In brief
- 58 universities may run the psychopedagogical module in the 2026-2027 academic year, the training programme without which a graduate cannot teach in a school. Total: 32,055 places.
- Universities that are not on the list enter run-off, the wind-down in which a programme is taught out but takes in nobody new: they see through the students enrolled in previous years, but they no longer hold an admission competition for 2026-2027.
- Those same institutions on the list, if they are also in-service training centres, may run the examinations for teaching grades II and I.
Published: Official Gazette of Romania (Monitorul Oficial) no. 708 of 26 August 2026
In force from: 26 August 2026
A student who wants to become a teacher has to complete the psychopedagogical module, and it is now settled exactly which universities still allow it to be started this year. Order of the Minister of Education and Research no. 4.724/2026, published in Official Gazette of Romania no. 708 of 26 August 2026, approves the list of the 58 accredited institutions that may run the programme in the 2026-2027 academic year and the maximum number of students for each. It is the third order of the ministry published on the same day, alongside the one on research ethics committees.
The programme comes in two forms. The first is the psychopedagogical training programme leading to the certification of competences for the teaching profession, with level I and level II. The second is the university psychopedagogical training programme for pre-university education, worth 30 ECTS credits and marked with an asterisk in the annex; a single institution on the list runs it in that form, Universitatea „Emanuel” din Oradea.
The list rests on Letter no. 3.806 of 6 August 2026 from the Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ARACIS) and on the approval memorandum of the Directorate-General for University Education of 12 August 2026.
What it changes in practice
The first effect is the list itself. The 58 accredited higher education institutions may run the programme in the 2026-2027 academic year, each with a ceiling of places of its own.
The second effect is exclusion. Programmes run by institutions that do not appear in the annex enter run-off: they carry on teaching the students enrolled in previous academic years, but they no longer hold an admission competition for 2026-2027.
The third effect concerns how the places are split between the levels. The order says that the maximum number refers to a single level, while the way students are distributed between the two levels is decided by each university.
The fourth effect is the link with teaching grades. In the 2026-2027 academic year, the examinations for teaching grades II and I, for staff in pre-university education, may be held only by those institutions on the list which are also in-service training centres, under the conditions laid down by law.
The fifth effect is the size of the system. Added together, the 58 ceilings come to 32,055 places, the largest of them at Universitatea „Babeș-Bolyai” din Cluj-Napoca, with 3,500, and at Universitatea din București, with 3,000.
The sixth effect reaches the university centres out in the country. They appear as separate entries, with ceilings of their own: the Centrul Universitar din Pitești, the University Centre run by Politehnica București, has 800 places, the Centrul Universitar Nord Baia Mare of Universitatea Tehnică din Cluj-Napoca has 300, and Universitatea din Craiova has 200 places of its own at Drobeta-Turnu Severin.
The seventh effect is for private universities. Sixteen of the 58 entries are private or denominational institutions, from Universitatea Creștină „Dimitrie Cantemir” to Universitatea „Adventus” din Cernica, the latter with the smallest ceiling on the list, 35 places.
The eighth effect is enforcement. The Directorate-General for University Education, the Directorate-General for Management, Teaching Careers and the School Network, the higher education institutions and the county school inspectorates are to carry the order into effect.
What has changed compared with the previous situation
The first change is the annual one: the list is redrawn for every academic year, and an institution that does not obtain confirmation from the quality assurance agency drops out of it.
The second change is the legal basis. The order rests on Law no. 199/2023 on higher education and on Law no. 198/2023 on pre-university education, not on the 2011 law, and on the Nomenclature of fields of study approved by Government Decision no. 191/2026 for the 2026-2027 academic year.
The third change is the recognition of external evaluations. The order also takes into account the methodology by which evaluations carried out by foreign quality assurance agencies listed in the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education are recognised on Romanian territory.
What does not change is the run-off mechanism. Students already enrolled lose nothing: the institution is bound to teach them through to the end of the programme, even though it takes in no new students.
Nor does the rule on teaching grades change: the double condition, being on the list and being an in-service training centre, stays the same.
Advantages and disadvantages
What it improves
- Candidates know, before admission, exactly which universities let them start the psychopedagogical module this year.
- The published ceilings make the real size of the offer verifiable, university by university.
- Students already enrolled on programmes that drop off the list are protected: teaching carries on to the end.
- University centres in smaller towns appear as entries of their own, so the local offer is visible rather than buried in the parent university’s figure.
- The list also covers private and denominational universities, under the same accreditation rules.
- Splitting the places between level I and level II stays with the university, which allows it to follow actual demand.
What remains a problem
- It cannot be established from the text whether the ceiling applies once for each level or once for both together.
- The annex does not mark which institutions are also in-service training centres, although that is what decides where grades II and I are taken.
