CEU was founded in 1991 byHungarian-American investor and philanthropistGeorge Soros, who provided it with a $250 million endowment in 2001,[8] making the university one of the wealthiest in Europe, especially on a per-student basis. The university is considered elite and prestigious.[9][10][11]
In 1989–90, a serious attempt was undertaken to establish Central European University in theSlovak capital ofBratislava, but it fell through due to nationalist politicians' opposition.[18]
The university was founded in 1991 in response to thefall of the Socialist Bloc. The founding vision was to create a university dedicated to examining the contemporary challenges of "open societies" anddemocratization. The initial aim was to create aWestern-modeled yet distinctlyCentral European institution that would foster inter-regional cooperation and educate a new corps of regional leaders to help usher in democratic transitions across the region. CEU was set up in Budapest, Prague, and Warsaw.[13]
The university was originally located mostly inPrague, and held its first classes there with around 100 students from 20 countries.[20] Because of "political and financial conflict between its founder and [the]Czech government",[21] represented by then prime ministerVaclav Klaus, in January 1993 it was moved toBudapest.[21] The university's presence in Prague ended in 1997.[22]
In its second decade, CEU broadened its focus from regional to global, with a special emphasis ondemocracy promotion and human rights around the world. It has since developed a distinct academic approach, combining regional studies with an international perspective, emphasizingcomparative andinterdisciplinary research in order to generate new scholarship and policy initiatives, and to promotegood governance and therule of law.[23] CEU has extended its outreach andfinancial aid programs to certain areas of the developing world.[24]
CEU began the region's first master's degree programs ingender studies andenvironmental sciences. The CEUCenter for Media, Data and Society (now the newly independentMedia and Journalism Research Center) is the leading center of research on media, communication, and information policy in the region. Soros was one of the largest contributors to CEU’s endowment, pledging $202 million to the university’s endowment in 2005, which was valued in 2010 at $880 million.[20] On 14 October 2007,George Soros stepped down as chairman of CEU Board.[25]Leon Botstein (president ofBard College, New York), who had previously served as the vice-chair of the board, was elected as new chairman for a two-year term. George Soros is a Life-CEU trustee and serves as honorary chairman of the board.[26]
Old CEU logo
On 1 August 2009, RectorYehuda Elkana was succeeded by human rights leader and legal scholarJohn Shattuck.[27] In May 2016,Michael Ignatieff was chosen to succeed Shattuck;[28] he took office on 21 October 2017, becoming the fifth president and rector of the university.[29]
On 28 March 2017, Hungarian Minister of Human ResourcesZoltán Balog, also responsible for education, submitted a bill to Parliament to amend Act CCIV of 2011 on National Higher Education. The bill proposed new regulations for foreign-operating universities, several of which would affect CEU. Notably, such universities could only operate if the Hungarian government had an agreement with the university's other country of operation. (CEU's operating agreement was between theState of New York and thecity of Budapest). In addition, a university operating outside of theEuropean Union should have a campus in its other country of operation, where comparable degree programs would be offered (in 2017 it was not the case for CEU). Furthermore, both current and new non-EU academic staff would be required to apply for work permits. This requirement was seen by critics as placing CEU at a particular disadvantage, given that it relied largely on non-EU faculty. Finally, the law would also prohibit the American and Hungarian entities from sharing the same name.[30]
CEU opposed the bill, noting that "these amendments [to Act CCIV of 2011 on National Higher Education] would make it impossible for the University to continue its operations as an institution of higher education in Budapest, CEU's home for 25 years", and that "CEU is in full conformity with Hungarian law."[31]
CEU Budapest Residence Center
The same day, the pro-government news websiteOrigo.hu asserted that CEU, which it referred to as "Soros University" (George Soros being its founder and main benefactor, and also known as an opponent of Prime MinisterViktor Orbán and hisFidesz party), operated unlawfully in Hungary, citing regulatory infractions. Origo also referred to a report prepared by Hungary's Educational Authority, which revealed that 28 universities, including CEU, were being investigated for operating unlawfully in Hungary.[30] CEU responded that the allegations of cheating and regulatory infractions constituted defamations and libel, and threatened to sue Origo if the article was not corrected.[31]
On 29 March 2017, President and Rector-elect Ignatieff, Pro-Rector for Hungarian Affairs Zsolt Enyedi and, Pro-Rector for Social Sciences and Humanities Éva Fodor said that "the legislation tabled by the Hungarian government relating to higher education is targeted and discriminatory, attacks the CEU, and is an unacceptable assault on our academic freedom... [and] the academic freedom of Hungarian higher education in general." Later, Ignatieff and Enyedi met Secretary of State for EducationLászló Palkovics. CEU then called "for the government to withdraw this legislation and enter into negotiations to find a solution."[32]
