Hungary

Adult Education: Adult education has been recognized as a priority in Hungary in order for adults to adjust to the new socio-economic system. However the requirement that students (or businesses) pay for this learning seems to be a major obstacle to its success in difficult economic times. Invariably, if the individual wishing to upgrade his or her skills is unemployed, the government, through the job-center network, will pay for or subsidize the training. Costs vary on the type of training but the average in 2001 was between 70,000 and 120,000 HUF (US$230 to US$400). Foreign languages, bookkeeping and accounting, marketing and market economics, management and particularly human resource management, and computer literacy have been identified as priorities, but few establishments outside the larger cities of Budapest, Debrecen, Miskolc, Szeged, and Pécs offer these programs at present. In 1999 there were 132,789 persons registered as undertaking 6,743 types of adult education courses.

Open Universities & Distance Education: There are no open university-type opportunities. Distance learning in the form of correspondence courses through existing universities is possible but these are supplementary to the universities' normal in-residence structure. Correspondence courses with major universities are a significant contributor to the part time student body. There are distance education courses delivered through TV, radio, or Internet. These are becoming more and more popular but a dramatic growth in online courses is limited owing to the limited availability or scarcity of Internet links.