THE PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES OF BULGARIA
Snejana Slantcheva
(published in 2002 in the Journal of International Higher Education, Number 28, Summer 2002, Boston College, MA)

Over the past decade, Bulgarian private universities have managed to establish themselves as a separate, different sector on the Bulgarian higher education landscape. In Bulgaria, where 247,000 students are educated at 42 universities and 46 colleges, 11.3% of these students are enrolled at private universities (2000/2001).

The First Decade
Non-state initiatives in the Bulgarian higher education sector became possible immediately after the fall of the communist regime in 1989. The first private universities appeared in 1991, following the Law on Academic Autonomy. The private higher education sector grew quickly. However, it never reached the expansion level of private higher education in other post-communist countries. In Belarus, Moldova, Poland and Romania, for instance, student enrollments in the private sector approximate 30% of the total student population. Between 1991 and 1995, Bulgarian Parliament recognized five new private universities. Currently, four of them are in operation: Varna Free University (with approximately 9000 students), New Bulgarian University (approx. 7,500 students), Burgas Free University (approx. 6,600 students) and the American University in Bulgaria (640 students). The fifth private institution, the Slavic University in Sofia, functioned for four years before being closed down by Parliament in 1999 due to administrative irregularities.

The private institutions differ not only in many aspects from their state counterparts, but also amongst each other. Whereas, for instance, the Free Universities of Varna and Burgas rely primarily on local support and tuition fees, the New Bulgarian University and the American University in Bulgaria are also heavily dependent on financial support from foreign donors; the latter institution is rather small, offers American style education, and provides an exception to many of the issues discussed in this article. Throughout the 1990s, however, the private universities faced common challenges. One major difficulty was the legal vacuum in which they operated for several years. It was not until 1995 that the Law on Higher Education officially recognized private universities as institutions with different structures and modes of operation - an issue further strengthened by the 1999 Changes and Amendments to the Law with the recognition of the department as a basic institutional unit. The 1995 Higher Education Law also created requirements for the establishment of other private institutions.

Another major challenge before Bulgarian private universities concerned accreditation procedures. State accreditation is granted by the National Accreditation Agency and verifies that all programs and institutional structures comply with the Law on Higher Education and the uniform state requirements. Should an institution fail to file an application for accreditation or receive negative accreditation, the state will stop future student admissions (and terminate funding for state universities). Uniform state requirements define in detail the educational process while at the same time accommodating familiar "old" disciplines and traditional university structures. A paradox created legally and dealt with on individual bases was that in their attempts to receive national accreditation, private institutions, with their different institutional structures, forms of governance and programs, had to also comply with these state standards.

Finally, strong public distrust has accompanied the development of private universities in Bulgaria. Possibly with the exception of the American University in Bulgaria, all other institutions have been viewed with reservation due to the high tuition fees they charge as well as the non-traditional programs and courses that they offer.

Achievements
Although private universities still face many challenges, their achievements in the past decade cannot be underestimated. Often they have anticipated changes that were later adopted by state institutions. It was in the private sector, for instance, where in the early 1990s the degree structure of bachelor-master-doctor was first applied. This degree structure was not officially introduced into Bulgarian higher education until 1995 as a part of the entire system's attempt to harmonize with European higher education structures. Private universities were also the first to use the credit system to evaluate student progress. The credit system still presents a major goal for state institutions, its introduction being hindered by the rigid university structures and programs. Distance education was yet another accomplishment first offered at private universities. Finally, with the exception of Varna Free University, private universities have first instituted standard admission tests.

Private universities have also played a progressive role in providing different modes of operation, institutional structures and organization of the educational process that support a variety of non-traditional programs. Program flexibility and student mobility are characteristic of them all. Moreover, the American University and the New Bulgarian University are the only institutions in the country that offer liberal arts education - a model which several years ago was still considered to be only secondary to the official educational system providing "spiritual and physical perfection" instead of "knowledge and skills" (Toshev, ex-Vice-Minister of Higher Education, 1999). The New Bulgarian University has been instrumental in encouraging debate about liberal arts as a different model of education. Finally, private universities employ market strategies in the planning and regulation of their activities and course offerings - yet another goal before state institutions.

Many of the accomplishments mentioned above have been made possible due to the private universities' financial autonomy from the state: unlike state universities, they are not supported by the annual state budget. Instead, they have a variety of sponsors, both national and international. In addition, most of them receive funds through various programs. Tuition fees are a major form of funding. They are defined by the institutions themselves and are much higher than the mandatory annual tuition fees in the state sector.

Present and Future Challenges:
A major weakness that private universities are attempting to address is related to their faculty profile (excepting the American University): the majority of their faculty occupy permanent positions at state universities and "travel" to a private institution to deliver lectures or seminars (so-called "suitcase" or "traveling" lecturers); their contracts at the private institution are for a given period of time or number of classes. In this case, the negative consequences on the overall educational process are related to the lower faculty commitment to the life of the institution. A slight improvement in this situation has resulted from accreditation demands: whereas in academic 1999/2000, 18% of the faculty had their jobs permanently at private institutions, for academic 2000/2001, their numbers rose to 23%.

Finances are a second hurdle that these institutions must overcome. Whereas tuition fees are rising, the numbers of students capable of covering them are not. The fact that there is also no state student loan program in place makes it even more difficult for students to finance their education. The strong reliance on tuition-paying students makes the private universities overly dependent on market demand, often hampering program development in many different fields. Despite some appeals, the likelihood that the government will offer financial assistance to these institutions is rather small.

State accreditation, mandatory for all Bulgarian institutions, is yet another issue before private universities. At present, all of the existing private institutions have received their institutional accreditation. However, they must still attain individual program accreditation, and no doubt will encounter difficulties if the uniform state requirements persist in their old, inflexible form. There has been much criticism both of the state requirements and the state registry of specialties. As a result, the government at present is contemplating a change to these documents in order to accommodate program varieties across the country.

In its short history, Bulgarian private university sector has successfully defied the persisting government tendency to treat them more as an addition to the existing higher education system than as an alternative to it. Once considered a place for students who failed to enter state institutions of higher education, Bulgarian private institutions have managed to sustain student interest and gain greater legitimacy.

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