On 31 March 2017,Hungarian Prime MinisterViktor Orbán stated in an interview on public radio that the future of "Soros University" depended on US-Hungarian talks. He said that CEU was "cheating" by awarding both Hungarian and American degrees, despite not operating abroad. This was a breach of Hungarian regulations, which gave an unfair advantage to CEU over the other 21 foreign universities in Hungary. CEU responded that it was not cheating nor in breach of Hungarian regulations. Indeed, according to CEU, no laws in effect required universities such as CEU also to operate in their countries of origin.[33] However, Szilard Nemeth, vice chairman of Fidesz, was more blunt, stating that civil society groups with funding from Soros should be "swept out" of Hungary.[34]
On the same day, thefirst Trump administration expressed concern about the proposed legislation, which would "negatively affect or even lead to the closure of Central European University (CEU) in Budapest", and urging the Hungarian government not to take "any legislative action that would compromise CEU's operations or independence."[35]
Academics and academic institutions fromHungary,Latvia,Poland,Russia,Romania,Germany, theNetherlands, theUnited Kingdom, theUnited States, and other countries expressed support for CEU. CEU itself started a campaign of support, with the slogans #aCEUvalvagyok Central European University in Hungarian and #IstandwithCEU Central European University in English.[39][40] The campaign used social media to call on supporters to express their solidarity with CEU and write to Hungarian representatives.[41]
British authorTibor Fischer supported the legislation.[42] Fischer defended Orban against "charges ofantisemitism", indicating that the government "introducedHolocaust education into schools, passed aHolocaust denial law and...financedSon of Saul, a film aboutAuschwitz that [went on to win] anOscar."[42] He specified that he opposes the practice whereby the CEU, being registered inNew York City,[43] can issue a diploma accredited in the United States but without actually operating a campus in America within the provisions of the law as every other Hungarian campus, a situation that he described as CEU students "getting a double bubble."[42]
CEU protest in 2017, Budapest
2017 protests in Hungary [hu] were held on April 2 in the form of a walk from Budapest'sCorvinus University to Parliament, passing byEötvös Loránd University and CEU. The demonstration brought together thousands of protesters, with protest speeches by both CEU and foreign academics and activists, and was broadcast live on Facebook byHír TV.[44]
On 3 April 2017, CEU submitted a legal memorandum to theHungarian parliament, raising substantial issues about the legality and constitutionality of the proposed legislation, and pledged to continue to it using all available legal means in Hungary and in the EU.[46] On the same day, the Hungarian parliament decided to debate and vote on the draft bill the following day, after a request by Deputy Prime MinisterZsolt Semjén, also head of theChristian Democrats, the junior party in the government coalition. Semjén said his request was justified by "government interests to pass the law early."[47]
The New York Times wrote "Mr. Orban has long viewed the school as a bastion of liberalism, presenting a threat to his vision of creating an 'illiberal democracy,' and his desire to shut it down was only deepened by its association with Mr. Soros, aphilanthropist who was born in Hungary. [He] has spent years demonizing Mr. Soros, a Jew who survived the Nazi occupation of Hungary, accusing him of seeking to destroy European civilization by promoting illegal immigration, and often tapping into anti-Semitic tropes."[48]Vox wrote that CEU "was a casualty of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's turn toward authoritarianism, his development of a quietly repressive system that I've termed 'soft fascism'. CEU, a university dedicated to liberal principles and founded by Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros, posed a threat to Orbán's ideological project. So Orbán put into place a set of characteristically sneaky regulations aimed at forcing out CEU without needing to formally ban them, eventually crushing the university's ability to operate."[49]The Washington Post commented that CEU had "become the prime target of Orban's campaign to dismantle Europe's multicultural, tolerant liberalism and cement a culture that is unapologetically Christian, conservative, and nationalist."[50]
On 3 December 2018 the university announced it would relocate the majority of its operations toVienna in September 2019, after the Hungarian government's refusal to sign an agreement allowing it to continue teaching its US-accredited programs in Hungary. Less than one fifth of CEU's programs, that are locally accredited, would remain in Budapest.[51] The university retains accreditation as a Hungarian university and has sought to continue teaching and research activity in Budapest as long as possible, with current students completing their studies in Budapest.[52]
In June 2021, Ignatieff announced that he would be stepping down as president and rector of the university, and thatShalini Randeria would succeed him as the sixth rector and president. Randeria is the first woman to serve in this role at the university.[59]
In the context ofHamas' attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 and the subsequentGaza war, there were repeated incidents at the CEU that were classified as antisemitic by various organizations. A series of events planned in cooperation with theUniversity of Vienna, at whichBDS activists were also due to speak, was canceled by the University of Vienna,[61] nevertheless took place at the CEU. A lecture at the CEU entitled "CEU Talks: Hamas' 7 October Attack, Terrorism Strategy and State-building"[62] was massively disrupted by students despite the presence of RectorShalini Randeria. In a press release, theAustrian Union of Jewish Students [de] and theEuropean Union of Jewish Students accused the CEU of ignoring the threat to Jewish students and that the Rector was refusing to meet with Jewish student representatives.[63]
