Partium Christian University

Partium Christian University

Partiumi Keresztény Egyetem
Other name	Universitatea Creștină Partium
Established	1995
Accreditation	Romanian accreditation agency ARACIS
Religious affiliation	Christian
Rector	József Pálfi
Dean	Borbála Bökös
Students	1,000 in 2014
Doctoral students	0
Location	Orodea , Partium , Romania 47°03′25″N , 021°55′20″E
Campus	Urban
Language	Hungarian
Website	[1]

Partium Christian University (Hungarian: Partiumi Keresztény Egyetem, Romanian: Universitatea Creștină Partium) was founded in 1995 in Oradea, the capital and university city of the historical region of Partium. It is a border city with about 185,000 inhabitants close to Hungary, in Western Romania.

History

The university was founded with the support of the Calvinist pastor László Tőkés, and emerged from the Calvinist István Sulyok College founded in 1990. It caters primarily for the Hungarian-speaking population of Western Romania, with around 100 Hungarian speaking faculty members and over 1,000 students. Christian values underpin the university, but its teachign and mission is wide-ranging and includes research and community outreach. It receives all its core funding from Hungary, and is therefore classed as a private university in Romania.

Structure and organisation

The university is organized into two faculties: Letters and Arts, and Economic and Social Sciences. There are 14 small Departments. Teaching is at undergraduate level across these areas and at Masters levels in European Social Politics, Translation, Multiculturalism, Art, Finance, and Entrepreneurship. . Music is also taught. Fees are low compared to surrounding private institutions and class size is small.

An evaluation of the university was conducted as part of a European University Association (EUA) 'Quality and Diversity of the Romanian Universities' study in 2014 when the university was quite young and had 1,000 students at Bachelor and Master level . It found that the 82% Hungarian foreign funding for the university gives it a unique status (p. 14), while the university still has to conform to Romanian accreditation processes. "PCU reports to three authorities – the Romanian ministry in charge of higher education, the Hungarian Parliament (through the Sapientia Foundation) and the Romanian accreditation agency ARACIS." This has meant certain bureaucratic structures are in place that could be streamlined: aside from the management there is Founders’ Council, University Board and Senate. Externally, the The Sapientia Foundation approves the university strategy, before disbursing Hungarian funding on behalf of the the Hungarian Government (p.5). Teaching loads are quite high and students are expected to study full time (p. 13).