Because Hungary’s Lex CEU forbids Central European University (CEU) to accept new students after January 1, 2019, CEU is forced to announce today that it will launch all U.S.-accredited degree programs in Vienna in September 2019. It is making the announcement today in order to guarantee that it can recruit students in time for the beginning of the next academic year.

Over the course of 20 months, CEU has taken all steps to comply with Hungarian legislation, launching educational activities in the U.S. that were certified by U.S. authorities. Nevertheless, the Hungarian government has made it clear it has no intention of signing the agreement that it negotiated over a year ago with the State of New York, which would ensure CEU’s operations in Budapest for the long term.

“CEU has been forced out,” said CEU President and Rector Michael Ignatieff. “This is unprecedented. A U.S. institution has been driven out of a country that is a NATO ally. A European institution has been ousted from a member state of the EU. “



CEU President and Rector Michael Ignatieff and Pro-Rector Eva Fodor. Image credit: CEU / Denes Erdos (Kepszerkesztoseg)

The government has never even tried to pretend that there were academic grounds for their actions. The US Middle States Commission on Higher Education, the New York State Education Department and the Hungarian Accreditation Committee have all certified the excellence of CEU’s academic programs.

Arbitrary eviction of a reputable university is a flagrant violation of academic freedom. It is a dark day for Europe and a dark day for Hungary. “The government has done an injustice toward its own citizens – Michael Ignatieff said – the hundreds of Hungarians who work and study at CEU, and thousands of Hungarian alumni and their families.”

The university retains accreditation as a Hungarian university and will seek to continue teaching and research activity in Budapest as long as possible.

CEU thanks everyone for the support it has received and observes with dismay that the government of Hungary refused to listen to the representations they received from members of the US Congress, the Office of the Governor of the State of New York, the Venice Commission, members of the European Parliament, leaders of universities around the world, over two dozen Nobel Laureates, but above all, the thousands of Hungarians from all walks of life who demonstrated peacefully and called for ‘free universities in a free country.’

CEU is registered in Austria to issue U.S.-accredited degrees. It will welcome all incoming students to its Vienna location in September 2019. Enrolled students will complete their studies in Budapest.



CEU Pro-rector Zsolt Enyedi talks to the Hungarian press about CEU's future. Image credit: CEU / Denes Erdos (Kepszerkesztoseg)

Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Leon Botstein, declared “the City of Vienna and the federal government of Austria have welcomed us with open arms as part of their commitment to academic freedom and research. Despite our consternation at being forced to leave Budapest, we are excited to offer our students the opportunity to study in another great Central European city.”

CEU is a graduate institution accredited in the U.S. and Hungary with 1200 master’s and doctoral students in the humanities, social sciences, business, law, cognitive and network science. The university employs 770 staff and faculty and contributes 25 million Euros (8 billion forints) to the Hungarian economy each year in taxes, pension and health contributions, and payments to suppliers. It is Central Europe’s most successful applicant for competitive European Union research grant funding, with more than 19 million Euros awarded for the 2018-2026 period.

Additional information:

Letter from the New York State Education Department to the Government of Hungary. August 24, 2018.

Letter from the New York State Education Department to the Government of Hungary. June 20, 2018.

Statement of Bipartisan Transatlantic Working Group

#IstandwithCEU timeline of events since introduction of legislation

Read the press release in Hungarian (magyarul) here.