- The list appears on 26 August, in the middle of the admission season for an academic year that starts a month later.
- The order does not say which institutions have dropped off the list compared with last year, so the students affected have to compare for themselves.
- The annex has no total line, although the aggregate figure matters for teaching staff policy.
- The asterisk at entry 55 is explained in a note placed on the following page, easy to miss.
Practical advice
- If you want to teach in a school, first check whether the university you study at is among the 58 in the annex. If it is not, you cannot enrol there on the module this year.
- If you are already enrolled on a programme that no longer appears on the list, do not drop it. The institution is bound to teach you through to the end.
- Ask your university how it splits the places between level I and level II. The decision is its own and differs from one institution to another.
- If you study at a university centre in another town, check its separate entry on the list. It has a ceiling of its own and does not share places with the parent university.
- For teaching grades II and I, ask at the county school inspectorate which of the institutions on the list are also in-service training centres. The annex does not say.
- If the 30-credit programme for pre-university education is what interests you, the only institution marked with an asterisk on the list is Universitatea „Emanuel” din Oradea.
- Do not confuse level I with level II: the first gives the right to teach in compulsory education, the second in upper secondary and post-secondary education, under the conditions laid down by law.
- Check the list every year. It is redrawn for each academic year, and an institution on it now may be missing next year.
Frequently asked questions
How many universities are on the list?
What happens to the universities that are not on the list?
Which are the largest ceilings?
Is the number of places per level or in total?
Where can teaching grades II and I be taken?
What is the 30-credit programme?
Does the list change every year?
Errors and inconsistencies in the published text
- Article 1(3): the ceiling of places can be read in two ways, with different results. The text says: „Numărul maxim de studenți care pot fi școlarizați se referă la un singur nivel, iar modul în care se distribuie numărul de studenți între cele două niveluri se decide la nivelul instituției de învățământ superior.”, that is, the maximum number of students who may be taught refers to a single level, while the way the number of students is distributed between the two levels is decided by the higher education institution. The first clause says the ceiling concerns a single level, so it would apply separately to level I and to level II. The second says the number is distributed between the two levels, so there would be one pool of places, divided up. The two readings cannot both be true: at Universitatea „Babeș-Bolyai” din Cluj-Napoca, the first gives 7,000 places, the second 3,500. Across the list as a whole, the difference is between 32,055 and 64,110 places. Neither the annex nor the rest of the order settles it.
Editorial analysis
The order does something useful and does it transparently: it publishes not only who has the right to run the psychopedagogical module, but also how many students each institution may take in. In a system where the shortage of teachers is a constant subject, the aggregate figure, 32,055 places at 58 universities, is a public indicator that anyone can check. The run-off clause is just as fair, protecting the students already enrolled on programmes that drop off the list.
The problem is that the central figure of the act has no single meaning. Article 1(3) says, in one and the same sentence, that the ceiling refers to a single level and that the number is distributed between two levels. For a rector planning admissions, the difference is twice the places. For the ministry, it means the total announced in public may be 32,055 or 64,110. This is no subtlety: it is precisely the rule the order was issued for.
The second observation concerns timing. The list for the 2026-2027 academic year appears on 26 August, a few days before the September admission sessions. A candidate choosing a university in July on the strength of being able to take the module had no way of knowing whether their institution would still be on the list. Publication in the spring would turn the act from a confirmation into information that is useful at the moment of decision.
The third observation is about what is missing. Article 2 makes running the examinations for teaching grades II and I conditional on being an in-service training centre, but the annex does not mark which institutions are. A teacher looking for somewhere to sit their grade is left with a list of 58 names and a condition they cannot check from the act.
What should be changed
- Article 1(3) rewritten, in a single sentence with a single meaning. Either the ceiling applies per level, or it is one pool divided up by the institution. The answer decides whether the system offers 32,055 or 64,110 places.
- Marking in the annex the institutions which are also in-service training centres. One extra column would answer the question in Article 2 directly, without the teacher having to ring the inspectorate.
- Publication of the list before the admission session, not at the end of August. A candidate who chooses a faculty on the strength of being able to teach needs the information in the spring.
- An indication of which institutions have come in and which have dropped out compared with the previous year. The run-off clause has concrete effects on students who otherwise have to compare two annexes for themselves.
- A total line at the end of the annex. The aggregate number of places is a public policy figure, and at present the reader has to work it out.
Original text of the legal act
The text below is reproduced in Romanian, the official form of publication.
The full text, as published in the Official Gazette of Romania
Official Gazette of Romania no. 708 of 26 August 2026 16 pages PDF, 108 KB the act starts on page 14
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This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For specific situations, consult a licensed attorney or tax advisor.