Students who enrolled in basic studies according to previous regulations, more precisely before 2005, they only have two and a half months to graduate or lose student status.
The dean of the Faculty of Teacher Education in Belgrade, Danimir Mandić, told "Vreme" that those people, of whom there are about 10.000 in Serbia, "need to be met."
"Students should have an extension of their study period before Bologna," Mandić thought. "Perhaps it sounds bad to someone when someone says that they studied for 20 years, but it should be borne in mind that these people started studying according to a completely different principle and they were hit by Bologna, which probably fell hard for some. Also, I don't see why the possibility of someone finishing university at the age of 50 should be denied, if they couldn't earlier. It should be understood that people have different life circumstances."
There are not many students like this at the Faculty of Teachers, about ten of them, but the faculty did everything it could to enable them to switch to a new way of studying. Mandić adds that no information has arrived from the relevant ministry, but that it would be good if the students to whom this regulation applies find out as soon as possible whether there will be an opportunity to extend their studies.
The dean of the Faculty of Chemistry in Belgrade, Goran Roglić, told Vreme that this faculty does not have such students, because in some way they managed to integrate them into the new education system, and that only the Ministry of Education deals with it, so only they can decide on it. They were not specifically informed of anything.
A petition appeared on the Internet for a new extension of the study period, which was extended for another three years in 2023, and the Ministry of Education did not answer "Vremen"'s questions about whether they had received an official request for an extension, as well as whether they would consider it.
Petition
In May 2026, students who enrolled in studies before the entry into force of the Law on Higher Education started signing an online petition requesting a new extension of the deadline for graduation. About 1.040 people have signed it so far.
"Dear colleagues, we are embarking on another battle to achieve the unfulfilled dream called - a diploma! There is no need for big words. You know how much you are, i.e. how much you could not use the previous extension. The circumstances were extraordinary, the deadlines were not deadlines... hence this petition," the text of the petition reads.
Representatives of former students will request meetings with the Student Conference of the University of Serbia and the authorities in the Ministry of Education.
Print – then re-enter
Some faculties are already acting as if the matter has been resolved. In June 2026, the Faculty of Philology in Belgrade issued a notice for old students, recommending several options, one of which is even to withdraw - and re-enroll.
"We draw the attention of undergraduate students whose deadline for completing their studies expires on September 30, 2026, that they must graduate before October 1, 2026, in order not to lose their student status. If they do not graduate before October 1, 2026, they must register and re-enroll through the competition," they stated in the announcement.
Students who estimate that they cannot graduate before October 1 and do not want to wait until June 2027 to re-enroll, can de-register and re-enroll in newly accredited study programs in the second competition period, which takes place in September 2026, they added.
However, they say that in that case they will not be able to use the sixth, and probably not even the greater part of the fifth exam period 2025/26, and in the first and second exam period next year they will not be able to take the two-semester exams, as well as the one-semester exams from the summer semester.
"We ask students whose deadline for completing their studies expires on October 1, 2026, to keep this in mind and to assess in time whether they will have to de-register and re-enroll in September or not," the administration of Philology writes.
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