Slovakia

University level education in Slovakia has its origins in the late Middle Ages when the university as an educational institution was being established as a fixture of western civilization. In Hungary, of which Slovakia was then a part, a royal charter from the King of Hungary was necessary in order to distinguish it from any other academy or college. From 1465 to 1490 the first university on Slovakian soil was the Akademia Istropolanta, soon complimented by the Jesuit institutions, the Universities of Trnava and Kosich. The last of these earlier institutions was the Hungarian Elizabeth University in Brataslava. The Turkish invasions and occupation as well as the subsequent absorption of Hungary into the Hapsburg Empire swept away these institutions. Not until after the emergence of the first Republic of Czechoslovakia following World War I did higher education find a new beginning in Slovakia.

Stanislaw J. Kirscbaum (1999) provides a detailed summary of Slovakian institutions of higher education in his book, Historical Dictionary of Slovakia. In 1918 and 1919 the Comenius (Komensky) University in Brataslava was founded. In 1937 the Slovak Technical University in Koske was founded and was later transferred to Nira in 1942, now known as the Slovak Agricultural University of Nitra. The Academy of Fine Arts and Design was begun in Brataslava in 1949. In the same year the Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts was established in Bret. There are two technical universities, one in Zvolen and one in Kosice. A university of veterinary medicine was established in 1952, and the Pavol Safarik University was established in 1959. This was followed in 1960 by the University of Transportation and Communication, since re-christened the University of Zilina in 1996. During the brief years of the second Czechoslovakian republic, two additional universities were founded: Matej Bel University in Banska Bystrica and the University of Trna and Pedagogical Academy in Nitre in 1992. In 1996 the latter was renamed Constantine the Philosopher University. With the emergence of the second Slovakian republic, the year 1993 saw the establishment of the Liptovsky Mukulas Military Academy and the General M. R. Stefanik Air Force Academy, which were drawn from military schools of the Czechoslovakian army of 1973. In 1996 the University of Preslov and in 1997 Saints Cyril and Methodus University of Trnava, the Academy of Arts in Banska Bystrica, and the University of Trenein became the latest additions to Slovakina higher education. The Comenius University in Brataslava provides orientation programs in Slavic languages for exchange students who are embarking on study in a Slavic country. As in the former Czechoslovakian republic and its socialist precursor, degrees offered are the state examination and promotion (doctorate).