Lucian Blaga University from Sibiu
Sibiu’s higher education system dates back to the early 18th century, when high level classes were initiated within the Theological School. The year 1786 marked the beginning of higher education in Sibiu. The theological and pedagogical schools were followed in 1855 by the Law Academy, set up by the German population. In 1887 the Academy of Sibiu was disbanded, and it continued its activity in Budapest. Sibiu’s higher education saw a new beginning in 1940, when the University of Cluj-Napoca was forced to seek refuge here, as a result of the Vienna dictate, through which northern Transylvania was relinquished to Hungary. A quarter of a century later, in 1969, the History Faculty of Sibiu was established as a branch of the University of Cluj. In 1971, the Faculty turned into the Faculty of Philology and History. In the same year the Faculty of Public Administration was set up, with a curriculum which was unique in the country.
The next year meant the foundation of a new faculty, the Faculty of Wood Processing, functioning as a branch of the Brasov University. The year 1976 marked the establishment of Sibiu’s first autonomous institute of higher education, which comprised the following faculties: Philology and History, Economic and Administrative Law, and Mechanical Engineering. The dictator regime of the 80’s gradually wound up the activity of the Faculty of Philology and History and that of the Faculty of Public Administration, until they disappeared completely. The Faculty of Mechanical Engineering was the only one to continue its activity as an Institute of Sub-Engineering, a division of the Polytechnic Institute of Cluj-Napoca. Following the revolution of December 1989, on 5 March 1990 the Ministry of National Education decreed the foundation of the University of Sibiu, which comprised five faculties: the Faculty of Letters, History and Law, the Faculty of Medicine, the Faculty of Textile and Food Technology, the Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Sciences. As regards the higher economic education, this was briefly present in Sibiu as part of the Faculty of Public Administration (1971-1974), which trained economists for the central and local public administration.
This historical detail represented an incentive for the re-establishment of this field ofstudy in 1991, together with other arguments such as: the existence of a long tradition of university education in Sibiu; the cultural character par excellence of the Sibiu area; the existence of a diversified economic, social and cultural activity, which could offer internship opportunities for students and encourage graduates’ integration into the labour market; Sibiu’s long tradition in tourism and its potential for development as a result of environmental and geographical factors, of the variety and beauty of the landscape, of its industrial and cultural development, of its ethnography, customs, historical and architectural monuments. Starting from these premises, in 1991 the first economic module, with a specialization in Tourism and Services, was set up at “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu, as part of the Faculty of Sciences. 12 May 1995 is a memorable day in the history of “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu, due to the fact that it was the day when the University was given the name of the greatest creative personality of the 20th century: Lucian Blaga. He was born near Sibiu (on May 9, 1895 in Lancrăm, Alba county), but he lived in Sibiu during his theological studies (1914-1917). During the 1991-2002 period, the higher economic education of Sibiu developed in keeping with the requirements of an economy which was restructuring, modernizing and opening to the outside.