New era of private universities, foreign campuses beckons

Greece’s higher education sector is on the brink of major transformation as Cyprus’s University of Nicosia (UNIC) pushes to establish the country’s first private university – a UNIC medical school – in Athens, and at least another 25 globally recognised overseas universities prepare to offer graduate and postgraduate degrees in Greece.

Among those top institutions preparing to offer degrees are Harvard, Yale, Columbia and Stanford in the United States, plus the University of Strasbourg in France, University College London, and ETH Zurich in Switzerland.

While the Greek government wants major foreign higher education institutions to establish branches in the country, discussions are still being finalised and their practical details remain confidential.

But as applications for institutional licences and course approvals for the academic year 2025-26 are scheduled to be considered between 1 January and 1 March 2025, more information is expected to emerge soon.



The licensing of non-state higher education institutions has been facilitated by joint ministerial decisions Nos 7363/2024 and 7341/2024, published in the Greece Government Gazette 5460/B/01.10.2024.

They stipulate that foreign universities (not only from the European Union) can establish branches in Greece, either independently or in cooperation with a private college already in operation within Greece.

Private colleges’ status in spotlight

There remain questions to be answered about the future of Greece’s 33 private colleges, which typically offer bachelor degrees, although they are legally distinct from universities and focus more on practical, vocational or professional training.

These degrees are often not recognised as equivalent to those offered by public universities in Greece due to the country’s constitutional limitations on private universities. However, many private colleges partner with foreign universities to offer accredited bachelor and masters degrees which are often recognised abroad.

University World News has learned from knowledgeable higher education sources in Greece that thus far only five colleges are likely to meet the new legal financial requirements to achieve full ‘university’ status.

How this issue is managed could also transform the private college segment. Simultaneously, foreign funds are actively acquiring IEKs (post-secondary vocational education and training institutions), showing significant interest in Greece’s higher education landscape.

Controversy spurs protests

The issue of whether or not to approve private universities is controversial in Greece. Thousands of students demonstrated against the idea in March this year, with some Athens protests turning violent.

Advocates argue they will generate a new and fresh culture of openness, outreach and global engagement in Greek higher education, while opponents cite Article 16 of the Greek constitution, which says education should be government-regulated (literally reserving the provision of higher education services to legal entities governed by public law) and argue that they are safeguarding public universities and their degrees.

The Panhellenic Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (POSDEP), the main trade union representing university professors in Greece, has filed an appeal to the Council of State (the top administrative court) over the constitutionality of this year's law 5094 (Government Gazette A59, 13.3.2024), which authorised the creation of non-state universities.

However, there are other voices within Greek higher education that echo a more positive viewpoint on the latest transformative reforms, arguing that public universities can turn the challenges into opportunities, adapt to the new environment, leverage its pros, and grow.

Associate Professor Christos Michalakelis, the president of Greece’s national agency for the internationalisation of Greek universities, Study in Greece, told University World News: “Greece is gearing up for an international education boom. We can see and feel a transformation regarding internationalisation of Greek universities.”

International hub

The first concrete step towards creating non-state universities was taken in April 2024, when Greece’s Competition Commission approved a request by Cyprus-based Hellenic Healthcare Holding 3 (HH3) to establish a company with the University of Nicosia to operate a private medical school in Athens under law 5094, operating as the University of Nicosia Greece Branch Medical Ltd (or UNGBM Ltd) after obtaining the necessary administrative licences.

HH3 is part of the Hellenic Health Group (HHG), the largest owner of private hospitals in Greece. Property once used by Olympic Catering at the former Ellinikon International Airport, in southern Athens, has already been purchased for the campus, as well as properties in other areas of Athens, close to hospitals run by HHG.

Cypriot academics told University World News that UNIC’s Athenian medical school will operate to the same rigorous standards as its medical studies in Nicosia. The new institution will also work with HHG clinics in Greece, where students will be able to follow courses requiring hospital attendance and apprenticeships to acquire practical training.

Criteria for private universities

As for other standards that new Greece private universities need to meet, Joint Ministerial Decision No 7363/2024 states that there must be a letter of guarantee pledging €2 million (US$2.1 million), €600,000 funding for a standard application review; and a €200,000 payment for additional faculties.

Foreign institutions in the top 20 of the Academic Ranking of World Universities (Shanghai ranking), Times Higher Education World University Ranking, and QS World University Rankings have permission to launch one-faculty institutions, but other higher education institutions must launch three.

University World News understands that the UNIC project may involve applications for three faculties. Real estate sources in Athens have said that UNIC has been talking to developers to secure additional property to open additional faculties in Athens in future.

Regardless, there is also a 50% reduction in fees available for institutions outside Athens and Thessaloniki – Greece’s second largest city.

