According to the Higher Education Law, the higher education degree is structured hierarchically in four successive levels; diploma (somewhat equal to US associate degree), bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate. Higher Education Law states that higher education programs can be delivered in various modes; day-time (somewhat equivalent to full-time in other countries), evening, correspondence and extramural forms. The full-time and evening training will be based on the course schedule but both have the same requirements to attend classes on campus and accumulate the same number of credit hours. The correspondence courses are designed for employed people, who can come to campus 1-2 times in a year and study according to the agreed schedule. In this case, the work experience can be counted for the credit. The extramural courses are designed for the gifted students and based on the individual schedule. At the moment, there is no part-time student status though the courses are based on the credit hour system. However, the cohort system still exists and students do not practice to choose courses and lecturers according to their needs and interests.

Mongolian higher education system follows the Bologna process. And Mongolian higher education’s credit system is nearly as close as American credit system.

Bachelor students must study at least 120 credits (3-5 years)

Masters students must study at least 30 credits (1-2 years)

Doctoral students must study at least 60 credits (3< years)

Under the Mongolian Constitution, the government must provide a 12-year free general education. At the end of their 12th year, students are required to take the General Entrance Exam if they wish to enter a university. While students choose their exams depending on the area of study of their choice, since 2013, it has become mandatory for every student to take the Mongolian language exam. The maximum score of this exam is 800, and MECSS approves the minimum score to enter the HEI’s by Public universities and Private universities. For example, In 2019 MECSS approved minimum scores to enter the public universities to 480 scores of 800, to enter the private universities to 410 of 800 scores and the score to enter HEI’s which is located in rural areas is 400. After that each HEI makes the application procedure each year by approval of MECSS. This exam score is the permission to enter Mongolian HEI’s and students who take the exam successfully can take scholarships by HEI’s and MECSS.

The Government of Mongolia has approved Order No 70 about “Special needs fields of Mongolia in 2020”. One step of this approval is from 2020, the Government of Mongolia covers tuition fees of students who entered the Bachelor program in “Nurse” Mongolian National University of Medical Science. And the Government of Mongolia covers the tuition fee of students who entered the university for “Teacher” bachelor’s program with more than 750 scores of the exam.

Mongolia has a unitary higher education system. In Mongolia where the high school diploma and result of the General exam required access to all HEI’s. Mongolia has no difference in universities on their course difference yet. Which means Mongolia doesn’t have different university purposes of academic or professional universities. In 2013 Mongolia decided to build a research university, based on Hefei’s statement. This work will be a fundamental thing to build a research university. And the Government of Mongolia has ordered the project to build a research university in 2016-2020. The purpose of this project is to start to build a research university by improving academic research of the universities. The Government of Mongolia is looking for the final result of this training will be the development of Mongolian 4 National universities academic the university will enter the best 200th universities of Asia. That project is ordered by the Resolution No 282 of the Government of Mongolia, in 2018.

Mongolian higher education system has moved to the Bologna model from the early 2000s. HEI’s in Mongolia is awards bachelor’s degree (D diploma) by more than 120 credits (American credit system, duration: 4 years), master’s degree (E diploma) by more than 30 credits and doctoral degree by 60 credits which divided to 30 credits by lessons, 24 credits by dissertation and 6 credits by teaching seminars supervision by the professor. That procedure was ordered by the A/370 order of the Minister of the MECSS in 2014.

The Mongolian credit system is modeled by the American credit system. Mongolian University of Science and Technology has moved the credit system from 2015, first. The American credit system is converting to the ECTS European credit system by double which means multiply by 2. Mongolian bachelor’s 120 credits are equal to 240 ECTS credits. But we don’t have any legal documents about credit calculation.