CEU published a statement clarifying that the university does not tolerate antisemitism or all forms of hate speech, or any form of harassment or discrimination. The statement clarified that the university has processes in place to ensure that its students can report any incidents of antisemitism as well as all other forms of ethnic or religious hate speech, which are dealt with by its internal mechanisms within the parameters set out by CEU's Code of Ethics. CEU's founding mission in defence of open societies enjoins it to protect critical discussion, and the freedom to scrutinize competing ideas. Such academic freedom includes the freedom to dissent respectfully and to expound controversial ideas within the bounds of legality and civility.[64]
In November 2024, Randeria resigned as a rector before the end of her term.[65] According to media reports, she was pushed out by the board after intense internal criticism of her leadership.[66][67]Carsten Q. Schneider was elected CEU's Interim President and Rector, and would serve from August 1, 2025 to July 31, 2026.[68]
As of 2024, the university is composed of 13 academic departments and 17research centers, in addition to the Doctoral School of Political Science, Public Policy and International Relations.[69]
In 2025/26, the acceptance rate of the university was 39% for bachelor's programs, 56% for master's program, and 10% for doctoral programs.[71] As of 2019, 1217 students were enrolled in the university, of which 962 were international students, making the student body the fourth most international in the world.[72]
CEU offers doctoral programs in 13 different subjects and master's programs in 37 different subjects, in addition to 3 interdisciplinary bachelor's programs. All programmes at CEU have a heavy research focus, and all courses are delivered in small, seminar-style classes, emphasising a low student-faculty ratio of 7 to 1.[73][74]
The university is considered elite and prestigious.[9][10][11] Until the 2019–2020 academic year, CEU was exclusively a postgraduate university and therefore not eligible for general world university rankings. Two new bachelor's degree programs were introduced in the 2020–2021 academic year.[76][77]
In 2014, the university's Economics department was ranked 8th in Europe by theEuropean Research Council, based on research excellence.[81] Of the three European Research Council Starting Investigator Grant that came to Hungary two were awarded to CEU faculty.[82]
CEU's Department of Legal Studies was ranked first in Central Europe by the Czech newspaper,Lidové noviny. The survey included Austrian, Czech, German, Hungarian, Polish, and Slovak universities.[83]
CEU is organized as an American-style institution, governed by aboard of trustees, with a charter from theBoard of Regents of theUniversity of the State of New York, for and on behalf of theNew York State Education Department.[84] In the United States, CEU is accredited by theMiddle States Commission on Higher Education. InHungary, CEU is officially recognized as a privately maintained and operated university. The university was accredited by the Hungarian Accreditation Committee in 2004.[24] In Austria, CEU is recognized as a private higher education institution, pursuant to section 7 of the Decree on Accreditation of Private Universities (PU-AkkVO). Central European University Private University (CEU PU) is accredited by the Agency for Quality Assurance and Accreditation Austria.[5]
TheBlinken Open Society Archives (OSA) at CEU is aCold War research facility, holding over 7,500 linear meters of material, 11,000 hours of audiovisual recordings and 12 terabytes of data related to communist-era political, social, economic and cultural life. OSA's collection includes an extensive archive ofRadio Free Europe/Radio Liberty transcripts and reports, along with a large collection of undergroundsamizdat literature and materials from Central and Eastern Europe under communism. The archive also houses a growing collection of documents and audiovisual materials on international human rights and war crimes.[85]
TheCEU Press is the largest English-language publisher in Central and Eastern Europe. Since its founding in 1993, it has played an important role in publishing books on the economic, social, and political transformation of the region, including titles by Hungarians or on Hungarian themes. Four of its top-10 best-selling books worldwide are related to Hungary.[82]
TheInstitute for Advanced Study at Central European University (IAS CEU) is a research institution inBudapest,Hungary. Established in 1992 as Collegium Budapest, it was originally planned forsocial sciences. It was dissolved in 2011, while the activities of the Collegium have since been continued on a smaller scale by the newly founded Institute for Advanced Study at Central European University.[86]
Graduate students of CEU andUniversity of Vienna could attend courses at the partner institution, and transfer their credits towards their degrees at their home institution.[87] CEU andBard College run a joint master's program ininternational relations.[88]
As of 2023, 18,667 students from 151 countries have graduated from CEU, the majority of whom went on to be employed in business, education, research, or government.[90]
^abLydia Gall (25 October 2018)."Central European University". Human Rights Watch.The CEU, one of the most prestigious universities in Central Europe...
^Laczó, Ferenc (1 March 2020)."The Tragedy of Central European University"(PDF).Current History.119 (815).University of California Press:83–88.doi:10.1525/curh.2020.119.815.83.S2CID219803889. Retrieved7 August 2020.The idea was that this small but highly complex part of the world, whose tragic experiences typically had been studied from a safe distance, would finally come to possess its own international hub of academic excellence in a Western-dominated and increasingly liberal world. After the sudden implosion of communist regimes, the great expectation was that the yawning gap which had opened in the region's scholarship in the twentieth century—between experience and reflection, or perhaps rather between intellects and institutions—could finally be closed.
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