The Private University College of Economic Studies Ltd. (PUCES) is the present higher education institution, attached to the recent tradition of private education in the Czech Republic. In 1990, Mr. Miloslav Marek founded the First Private Five-Year Business Academy (the first non-state professional secondary school accredited in the CR), providing education in the fields of business economics and company administration. The amendment of the Education Act (1995) facilitated the transformation of the school into the Private Tertiary Professional School and the First Private Business Academy (PTPS-FPBA). The new Higher Education Act of 1998 enabled the founder to make another qualitative transformation of the institution. The Private University College of Economic Studies could not have come into existence without the eleven years of experience and economic activities of the former PTPS-FPBA. Efficient running of the above-mentioned institutions created favourable prerequisites for the PUCES establishment and implementation of the accredited academic and lifelong learning programmes.

PUCES received the state permission to operate an independent non-state institution of higher education on the basis of its accredited curriculum in August 2000 and the first academic year started in February 2001. Despite its short history, the college has established a good reputation, having graduated hundreds of successful students so far. The accreditation of a follow-up master’s degree programme in 2009 marked the beginning of a new era of PUCES development.