Governance models of Hungarian higher education: from Humboldtian to State-controlled model

Abstract

The paper focuses on the higher education evolution in Hungary from the historical perspective regarding the governance models implemented and constructed in connection with the legal provision of decision-making power within universities, between various governance mechanisms (faculty, academic committees, senates, and boards) and administrative structures. We identified four governance models during the last hundred years. In the primary stage, we track down the Humboldt model, and the German influence played a role in the institutional development. The beginning of communist era represented a reform called “de-Humboldtization” and it was the beginning of the second phase in which the Hungarian higher education reform can be identified under the socialist influence, concentrating on the formation and organisation of the Soviet higher education institutions. The subsequent stage, the neo-Humboldtian type (1993-2012), can be identified as the regaining autonomy at the higher education underneath the shifting of communism regime to democracy and market economy. However, during this era, the government continuously tried to reform university governance, which touched every time the autonomy issue. Undoubtedly, many elements of these reforms caused a slow sink of the level of autonomy. Ten years ago, started the fourth period. First, the state-controlled model (chancellor and Consistory system) and now the pseudo-private model has been introduced. These last two models are linked with intensive decreasing institutional autonomy and academic freedom at Hungarian higher education and showed that the current legislation regulates the operational and financial issues of the institutions.