The Czech higher education is available to all applicants who completed secondary education.
The higher education in the Czech Republic is structured in three levels leading to the respective academic degrees:
- Bachelor's - the first level of higher education. Usually the Bachelor’s program lasts for three years. Students get basic knowledge of highly specialized areas. The bachelor’s program is completed with the exams and the defense of a bachelor's thesis. Students who successfully passed examinations obtain BSc. degree.
- Master's. The Master’s programs are organized either as a five-year, or as a two-year program following bachelor's studies. During the course, students gain both a basic knowledge of highly specialized subjects and a certain specialization. After completing the required state leaving exams and defending their diploma thesis students obtain their Mgr. degree.
- Engineering. The engineering programs are equal to Master’s, but relates to technical and economic fields. Students obtain Ing. Degree.
- Doctoral. Doctoral programs are available only for those students, who have completed their Master’s or Engineering degrees. Students obtain Doc. degree.
MBA and DBA. Due to rising interest and demand, some schools in the Czech Republic provide also study programs leading to the degree of Master's of Business Administration. There are many International universities offering MBA education in the Czech Republic, such as University of Pittsburgh, University of New York in Prague, EPBS, and many others. This study programs is more oriented on business. Often, the admission to MBA program requires some business experience of the applicants prior applying to a program. The study programs are structured in the way that is focusing on solving the real business case studies. Students exchange experiences from their own practice, thus enhancing their managerial knowledge and skills.
The levels of education are in line with the provisions of the Higher Education Act as well as with the ideas of the Bologna process. The higher education institutions could be of university or non-university type. And, there are public, state and private institutions of both types.
The Czech higher education at public and state universities is free of charge. There are entrance exams to all public universities in the Czech Republic. The system of entrance exams is specified individually by each university, and serves for testing the knowledge and skills of applicants.
The Czech higher education at private universities applies tuition fees. The admission procedure to private university is more flexible and not always requires passing the entrance exams. Usually, an interview and evaluation of the documents of the applicant is a standard procedure for admission.
