatic recognitions of diplomas by any world
top 500 universities on Shanghai list (max. 8 days)
• Others by Informative Center for Recognition of
Foreign higher education, proposal by academic
commission
• Easy and fast procedure (max. 20 days)
• about 1500 foreign diplomas yearly
(most of them from region: BG, SRB, CRO, SLO,
TR, AL, RO, GR, but also A, UK, F, S, USA, and
elsewhere

13. The National Higher Education Qualifications
Framework
• until now about 1150 higher education qualifications
have been identified from the I, II and III cycle of
studies
• all scientific fields are covered
• more than a half belong to scientific fields of social
sciences and humanities
• at the II cycle interdisciplinary sciences are
characteristic
• biggest part of qualifications are at the public
universities
• what follows is introduction of procedure for
registration of new qualifications
• each qualification will have a unique code

14. Ranking of the Universities, 2012 made by Center for World
Class Universities, Shangai Jiao Tong University, PR China
rank Institution Founding Year Total Score Teaching
Learning
research Social Service
1 University Ss. Cyril and Methodius – Skopje 1949 100,0 88.7 100,0 100,0
2 Southeast Europe University - Tetovo 2001 61.9 67.1 50,0 59.6
3 University “Goce Delcev” – Stip 2007 61.7 81.6 60.5 1,6
4 University “St. Kliment Ohridski” – Bitola 1979 55.5 72.1 43.6 28,3
5
University for Computer Science and Information Technology “Ss. Apostle
Paul” – Ohrid 2009 44.1 100,0 0,0 0,0
6 International Balkan University – Skopje 2006 41.6 90.3 4,3 0,0
7
The first Private University, European University of the Republic of
Macedonia – Skopje 2005 38.5 80,0 7,4 0.6
8 Private Faculty of Business and Economy – NEOKOM - Skopje 2006 37.9 56.4 31,0 0,0
9 School of Journalism and Public Relations 2008 37.5 85,0 0,0 0,0
10 University American College Skopje 2005 36.4 70.5 10,4 5,0
11 First Private University – FON – Skopje 2003 35.4 65,0 16,0 0,0
12
University for Audio Visual Arts – European Film Academy ESRA Paris –
Skopje – New York 2007 32.2 64.1 6,7 6,0
13 State University in Tetovo 2004 29,5 58.1 9,2 0,0
14 University for Tourism and Management – Skopje 2006 25,3 47,0 9,6 3,1
15 International Slavonic Institute G. R. Derzavin in Sveti Nikole 2005 24,9 54.8 1,7 0,0
16 International University in Struga 2007 24,5 49,0 6,4 0.9
17 MIT - Skopje 2007 22,9 52,0 0,0 0,0
18
Private Professional Institution of Higher Education for Business Studies
“Euro College” – Kumanovo 2008 15,6 35.5 0,0 0,0
19 Business Academy - Smilevski - Skopje 2008 11,7 26,6 0,0 0,0

15. Future Challenges
• Study programs fitting needs of economy
• Increased number of joint degree programs with EU
universities
• Increased mobility of students and lecture staff
• Increasing of research and scientific publication
• University open to the society
• Including more foreign lecturers and researchers
• Increasing number of foreign students

16. -
But most importantly…
• strong commitment of the MoES and GoM to
strengthen links with world class universities
• need to diversify local and regional educational offer
• rapidly increasing foreign student base demands
greater offer
• Must commit to extensive cooperation with world
class university for providing competitiveness of
Macedonian higher educational system

17. Thank you for your attention
borco.aleksov@mon.gov.mk