During the imperial period of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, higher education in Hungary experienced significant development, though it was shaped by the dualistic nature of the empire, where both Austria and Hungary had separate educational systems while sharing some overarching policies. The University of Budapest (Eötvös Loránd University today), established in 1635, was the leading academic institution in Hungary, known for its faculties of law, medicine and humanities. During the imperial period, it modernized its curriculum and became a center for scientific research and Hungarian nationalism. The curriculum was influenced by both German educational models and the need to foster Hungarian culture and language. There was a focus on classical education (Latin, Greek, history, philosophy) alongside modern subjects like economics, natural sciences, and law which were crucial for the administration of the empire.
Higher education was a battleground for Hungarian nationalism, where the universities played a significant role in promoting Hungarian culture, language, and literature against the backdrop of the multi-ethnic empire. There was a degree of academic freedom, but scholars often navigated the tension between scholarly pursuits and political expectations, especially concerning national identity and loyalty to the Habsburg monarchy. After the Ausgleich (Compromise) of 1867, Hungary gained more autonomy, including in education, leading to further Magyarization but also to the expansion and modernization of educational facilities. The relationship between government and universities was complex, involving both oversight and influence from both Budapest and Vienna.
After 1867, Hungary had its own Ministry of Education, which had significant control over education policy within Hungary, while Vienna retained influence over broader imperial policies. This dual system meant that universities were subject to both Hungarian and imperial oversight. There was a strong push for Magyarization, which meant the government influenced universities to emphasize Hungarian language, culture and history. This was part of a broader effort to unify the Hungarian part of the empire under a common national identity. The curriculum often reflected this, with a focus on Hungarian literature, history and law, while Vienna's role was more about setting standards across the empire, ensuring that education met certain quality criteria, which might include scientific and technical education necessary for the empire's modernization and industrialization. While there was a degree of academic freedom, it was balanced against political expectations. Scholars who were seen as too critical of the state or promoting ideas contrary to national or imperial interests would face career obstacles. There were instances of censorship or at least careful monitoring of what was taught, especially in subjects that could stir nationalistic or revolutionary sentiments. Political science and history were particularly watched to ensure they did not foster dissent against the monarchy. Universities depended on state support, which could be used to steer academic directions or expand certain departments deemed important for national or imperial goals. The government had control over funding, which was a significant lever of influence.
After the first World War (the breakup of the Austro-Hungarian Empire), during which Hungary lost significant territory, universities became centers of Hungarian nationalism and were controlled by right-wing and fascist forces. Hungary was on the losing side again during WW II and was basically taken over by the Soviet Union which imposed Communism. As you can imagine, education was centralized, with curriculum controlled by the state to align with communist principles. With the fall of communism, there was a move towards decentralizing education, increasing academic freedom and aligning with Western educational standards, including the establishment of private universities and the return of religious institutions. Hungary joined the Bologna Process for higher education harmonization within Europe. Native son George Soros funded the Central European University (CEU), promoting an open society and attracting international students and faculty.
Since 2010, Orbán's Administration radically shifted education policy towards re-centralizing control over education to promote national identity, Christian values and right-wing ideology. CEU relocated to Vienna. In 2021, a significant reform transferred control of several universities to foundations managed by boards appointed by Orbán supporters and the government, ensuring long-term influence over university curriculum and administration, a clear move to influence what is taught, particularly in history and social sciences, to align with the government's political narrative.
The mechanisms through which Orbán's government has sought to control university education in Hungary today differ in approach but resonate with some historical patterns from the Austro-Hungarian imperial period. Universities critical of the government's policies or those offering programs not in line with state ideology (like gender studies) have faced pressure and restructuring. By controlling funding, the government incentivizes universities to follow its educational policies. The empire was a multi-ethnic state with a need to balance various national aspirations. Modern Hungary under Orbán focuses more on a singular national identity and political ideology, using education as a tool for cultural and political homogenization. The Orbán approach is characterized by a more explicit ideological agenda, direct control mechanisms, and a strategy to entrench political influence over education for the foreseeable future.
Why bring any of this up? Simple; Orbán is a MAGA model and… well, did you see the Bloomberg piece by Francis Wilkinson yesterday, MAGA’s Orban-esque Plan to Control What Universities Teach? He began by reminding his readers that while Republicans have been bitching about education forever, Trump, Vance and their MAGAty followers appear determined to do something about their grievances and “have signaled their intent to upend US higher education soon after they take control of the federal government in January. With characteristic factual precision, Trump has declared that universities are rife with ‘Marxist maniacs’ who must be uprooted. Vance has lauded the authoritarian crackdown of Orban, who successfully coerced universities into serving Fidesz, his political party, which holds much of Hungarian civic life in a stranglehold. ‘The closest conservatives have ever gotten to successfully dealing with the left-wing domination of universities is Viktor Orban’s approach in Hungary,’ Vance said earlier this year. ‘I think his way has to be the model for us— not to eliminate universities, but to give the choice between survival or taking a much less biased approach to teaching.’”
