Resolution No. 501 of 1378 (2010)

Higher Education Regulation

The study, examination, and faculty-affairs system

3Main Books
10Chapters
22Sections
240Articles

About this Regulation

This is the complete Higher Education Regulation attached to General People's Committee Resolution No. (501) of 1378 (2010), governing the study and examination system at Libyan university colleges, technical colleges and higher institutes, and graduate-studies programs, together with the rules governing faculty members, teaching assistants, and researchers. The summary below follows the regulation's own structure — book by book, chapter by chapter — and presents the substance of its main provisions. The complete, legally binding Arabic text (240+ articles), along with full search and article-level navigation, is available on theArabic page.

Book One — General Provisions

  • The regulation applies to all Libyan public and licensed private institutions of higher education — universities, academies, technical colleges, higher institutes, and research centers — and to their faculty, teaching assistants, researchers, and students at every level.
  • Arabic is the language of instruction; a foreign language may be used where the nature of study requires it, subject to institutional approval, and non-Arabic-speaking students may be required to demonstrate Arabic proficiency.
  • Core curricula for each specialization are set centrally to maintain a consistent standard across institutions; colleges may not reduce or expand on them without authorization.
  • The academic calendar, mid-year recess, and examination periods are set by central decision and may not be altered unilaterally by an institution.
  • Tuition fees are set by official decision, with Libyan students at public technical colleges and higher institutes exempted at the specialized-diploma and Bachelor's levels.

Book Two — The Study and Examination System

Chapter 1 — University Colleges (Bachelor's / Licence)

  • Admission requires a recognized secondary certificate, medical fitness, the college's approved admission percentage, and — where required — a personal interview. Students are classified as regular, irregular, incoming (non-Libyan), or distance-learning.
  • Transfer between universities is permitted subject to a college equivalency committee's review; provisional enrolment is allowed pending final equivalency.
  • Each college's internal regulations set the program length, credit-hour limits per semester, and attendance thresholds required to sit exams. Continuous assessment may substitute for some midterm exams.
  • Final grades follow a fixed scale (85–100% Excellent, 75–84% Very Good, 65–74% Good, below 65% Pass/Fail bands), with a 50% overall pass threshold (60% for medical colleges). GPA is computed by credit-weighted averaging.
  • Students may request a grade review (up to two courses); a three-member review committee re-examines the answer script in the student's presence.
  • Re-assignment to another college applies after two very-poor terms or two consecutive failed years; final dismissal follows continued failure, unauthorized absence of a full year, or exceeding the maximum permitted warnings.
  • Disciplinary violations include assault, damage to university property, exam fraud (forgery, impersonation, cheating), and conduct violating public order or morals. Penalties range from suspension (one to two years) to permanent dismissal, decided by an investigation committee and a disciplinary board; board decisions are final except for appeal before the competent court.

Chapter 2 — Technical Colleges & Higher Institutes

  • The Bachelor's (technical colleges) runs four years / eight semesters; the Higher Diploma (higher institutes) runs three years / six semesters — in both cases the final semester is reserved for field training and the graduation project.
  • Course grades total 100 (40 coursework + 60 final exam); a 50% overall score is required to pass. A cumulative GPA below 55% for three consecutive semesters, or failing the same course more than three times, leads to dismissal; an official warning is issued earlier (e.g. after two weeks' unexcused absence, or a GPA drop below 55%).
  • Eligibility for field training and the graduation project requires passing all coursework with a cumulative GPA of at least 55%. Field-training performance is scored 30% by the host organization and 70% by the academic supervisor.
  • Graduation-project scores are split 60% discussion committee / 30% supervisor / 10% department, with a minimum of 65% of the committee's allotted score required to pass. A copy of every approved project is kept in the college or institute library; intellectual-property rights in an innovative project are shared equally between student and supervisor.
  • Students receive a monthly stipend, and the same disciplinary framework described for university colleges applies.

