Admission Requirements to Higher Education
HIGHER EDUCATION
The fundamental, generally binding requirement for entering Bachelor's or Master's
study programme is vysvedceni o maturiní zkoušce. As far as artistic fields are
concerned, applicants with absolutorium received at a konzervator may be admitted.
The condition for admission to Master's study programme following the Bachelor's
one is the regular ending of the study in Bachelor's study programme, if need be also a
condition dealing with relation to the study fields or number of achieved credits.
The requirement for admission to the doctoral programme is successful graduation
of Master's programme.
The setting of other requirements for the knowledge, abilities or talent or educational
achievement of applicants is the responsibility of the higher education institutions
themselves. Apart of this the institution can settle the highest number of accepted
students. The conditions must be open to the public four months before at least.
Applications for admission may be put in to several study programmes (or in one
study programme to several study fields) at one faculty or higher education institution
or several faculties or higher education institutions at the same time.
Information on the applicants' abilities to study in higher education institutions is
gained through admission proceedings, which content and procedures are, by law,
under the responsibilities of individual institutions. Admission proceedings involve,
apart from administrative formalities, even an entrance examination, an interview, a
test of artistic talent if need be.
At most higher education institutions the applicants take an entrance examination
the purpose of which is to select the most competent ones and to form a list
determining the order in which they are to be admitted depending on conditions set in
advance. The examination consists normally of a written exam (a test) aiming to
ascertain the applicant's knowledge. Sometimes tests of intellectual ability are also
included.
An admission interview serves to test the seriousness of the applicant's interest in the
particular field of study and to complement information contained in the application
form. This form of admission proceedings is made use of by some 20% of Czech
higher education institutions. All applicants who passed the interview are admitted.
Tests of artistic talent are used by higher education institutions in study programmes
of performing and fine arts in study programme training primary school teachers, in
general before the admission examination. The former use the tests to determine the
applicant's artistic talent, the latter to see the level of talent in music, visual arts and
physical education necessary for teaching at a primary school.
A report about the result of the admission proceedings is made public within 15
days of the day the proceedings end. If an admission examination is a part of the
proceedings, basic statistical characteristics of all its parts are released. The decision
on admission or non-admission must be done in written and delivered to the
applicant within 30 days.
If a faculty provides the relevant study programme, its dean decides upon the
admission. If a university provides it, its rektor decides it upon. A decision on nonadmission may be appealed against within a set time limit. If a dean refuses the
appeal, the rektor may change a decision that was issued in conflict with the law, an
internal regulation of the institution or with conditions set by the university or the
faculty itself. At private higher education institutions admission is decided upon by a
body which is established based on a home regulation.
When the decision concerning admission to studies is given to the applicant, he/she
has got the right to be enrolled in the institution. By enrolment an applicant becomes a
student.
Higher education programmes may not be entered immediately upon completion of
secondary schooling. There is no legal age limit for commencing higher education
studies. The law on higher education makes possible to study in more than one study
programme at more than one higher education institution either in parallel or
successively. Under specific conditions the study can be fee-based.
Registration and Tuition Fees
HIGHER EDUCATION
At public vysoká škola it is possible to assess
 fees for admission procedure operation and
 fees linked with the study.
The fees are not inadequate and they do not influence the accessibility of higher
education. On the contrary, they contribute to better use the standard duration of
study. The basis for setting up study fees is 5% of the average of formula funding(i.e.
of non-capital expenditure given by the Ministry of Education from the state budget to
public higher education institutions in a previous calendar year). The Ministry of
Education declares the basis at the beginning of a calendar year. In 2003 the amount
of basis was 2,737 CZK.
The fees for admission procedure are 20% of the basis maximum.
If the student exceeds the standard length of Bachelor's or Master's study programmes
more than one year; he/she pays for every month of a study a quarter of the basis at
least. The standard duration of the study includes the duration of study in previous
non-completed programmes.
If a graduate of a Bachelor's or Master's study programme studies in a further
Bachelor's or Master's study programme, the public higher education institution sets a
fee that is equal to maximum of the basis for one year. It doesn't apply in the case if
the graduate of a Bachelor's study programme studies in a follow-up Master's study
programme or if there is a parallelism of regular study programmes that doesn't
exceed the standard length of one year programme. As far as the total length of a
further study exceeds the standard length of a study, the study fees are at least one
quarter of the basis for every month of the study.
It is in the power of a higher education institution to determine the concrete amount
of the fee.
The fees related to the study at state higher education institutions are set by the
Ministry of Defence for military institutions and the Ministry of Interior for the police
academy.
The income from fees together with state subsidies constitutes a scholarship fund, the
resources of which may not be used for any other purposes.