WESTERN “VASILE GOLDIȘ” UNIVERSITY OF ARAD

An institution founded on conviction. Built for people.

Founded in 1990 as the first private university in post-war Transylvania, UVVG now trains professionals in six cities, from Arad to Baia Mare.

Who we are

Western “Vasile Goldiș” University of Arad is a higher education institution, a private-law legal entity of public utility, part of the national education system. Academically and economically autonomous, founded in 1990, accredited by Law No. 240/2002 and periodically evaluated by ARACIS and AHPGS.

Western “Vasile Goldiș” University of Arad was established in 1990 at the initiative of the late Prof. Dr. Aurel Ardelean, founding rector and founding president of the “Vasile Goldiș” University Foundation, Arad.

It was the first private university in post-war Transylvania. Established with the aim of promoting the values of education, research, and engagement with society, under the banner of the academic community, valuing institutional culture and perpetuating national and universal values.

1990 – The university was founded by Prof. Dr. Aurel Ardelean. The first private university in post-war Transylvania.

2002 – Accredited by Law No. 240/2002. State recognition, with degrees equivalent to those of public universities.

The academic community of Western “Vasile Goldiș” University of Arad is committed to carrying forward the legacy left by the late founding rector, Prof. Dr. Aurel Ardelean, for the city and county of Arad, relying on excellence, flexibility, and the quality of the educational process—attested by generations of graduates well integrated into the labor market.

The University provides education and research services in the field of scientific knowledge and has as its ideal the use of academic values for the purpose of:

1. Students’ personal development – Initial and continuing university and postgraduate training, to support graduates’ integration into the labor market and meet the competency needs of the socio-economic environment.

2. Research and innovation – Scientific research, development, innovation, and technology transfer in the biomedical, legal, socio-human, and economic fields, with the valorization and dissemination of results.

3. Community engagement – Joint activities for the benefit of the social, economic, and cultural environment of the Arad community and the western region of Romania.

4. Internationalization – A tool for enhancing the quality of education and research through European partnerships, Erasmus+, and programs in internationally used languages.

Our mission

The mission assumed by the University is education and scientific research, with the aim of generating and transferring knowledge to society—through university training, fundamental and applied research, community engagement, and internationalization.

Western “Vasile Goldiș” University of Arad pursues and ensures the development and consolidation of the highest possible level of performance for students and future graduates, translated into real competencies on the national and international labor market.

The University promotes and develops fundamental and applied scientific research in fields of interest, with the aim of contributing to the advancement of knowledge and to the valorization and dissemination of its results, in order to participate in strengthening and affirming culture and civilization integrated into the European space.

To be recognized as the university in western Romania where the human relationship between student and professor is the real competitive advantage—and to demonstrate that a student-centered university can produce graduates with real impact in their careers and in the community.

Small groups are not a constraint—they are the advantage that makes the difference. Professors know you by name. This is not a marketing promise; it is what actually happens in the classroom at UVVG.

Western “Vasile Goldiș” University is accredited by Law No. 240/2002 and periodically evaluated by ARACIS (the Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education).

Quality management of study programs and educational activities is designed as a major objective and a fundamental condition for fulfilling the assumed mission—sustained, consistent, and specific efforts to develop student and graduate performance.

Why Vasile Goldiș?

The University bears the name of its spiritual patron, Vasile Goldiș—one of the leading figures and the ideologue of the Great Union of December 1, 1918. The name was not chosen by chance. It is a commitment.

“Only cultural-educational institutions, in which education plays the fundamental role, are meant to contribute to the affirmation of a people in a national-type democracy.” — Vasile Goldiș, Parliament of Budapest

Vasile Goldiș (1862—1934): Cultural figure, journalist, Arad politician, and advocate of the Great Union. One of the 212 delegates who voted in Alba Iulia, on December 1, 1918, for the union of Transylvania with Romania. Throughout his life, he believed that education is the foundation of a people’s freedom. This conviction is alive in every classroom of the university that bears his name.

 

The founding rector, Prof. Dr. Aurel Ardelean, was the one who “fulfilled the Arad community’s dream of having higher education” in the city—as Vasile Goldiș had wished at the beginning of the last century, even in the Parliament of Budapest.

The University’s motto—”By ourselves”—is also a legacy: not a claim, but a working philosophy. That something lasting can be built with one’s own resources, with conviction and consistency.

Legal framework

Western “Vasile Goldiș” University of Arad operates under the Constitution of Romania and the National Education Law, in compliance with the principles of academic freedom and institutional autonomy.

Western “Vasile Goldiș” University of Arad is a higher education institution, a private-law legal entity of public utility, part of the national education system, autonomous both academically and economically/financially, founded on private property, guaranteed by the Constitution of Romania.

It was founded in 1990 and accredited by Law No. 240/2002, and is periodically evaluated by ARACIS. The degrees issued by UVVG are equivalent to those of state universities and are recognized throughout the European Union.

The Charter of the “Vasile Goldiș” Western University of Arad is the institution’s fundamental internal regulatory act, adopted by the University Senate, which governs the mission, structure, organization, operation, and values of the institution.

It establishes the rights and obligations of members of the academic community, the principles of university autonomy, and the rules of institutional governance, in accordance with national legislation and the principles of academic freedom.

All institutional transparency documents are available in the document management portal — Board of Directors resolutions, internal regulations, financial statements, audit reports, public procurement, and asset declarations.