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"Greek universities have a vague direction, inadequate goals and an uncertain future," states a report of an international experts' committee on the status of Greek universities. Its members fully support the reform which the Ministry began and even put on the agenda the proposal of the former Deputy Minister Yannis Panaretos of opening of two-year colleges in the country.

"These schools offer technical expertise and training and enable the best students to go to four-year universities under certain conditions and procedures," states the report of the committee appointed by the Greek Ministry of Education.

The experts blame the rectors of the Greek universities that "academic bodies are not safe places." In particular, the report states: "Although the constitution empowers the university rectors to protect the bases from individuals whose purpose is to cause political instability, it is registered a reluctance of rectors to exercise their rights and fulfill their obligations to ensure the safety of teachers, students and administrative staff. As a result, they do not manage well the training bases the society has entrusted them."

The foreign experts are calling for the removal of the administrative and economic "barriers" that have created a "culture of conservatism" in the Greek universities and offer their full reorganization. "Education in general and higher education in particular are in a desperate need of reforms, if Greece is to meet the economic and financial initiatives it has taken to reverse the course of its ruined economy," says the report.

Some of the main recommendations of the foreign experts are:

The universities should encourage progressive thinking and promote entrepreneurship. Graduate students who have received wider training are likely to become innovators and to start their own businesses.

Greece does not use the capabilities of its citizens sufficiently. The results achieved are not in accordance with the existing skills that could be further developed.

If reforms are not carried out, the education will be insufficient for the population of Greece and there will be a lack of people to engage in research for the needs of today's knowledge-based society.

The expenses for each student in Greece are higher than in all member states of the European Union and other countries such as Australia, Israel, Japan, Korea and Mexico. At the same time, the number of graduates within the prescribed period is the lowest.

There is a lack in Greek universities of core technologies of communication and other means of measuring the entry – exit rates and for objective assessment of progress. These indicators include the percentage of graduates, the jobs offered compared to wages, the published scientific papers and effectiveness of teaching.

Unemployment rates among graduates as well as periods of unemployment after graduation are unacceptably high.

The politicization of students exceeds greatly the logical participation in the political process. This fact greatly contributes to the rapid decline of education in universities. As an example, the students involved in the election of university heads are about 40%.

There are many outbreaks of valuable scientific work, but research in general is lagging behind the other member states of the European Union.

Universities must be independent in managing their financial resources, in their elections and in the adoption of academic decisions that boost their strategic objectives.

Each university should be able to manage and support its decisions and provide additional resources that could help achieve its objectives.

The committee proposed the formation of one independent committee in each university or a group of universities of common features. According to the foreign experts, the rectors should be appointed by the governing bodies of the universities.