Private Institutes of Higher Education
Private Universities
The House of Representatives has approved law 109 (I)/2005 which regulates the establishment and operation of Private Universities in Cyprus. The law entered into force on July 29, 2005. The first private universities in Cyprus began their operation after a relevant decision by the Council of Ministers on 12 September 2007. These are the following:
Private Institutions of Higher Education:
Currently, 25 Private Institutions of Higher Education are registered with the Ministry of Education and Culture some of which have branches in other cities in Cyprus, besides Nicosia. Private Institutions of Higher Education do not have university status but they offer both academic and vocational programmes of study at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels
The competent body for quality assurance and accreditation of the programmes offered by Private Institutions of Higher Education is the Council for Educational Evaluation-Accreditation (Symvoulio Ekpedeftikis Axiologisis Pistopiisis, SEKAP), which is a member of ENQA. At present, a number of programmes offered by the Private Institutions, have been evaluated and accredited by SEKAP. These programmes fall into the following categories:
- Academic and Vocational programmes of study lead to the following qualifications: Certificate (1 year), Diploma (2 years) and Higher Diploma (3 years). For access to these programmes the Apolyterion or equivalent qualification is a prerequisite.
- First cycle programmes (4 years), lead to the award of a Bachelor Degree. For access to these programmes the Apolyterion or equivalent qualification is a prerequisite.
- Second cycle programmes (1 to 2 years) lead to the award of a Masters Degree. The prerequisite for access to these programmes is the Ptychio, or Bachelor, or equivalent qualification..
The list of all Accredited Higher Educational Institutions and its offered degrees can be found here
The competent national body for the recognition of higher education qualifications is the Cyprus Council for the Recognition of Degrees (Kypriako Symvoulio Anagnorisis Titlon Spoudon, KYSATS). KYSATS recognizes equivalence, or equivalence-correspondence for first cycle titles, or just equivalence for postgraduate titles (second or third cycle). KYSATS may also recognize joint degrees. www.kysats.ac.cy