This only applies if the parent institution operates under a country working within the World Trade Organization’s General Agreement on Trade in Services.

Also, it must offer study programmes across undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral levels, including at least one undergraduate programme. And it must be listed in Greece's DOATAP registry of recognised foreign higher education institutions.

Additionally, faculties must comply with local urban planning and safety standards, including libraries, laboratories and multimedia classrooms. Non-state universities may acquire assets, accept donations, enter contracts and invest funds subject to an annual audit by a state-appointed accountant.

The law says licences can be revoked for failure to operate within two years, legal violations, or breaches of approved programme standards.

Joint programmes

Meanwhile, time is ticking for initial applications. Non-state higher education institutions seeking permission to operate universities for the academic year 2025-26 must complete these technical steps by April 2025, a well-connected source told University World News.

The source added that regarding undergraduate degrees, foreign institutions have shown interest in establishing in Athens and northern Greece schools of medicine, pharmaceuticals, law, psychology and IT.

The government is also making money available for Greek state universities to collaborate with these new institutions, with €62 million payable to create joint postgraduate programmes which “should be innovative, not already provided by public higher education institutions and should be provided on terms affordable for the society as a whole with or without payment of tuition fees”.

Such initiatives will build on the existing cooperation between 24 foreign universities (without bases in Greece) and Greek universities.

University World News was told that the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens will strengthen existing collaboration with Yale’s School of Public Health for joint masters degrees in environmental sciences and public health and with Harvard for masters degrees in epidemiology and preventive medicine.

Panteion University is working with the Technical University of Berlin to plan masters degrees in culture, technology and urban design and with Columbia University (New York) to stage masters degrees in social sciences.

The University of Piraeus is planning joint masters degrees with another American institution – Purdue University, based in Indiana, United States – in applied artificial intelligence, while the National Technical University of Athens is discussing joint postgraduate degrees in green shipping with the UK’s University of Southampton and the University of Patras is developing joint degrees with the University of Nicosia, Imperial College London, and the UK’s University of Leeds.

Opportunity for reform

This will generate change, but it is the opening of foreign university branches in Greece that “unavoidably [and] dramatically changes the higher education ecosystem”, said Dionissios Mantzavinos, professor of chemical engineering and vice-rector of academic and international affairs at the University of Patras.

“Public higher education institutions, whose dominant position is unlikely to be affected seriously, must adapt to the new environment to survive,” Mantzavinos told University World News.

“Although this sounds somewhat threatening, it might be an excellent opportunity for public higher education institutions to reform,” he added.

Senior academic sources within Greece requesting anonymity contested concerns that Greece could develop a two-tiered higher education system, where private institutions accept undergraduate students missing qualification criteria for entering public universities, enabling students to ‘buy’ their way into a degree.

The sources told University World News that private institutions will want to maintain high standards, so they will accept those students who pass their entrance exams with high grades but who just fall short of admission for their first option of study.

At present, such students may study abroad, said the academic sources: “Private universities will minimise brain drain,” the sources said, noting that Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and embassy data indicates that 40,000 Greek higher education students currently study abroad.

International student enrolment

Meanwhile, Greece has increased its enrolment of international students, with current SiG estimates suggesting about 30,000 foreign undergraduate, graduate and exchange students study in the country.

Greece offers nine undergraduate programmes exclusively for international students, all taught in English.

These include four medical programmes at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the University of Crete, as well as an archaeology, history, and ancient Greek studies programme at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. More details can be found here.

Additionally, Greek universities offer numerous English-language masters programmes.

According to SiG reports, in 2023, there were more than 2,000 international applications for postgraduate programmes, and around 200 English-taught international masters programmes focused on attracting foreign students.

SiG argues that in addition to its educational offerings, Greece has numerous other advantages that make it a compelling destination for international students, including its favourable Mediterranean climate, rich cultural history and celebrated culinary heritage. It says Greece’s location close to Asia and Africa enhances its potential as a global academic hub.

However, Greek universities currently face challenges in meeting the rising demand from foreign applicants.

For instance, in 2023, one institution received 400 applications from international students, with only 60 successfully converted into enrolments, according to SiG. Increasing capacity could allow Greece to further develop as a centre for international education.

Greek university leaders say the recruitment of a globally diverse academic staff, as well as opportunities for students to engage in study abroad experiences, may enrich Greek higher education.

“If incoming foreign universities bring a new level of internationalisation to Greek higher education, the prospects look promising,” explained Professor Vassilis Papadakis, vice-rector of international cooperation and growth at the Athens University of Economics and Business.

“However, if the primary result is that Greek students who would have gone abroad simply choose to stay in Greece, then the outlook is less optimistic,” he noted.