The government of Lithuania has proposed a bill stipulating that higher education institutions may receive licenses only if they deliver at least half of their study programmes in Lithuania. This provision contravenes the declared goal to increase internationalization of and access to higher education as it would pose a serious barrier to market entry for overseas universities. Even if the best foreign universities decide to establish their faculties in Lithuania, they would need to deliver at least half of their degree programmes in Lithuania. For large and well-established overseas universities, which have more students than the total number of students in Lithuania, this requirement is by and large unrealistic. The adoption of the proposed bill would reduce incentives to improve the quality of Lithuanian higher education and prevent foreign universities from entering the Lithuanian market.
