STUDENTS graduating from any one of the island’s three new private universities will enjoy the same rights as graduates of any other state or foreign university.
“They will no longer have to go through KYSATS [the Cyprus Council for the Recognition of Degrees] for recognition as they will automatically be recognised,” said Andreas Eleftheriades, the President of the interim government committee of the European University – Cyprus (EUC).
The EUC is one of three private colleges granted university status in a groundbreaking Cabinet decision this week. As a college, which will still continue to operate for a number of courses, it was known as Cyprus College.
The other two colleges are Frederick College, which will now also operate as Frederick University, and Intercollege which will operate as the University of Nicosia.
All three universities will retain their colleges and will offer students a choice of either enrolling in university programmes or college programmes, depending on whether or not they fulfil the course admissions criteria.
All undergraduate university degrees are four years long and Masters degrees run for one to two years, depending on the number of credits students take, said Dr George Demosthenous, secretary of the interim governing board of Frederick University.
He said: “Graduates will enjoy all the academic and professional privileges as graduates of any accredited university in Europe or the United States. They will no longer have to take extra lessons to be recognised as an equivalent to a university of a degree and will be recognised by other professional bodies such as ETEK [the Cyprus Scientific and Technical Chamber], the nursing sector, the social services.”
Demosthenous explained that until this week, Frederick graduates had not been recognised in their own right and had had to go through KYSATS for recognition. This would no longer be the case as they would be recognised directly. Former college students would also now be allowed to take supplementary courses at Frederick University to have their degrees recognised as university degrees, instead of going through the Cyprus University or other accredited Greek universities, as had been the procedure up to now.
Demosthenous said the college had made a lot of investments to transform its campus into a university, including new infrastructure, buildings and equipment. It has also included new degree programmes and acquired new academic staff from abroad, paid in line with University of Cyprus salaries. In fact, the new university will be headquartered in Nicosia but also have a branch in Limassol, he said.
“We believe we will attract more foreign and local students now that we are recognised universities because students will feel more secure,” he said.
Eleftheriades added that the EUC had already noticed an increase in student enrolments.
“We are definitely going to attract more students and have done so already,” he told the Cyprus Mail.
Demosthenous said students already registered with them for college courses that had now become university courses would get their degrees from the university.
“Even if someone is in their third year and going into their fourth year now they will get their degree from the university at the end of this [academic] year.”
He said transfers from other universities or colleges, however, had to complete a minimum two years at the new university to achieve the same degree. The transfers also had to be from accredited courses, otherwise they had to redo the programme from the beginning.
The interim governing board secretary said that the non-profit university would re-invest its profits into the university including buying new equipment, infrastructure, scholarships, academic staff salaries and awards and prizes.
Finally although the fees had gone up slightly for the university courses, all first year students would receive a brand new, top quality laptop and existing students and transferees would be subsidised for part of the amount, Demosthenous said.
University Courses offered:
Frederick University
School of Architecture, Fine and Applied Arts: Graphic and Advertising Design (degree) and Interior Design (Degree)
School of Humanities and Social Sciences: Social Work (Degree) and Journalism (Degree)
School of Economics and Management: Business Administration (Degree), Maritime Studies (Degree) and Accounting and Finance (Degree)
School of Health Sciences: Nursing (Degree)
School of Mechanics and Applied Sciences: Electrical Engineering (Degree), Mechanical Engineering (Degree), Civil Engineering (Degree), Computer Engineering (Degree), Computer Science (Degree), Automotive Engineering (Degree) and Electrical Engineering (Master)School of Education: Pre-primary and lower primary Education (Degree), Pre-primary Education (Degree) and Primary Education (Degree)
European University-Cyprus
School of Arts and Education Sciences: Graphic Design and Advertising (Degree), Early Childhood Education (Degree), Primary Education (Degree), Music (Degree), Educational Leadership (Master) and Special Education (Master)
School of Humanities and Social Sciences: English Language and Literature (Degree), European Studies (Degree) and Social and Behavioural Sciences (Degree)
School of Business Administration: Accounting (Degree), Banking and Finance (Degree), Economics (Degree), General Business (Degree), Hospitality Management (Degree), Management (Degree), Management Information Systems (Degree), Marketing (Degree), Sports Management (Degree), Public Relations and Advertising (Degree) and Business Administration (Master)
School of Sciences: Computer Science (Degree), Computer Engineering (Degree) and Nursing (Degree)
University of Nicosia
School of Human and Social Sciences and Law: Graphic Communication (Degree), Interior Design (Degree), English Language and Literature (Degree), Law (Degree), International Relations and European Studies (Degree), Psychology (Degree), Communications (Degree), Public Relations, Advertising and Marketing (Degree), International Relations (Master) and Media and Communication (Master)
School of Business Administration: Marketing (Degree), Hotel and Tourism Management (Degree), Hospitality Management (Degree), Sports Management (Degree), Business Administration (Degree) and Business Administration (Master)
School of Sciences and Engineering: Computer Sciences (Degree), Computer Engineering (Degree), Electronics Engineering (Degree) and Nursing (Degree)
School of Education Sciences: Pre-Primary Education (Degree), Music (Degree) and Dance (Degree)
