Greece’s top administrative court has annulled the operating licences and study programmes of three private university branches, in a setback for the government’s roll-out of its landmark higher education reforms.

The ruling affects the University of York, Keele University and Anatolia College – key institutions in the first wave of openings following a change in the law governing private universities.

Greece’s Council of State found shortcomings with the way the institutions had been licensed and their courses approved under the country’s new system allowing overseas universities to establish branches in the country, 

In response to the move, the Greek education ministry stressed that the ruling does not overturn the law that allows foreign universities to operate branches in Greece. It said the ruling points to “issues of implementation of the institutional framework”, not the law itself. 

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“All necessary actions will be taken immediately to ensure the rights of students and the uninterrupted continuation of their studies. The academic year will not be lost for any student,” it said. 

�ճ�������ٲ��ڴڴǰ�����󾱰���-��������� Keele University launched its Athens campus last year in partnership with Metropolitan College, Greece’s largest private education provider. The campus was due to begin teaching in September, but it is unclear how the court ruling will affect those plans. Times Higher Education has contacted Keele University for comment.

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A spokesperson for the University of York, which operates in Greece through CITY College, with its main campus in Thessaloniki, said: “We are aware of the recent Greek Council of State (Supreme Administrative Court) ruling which has identified administrative oversights in the Greek regulator’s process.”

The cited the Greek ministry’s commitment that no students’ studies will be interrupted and added: “The education and wellbeing of our students remain our priority. We will continue working alongside our branch campus in Greece to ensure our students will join as planned for the 2026-27 academic year and have the high-quality academic experience we deliver.”

The Greek government narrowly passed legislation in 2024 allowing foreign universities to establish branches in Greece, a major change in a country where higher education has traditionally been dominated by state universities. 

The contentious move prompted widespread protests, with thousands of students and staff demonstrating outside the country’s parliament, arguing that the changes would favour wealthy students while devaluing degrees from public universities.   

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Since the passing of the bill, the education ministry has granted permits to several foreign universities to establish branch campuses in the country. In July, another seven universities were granted licences to set up international branch campuses in the country starting from the 2026-27 academic year. 

The newly approved universities are Georgetown University, Roger Williams University – which will operate as “The American University of Greece” – as well as Iowa State University of Science and Technology, and the European University Cyprus.

������Գ���’s��Université Sorbonne Paris Nord and the UK’s University of Essex�����Ի���University of Derby were “re-evaluated and cleared to continue”.

seher.asaf@timeshighereducation.com