The Role of Transnational, Private, and For-Profit Provision in Meeting Global Demand for Tertiary Education: Mapping, Regulation and Impact: Case Study: Bulgaria

Abstract

the Bulgarian higher education system has developed rapidly, in contrast to other levels in the education sector. Considerable changes took place in Bulgarian higher education in the 1990’s, both in terms of increasing access and in the structure of the system. The proportion of the 19-23-year-old age cohort enrolled in higher education increased from 7% to 27%, and the percentage of school graduates entering higher education reached 60%, compared to only 22-25% prior to 1989 (Georgieva, P. et al., 2002, p. 28). Most changes took place as a result of the December 1995 Higher Education Act, later amended in both June 1999 and in May 2002. Currently, a national debate is taking place on Government proposals for a series of amendments to the Act, which were due to pass through the National Assembly by June 2003. These changes deal mainly with the Bologna process and the need for the Bulgarian higher education system to improve its legal basis to achieve the objectives of the Bologna declaration.