Hungary is planning to launch its very own Erasmus programme—with a distinctly Hungarian flavour. With further details to be released in September, the programme promises to both triple the number of Hungarian students going abroad and abolish the cap on ethnic Hungarians living abroad to study in Hungary. In addition, it intends to strengthen Hungarian universities abroad (many of which are lacking accreditation) by ensuring that Hungarian university professors teaching in these faculties keep their current salaries. Minister of Human Capacities Zoltán Balog said that long-term goal is to have “all relevant economics and social science disciplines” available at every Hungarian-affiliated university abroad, an objective towards which the Government will invest at least EUR 969 000 in the coming year. 

In a separate but related development, State Minister for Higher Education László Palkovics said in late July that Hungary’s higher education systems need to be reformed in order to be “sustainable.” Mr. Palkovics addressed the need to raise the bar on quality and to increase the number of students enrolled, as well as to create certain specialised faculties. Joint working groups involving higher education institutions and student bodies have been working on identifying specific challenges and developing possible solutions. The findings are expected to be released any day now.