Chapter 3 — Graduate Studies (Master's / PhD)

  • Governed by a General Committee for Graduate Studies, with university- and college-level graduate-studies committees overseeing admission, registration, and academic administration. No program may open without quality-assurance clearance.
  • Master's admission requires a Bachelor's degree (or equivalent); PhD admission requires a Master's degree, with priority given to serving faculty members and teaching assistants; both require passing any qualifying exams the institution sets.
  • The Master's degree requires at least 24 taught credit units plus an accepted thesis, or 40 units of coursework as an alternative; the PhD requires up to 24 units, a comprehensive written and oral exam, and an accepted dissertation. Minimum/maximum enrolment periods are set (18–36 months for the Master's, 36–60 months for the PhD, extendable once by six months).
  • Thesis/dissertation examination committees comprise three members (Master's, at least one external) or five members (PhD, at least two external); outcomes are pass, fail, or conditional pass pending revisions. Findings of plagiarism or data fabrication result in permanent dismissal and withdrawal of any degree already granted.
  • Formatting rules require a clear abstract (up to 700 words, with an Arabic summary if the thesis is in a foreign language), a prescribed cover-page format, and five printed plus five electronic copies distributed to the department, college, university, and the relevant higher-education authority.
  • Supervision and examination carry fixed remuneration (e.g. a flat supervision fee per degree level, and a fee for each discussion-committee member), and a single supervisor may not simultaneously supervise more than seven theses or dissertations university-wide.
  • A written warning follows two failed courses (or repeated failure in one), a below-threshold GPA, or a supervisor's report of neglect; dismissal follows continued failure, exhausting the maximum warnings, or a second failed defense.

Book Three — Faculty Members, Teaching Assistants & Researchers

Chapter 1 — General Provisions & Academic Ranks

  • Faculty members hold one of six ranks, each mapped to a civil-service grade: Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor, Lecturer, Assistant Lecturer, and Teaching Assistant (from senior to entry level).

Chapter 2 — Appointment, Promotion, Transfer, Secondment & Loan

  • Appointment is by contract, following a one full year probationary period, with priority given to teaching assistants groomed for academic careers.
  • Promotion to each successive rank requires a minimum number of years at the current rank (four to sixteen years depending on the rank and starting qualification), a minimum time since the first university degree, and a minimum number of peer-reviewed publications or equivalent scholarly output, evaluated by a three-member panel including at least one external reviewer.
  • Secondment to another university is capped at one year at a time (renewable up to four years total); loan to government bodies or international organizations preserves salary, seniority, and a loan allowance.

Chapter 3 — Financial Treatment

  • Weekly teaching-load requirements scale inversely with rank — from 4 teaching / 6 research hours for a Professor up to 12 teaching / 2 research hours for an Assistant Lecturer — with fixed per-hour compensation for hours taught beyond the required load, up to a capped maximum.
  • Additional compensation applies for exam supervision and invigilation, administrative or committee assignments, and teaching in graduate programs, as separately regulated.

Chapter 4 — Leave

  • Annual leave is taken during the university recess between the end of one academic year and the start of the next; sick, unpaid, special, and emergency leave follow the general labour-relations law.
  • A sabbatical (research) leave is available every four years, for a full academic year, subject to rank thresholds, prior approval, and a post-leave report on the research completed; no more than 15% of a department's active faculty may be on sabbatical at once.

Chapter 5 — Disciplinary System

  • Prohibited conduct includes neglect of teaching duties, conduct unbecoming of the profession, abuse of position for personal gain, promoting extremism or incitement in lectures, damage to university facilities, and any manipulation of exam results.
  • Penalties range from a verbal reprimand or written warning, through salary deductions, denial of the annual increment or promotion, rank or salary reduction, up to dismissal — decided by an investigation committee and a disciplinary board following a process similar to the student disciplinary procedure, with a final decision subject only to appeal before the competent court.

Chapter 6 — Expatriate Faculty Members

  • Non-Libyan faculty are engaged under a standard one-year renewable contract (in Arabic) specifying pay, benefits, leave, and teaching/research load, in addition to the general rules applicable to all faculty.
  • Specific prohibitions apply — engaging in paid tutoring or financial dealings with students, political activity, unauthorized travel abroad during the contract term, and disclosure of confidential information — violation of which can result in contract termination or referral to a disciplinary board.

Chapter 7 — Closing Provisions: Honorary, Visiting & Cooperating Professors

  • Retired faculty who held the rank of Associate Professor or higher, with a doctoral qualification, become honorary professors of the university, retaining access to university facilities for occasional academic work.
  • Universities may invite visiting professors and examiners (subject to minimum-rank requirements) and engage cooperating professors from outside the faculty body, compensated at the standard overtime rate; cooperating professors may not hold administrative positions.
  • Matters not addressed in this Book fall under the general labour-relations law and its implementing regulations.

This is a summary, not the governing text

The points above condense the regulation's substance for quick orientation; they are not a substitute for the 240-article legal text, which governs in all cases of doubt or dispute. For the full, authoritative wording of any article, the article- level table of contents, and full-text search, please consult the Arabic edition.

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