On the last day of the year, specifically December 31, 2025, the first phase of the student registry cleanup process in Greek Higher Education Institutions was completed, with the removal of inactive students who had enrolled in four-year degree programs before 2017 and did not meet the required criteria for extending their study duration.
The process was carried out within the framework of Law 4957/2022, as amended by Law 5224/2025. The total number of inactive students who did not meet the law’s criteria, according to institutional data, and were removed reached 308,605 students.
University student registries: Cleanup completed, 308,605 inactive students removed
The Minister of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports, Sofia Zacharaki, stated: “For decades, the system of inactive students was unfair to everyone: institutions that couldn’t plan properly, active students who were working hard, and especially our young people themselves, who remained trapped without meaningful connection to their studies. The new framework is not rigid. It explicitly provides exceptions and flexibility for those who work, those with health problems, or serious family and social obligations. We don’t treat everyone the same, but we treat each person fairly. Thousands of our students took advantage of the “second chance” we established, and this says a lot about how necessary this intervention was. Student status is not lifelong in any modern European university. We want degrees with value that reflect effort, abilities, and passion. Our goal is a modern, outward-looking, and inclusive public university. A university that supports students, builds their future, and doesn’t leave them indefinitely on the sidelines. We’re not closing doors, but opening paths to studies with prospects, credibility, and institutional consistency. Exact figures for those who took advantage of the second chance will be provided in the coming days“.
The Deputy Minister of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports, responsible for Higher Education, Prof. Nikos Papaioannou, emphasized: “The cleanup of student registries in Greek higher education institutions represents a necessary and substantial step toward rationalizing our academic system. This is a process implemented within the legal framework with respect for the academic community, contributing to rational policy planning for active students, university funding, and the overall upgrading of public universities.
With updated student registries, universities gain the ability to plan their needs for human resources, infrastructure, and funding with greater accuracy. This planning is a prerequisite for upgrading the quality of studies and daily academic operations, as well as improving the quality criteria considered in evaluating Greek universities in international rankings.
With planning, organization, and coordinated action, we are implementing the goal of the New Democracy government and Prime Minister K. Mitsotakis, so that the Greek public university becomes even more modern, functional, and high-quality. Supported by reliable data, we are creating higher education that truly serves active students and the proper academic functioning of our country’s higher education institutions“.