The stakes are enormous. The American Century was in no small measure the higher-education century, when the US rose to unprecedented heights in both the quality and accessibility of its colleges and universities, and the nation’s educational dominance led to economic and technical dominance. By 1920, the number of US college students surpassed that of all the universities of Europe combined. Harvard University supplied much of the New Deal brain trust of President Franklin Roosevelt; the Manhattan Project took shape beneath a stadium at the University of Chicago; Silicon Valley’s stratospheric valuations were forged in the intellectual furnaces of Stanford University and the University of California at Berkeley.
Together, such institutions have produced trillions in economic value. Despite the serious flaws of admissions gamesmanship, higher education has also been a democratizing force. In 1940, only 6% of Americans had a bachelor’s degree. Today, almost 4 in 10 do.
While it’s comforting to hear that Vance doesn’t want to eliminate this engine of American success, you can see a preview of MAGA’s “less biased” approach to academics in Florida, where Republican Governor Ron DeSantis flamboyantly trashed what had been one of the state’s more successful academic institutions, New College of Florida.
Through 2010, New College had produced more Fulbright winners per capita than Harvard or Yale. After DeSantis handed the school’s board of trustees, and curriculum, over to conservative activists, student test scores declined and faculty fled while athletic recruiting soared and hundreds of books on politically disfavored subjects were thrown in a dumpster. “Putting gender studies books in the garbage? Great job, @NewCollegeofFL,” DeSantis press secretary Jeremy Redfern applauded on social media.
Attacking gender studies is only one iteration of an opportunistic campaign. Previous attacks on “critical race theory”— like “woke,” a vague but evocative phrase that propagandists repurposed for their own uses— evolved into attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion, which soon took a back seat to attacks on anti-Semitism in response to campus protests over Israel’s war in Gaza. The specific ammunition of the moment is irrelevant. Forcing colleges and universities to submit to right-wing desires is the goal.
The authoritarian parallels extend beyond Orbán’s Hungary. During China’s cultural revolution, professors were forced to wear dunce caps and were shipped off to farms to do grueling manual labor. Some contemporary Chinese professors face punishment for “improper speech,” which seems to be more what MAGA has in mind. Texas has forced institutions to close their diversity offices and to remove words such as “race,” “gender” and “equity” from course names and descriptions. Proposals for similar educational gag orders have been introduced in dozens of states. All this is accompanied by Republican attacks on liberal campuses for allegedly inhibiting free speech.
Isaac Kamola, an associate professor at Trinity College and director of the Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom, said the perpetually shifting complaints— whether targeting phantom “Marxists” or genuine instances of anti-Semitic speech— are designed to facilitate a “crackdown on faculty and subjects that the political right would prefer that faculty not teach. I think the ways in which the right weaponized allegations of anti-Semitism this past year are going to intensify, using the apparatuses of the federal government.”
Project 2025, a blueprint for far-right governance, which Trump no longer bothers to disavow, offers a number of suggestions for using federal power to punish non-MAGA thought in higher education. One proposal would enable state governments to usurp the powers of nongovernmental accreditation boards. In turn, Congress could pass rules directing accreditors to prioritize legislators’ ideological preferences or partisan antipathies. Trump has evidently been briefed on the plan; he has cited accreditation as a “secret weapon” in the war on higher education.
Another proposal is to hold federal research grants hostage. In 2024, Harvard received $686 million in federal funds. A sum that large can presumably influence a lot of thoughts.
Vance, who rode his Yale Law School connections to wealth and power, has called universities the “enemy.” But it’s Trump who succinctly explains why. College graduates vote in higher numbers for Democrats. Those with advanced degrees are even more heavily Democratic. The Republican Party’s vigorous embrace of anti-reality cranks and authoritarian lies has only widened that gap.
“I love the poorly educated,” Trump said in his first campaign. He and his MAGA allies intend to create many more of them.
Orbán has turned universities into tools for his right-wing agenda, stripped them of independence, filling their governing bodies with cronies and twisting curricula to fit his nationalist, Christian conservative narrative. Trump and Vance intend to do exactly the same— if they can get away with it, eager to either bend universities to their will or break them.
Project 2025’s attacks on academic freedom parallels Orbán's Hungary— and that should be chilling for anyone who doesn’t want to see our country turn into a third-rate intellectual backwater like Hungary.
What's at stake here isn't just academic freedom or the integrity of our educational system; it's the very essence of what makes America, America. Our universities have been engines of innovation, diversity, and democracy. They've democratized opportunities, not just for the elite but for everyone striving for a better life. An uneducated lout, Trump's not just about controlling education; he's about controlling thought. He loves the “poorly educated” because they're a lot easier to manipulate. This isn't about education reform; it's about power. It's about turning our educational institutions into factories for MAGA ideology, much like Orbán has done in Hungary. In this country, universities shouldn’t become indoctrination camps… like they are in Hungary.
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