Greece’s new bill on higher education has the potential to usher in a new era and bring benefits to students, institutions, and society in general.
The Greek government’s recent legislation to authorize “non-state, non-profit” universities in Greece opens a new chapter and stands to positively transform and enhance cooperation and collaboration between Greece’s public and private higher education sectors. It is easy for me, coming from the United States, to envision such a relationship.
In the US, the majority of higher education students are enrolled in public colleges and universities, but the majority of institutions are “non-state, non-profit” colleges and universities. Indeed, eighteen of the top 20 US national universities in the 2024 US News & World Report rankings are “non-state, non-profit.”
In Greece, the new law signals the beginning of a new era for higher education, which could see the emergence of a range of specific benefits including: more choices for students and faculty; attracting more students from outside Greece; strengthening Greece’s research capabilities; attracting more research funding to Greece; and contributing materially to Greece’s economic growth.
These potential benefits are not highly speculative. In fact, they can be tangibly demonstrated from the recent experience of The American College of Greece (ACG). Since 2010, over 7,500 students from over 600 US and 75 other international colleges and universities have enrolled as ACG study abroad students, enriching the campus student mix and boosting the local economy. Since 2014, nearly 3,000 students have complemented their studies at Greek public universities with ACG’s Parallel Studies program. Furthermore, ACG faculty participate alongside their Greek, EU, and US peers in externally funded research projects.
Opening Greece’s higher education system to both public and “non-state, non-profit” universities is a win-win-win proposition for Greek families, students, faculty, institutions, and communities!
