Entrepreneurial Higher Education and Economic Progress
85
Critical Analysis of Higher Education Structure, Financial Policies,
Revenue Sources and Expenditures. Study Case: Romania
Carmen Sirbu1
Abstract: World is changing, higher education system is changing. Development of Romanian education
system in the context of globalization is essential in many areas: education, research, management.
Globalization and emerging knowledge-based society manifests th rough us the force fields tha t transform
universities both in structure and in their functionality. The financial resources of universities are finite and
their entrepreneurial capacity will be very important for their future. To appreciate the financial role played
by various actors within the higher education system, it is crucial to understand the organizational structure of
the system.
Keywords: higher education system; Romanian education system; globalization
1. Introduction
World is changing, higher education system is changing. Development of Romanian education system
in the context of globalization is essential in many areas: education, research, management.
Globalization and emerging knowledge-based society manifests through us the force fields that
transform universities both in structure and in their functionality. The financial resources of
universities are finite and their entrepreneurial capacity will be very important for their future. To
appreciate the financial role played by various actors within the higher education system, it is crucial
to understand the organizational structure of the system.
2. Higher Education Structure
In Romania, the higher education system shaped under European law. In 1999, the ministers of
education of 29 countries, Romania included, initiated the Bologna Process, thus forming the
European Higher Education Area which aimed to further standardize European education by
establishing a common system of comparable degrees and credits and promote European cooperation
and quality. The Bologna Declaration was not meant to make all European university programs
identical, rather it was meant to harmonize them and allow for greater mobility between different
systems of higher education. The system was based on undergraduate and graduate structures and
1 Associate Professor, PhD, “Danubius” University of Galati, Romania, Address: 3 Galati Boulevard, 800 654 Galati,
Romania, Tel.: +40.372.361.102, fax: +40.372.361.290, Corresponding author: carmensirbu@univ-danubius.ro.