Our history

THE ORIGINAL NAME

King Sigismund of Luxembourg (1386-1437) established the second Hungarian university in Óbuda on October 5, 1395, which operated for 8 years and after a brief pause, was restarted on August 1st, 1410 with a new Papal declaration and operates today under the name of Óbuda University. The political and cultural activities of the House of Luxembourg encouraged the operation of the educational institution: the medieval kingdom of Hungary, under King  Sigismund of Luxembourg, became a European force of power: its political orientation and origin became a part of the “integration” of Western and Eastern Europe and as such, he was crowned both German-Roman Emperor and Czech King.

KING SIGISMUND COLLEGE

On October 17th, 2000, the Parliament of the Republic of Hungary enacted into law King Sigismund College thereby, granting it state recognition. The Government’s proposal justified the the establishment of this 100% Hungarian-funded private University with its dual profile of European integration and national modernization, in order to meet the significant demands of the labor market as justified by the market research studies.

 In all three of the original Departments (International Relations, Human Resources Management, Cultural Organizational/Communication Management), great emphasis was placed on the teaching of general and specialized economics courses. With the introduction of the multi-level training system, the available majors quadrupled: four BAs and one MA in the field of Economics, four BAs and two MAs in Social Sciences, two BAs and one MA in Liberal Arts and a BA in Economics-Informatics. At the same time, the College also introduced the so-called advanced vocational training.

 The specialty of King Sigismund remained the teaching of international-based courses. The programs are practice-oriented and in the later semesters, students are taught by professionals from both the private sector and public administration. József Bayer, academician and university professor turned 70 years old on March 1st, 2016, which according to law, marked the official end of his career as University Rector. Dr. Péter Szatmári took over the Rector’s duties and was helped by Dr. Krisztina Schottner, Deputy Rector and Dr. habil. Zoltán Szűts, Rector responsible for scientific affairs and academic staff.

KING SIGISMUND UNIVERSITY

According to the intention of the founders and owners and as outlined in the strategic goals, after 16 successful years of existence, King Sigismund will continue to function as of the first of August, 2016 with a new status as a University of Applied Sciences. From September 2016 onward, for the sake of more effective education development and organization, the former institutional structure is replaced by a departmental system designed to prepare for labor market challenges and coordinate scientific work. Since September 2016, the University had been one of the first in the country to launch a business-economist dual training- building bridges between the labor market and students.

CHANGE OF OWNERSHIP

On October 11th  2017, as a result of an 18-month negotiation and transaction process, the Hungarian Unified Jewish Congregation(EMIH) became the owner of King Sigismund University. The institution provides secular education:  its status is that of a secular private university maintained by an ecclesiastical organization, that operates on a market basis and provides education as a University of Applied Sciences.

NEW NAME

From August 2018 onward, the institution is hereby known as MILTON FRIEDMAN UNIVERSITY.