The Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC) is a college of advanced studies located in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

. Founded in 1996, it was initially directed at university students in the arts and social sciences. It serves as a student dormitory, scholarship program and a private educational institution. It confers no degrees, but rather provides supplementary training to students already enrolled in degree courses. Programs are generally free of charge, but admission is highly selective. The leader of MCC's main board,

Balázs Orbán Balázs Orbán, Baron of Lengyelfalva (3 February 1829 – 19 April 1890) was a Hungarians, Hungarian author, ethnographic collector, parliamentarian, correspondent member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (1887). Life He was born at Lengyelf ...

, helped plan the transfer in his concurrent role as state secretary in the office of Hungarian Prime Minister

Viktor Orbán Viktor Mihály Orbán (; born 31 May 1963) is a Hungarian politician who has served as prime minister of Hungary since 2010, previously holding the office from 1998 to 2002. He has presided over Fidesz since 1993, with a brief break between 20 ...

(no relation). In 2020, the MCC received an influx of Hungarian government funds and assets valued at US$ 1.7 billion (equal to about 1% of Hungary's

gross domestic product Gross domestic product (GDP) is a money, monetary Measurement in economics, measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjec ...

). Due to its close ties to

's government, its critics describe MCC as a "breeding ground for future

Fidesz Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance (; hu, Fidesz – Magyar Polgári Szövetség) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Hungary, led by Viktor Orbán. It was formed in 1988 under the name of Alliance of Young ...

-friendly elites."

Programs

University programs

University students enrolled in regular training in fields that are covered by the MCC's six Schools (Law, International Relations, Economics, Media, Social Sciences and History and Psychology) are eligible for MCC's flagship program.

Budapest Fellowships

In 2021, MCC and the Hungary Initiatives Foundation, based in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, jointly established the Budapest Fellowship Programme, a 10-month exchange for young US-based scholars to work and research in Budapest. Participants would do research at the

National University of Public Service The University of Public Service (UPS; hu, Nemzeti Közszolgálati Egyetem) is a higher educational institution in Budapest, Hungary. Established in 2012, it is one of the youngest universities in Central and Eastern Europe; however, its facul ...

and various other institutions documenting Hungary's history and politics.

High school and elementary school programs

In 2021, the MCC said it plans to expand its programs to 10,000 high school and elementary school students in 35 European cities with Hungarian populations.

Locations

The initial location, the former

Workers' Militia The Workers' Militia () was a paramilitary organization in the Hungarian People's Republic from 1957 to 1989. History Pre-1956 Similar worker-guard organizations existed before 1957 in various socialist countries, partly to the circumvent ...

headquarters on Budapest's

Gellért Hill Gellért Hill ( hu, Gellért-hegy; german: Blocksberg; la, Mons Sancti Gerhardi tr, Gürz İlyas Bayırı) is a high hill overlooking the Danube in Budapest, Hungary. It is located in the 1st and the 11th districts. The hill was named after ...

, was gradually expanded to include

Balassi Institute The Balassi Institute ( hu, Balassi Intézet) is a worldwide non-profit cultural organization funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (''Külügyminisztérium'') of Hungary. The institute spreads and promotes Hungarian language and culture abro ...

's premises. On 6 January 2021, MCC announced a

public procurement Government procurement or public procurement is the procurement of goods, services and works on behalf of a public authority, such as a government agency. Amounting to 12 percent of global GDP in 2018, government procurement accounts for a subst ...

tender for a new build at the Gellért Hill site, replacing the current buildings. In 2021, a new site in

Debrecen Debrecen ( , is Hungary's second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the largest Hungarian city in the 18th century and i ...

was selected for expansion. There are regional centers in

Cluj-Napoca ; hu, kincses város) , official_name=Cluj-Napoca , native_name= , image_skyline= , subdivision_type1 = Counties of Romania, County , subdivision_name1 = Cluj County , subdivision_type2 = Subdivisions of Romania, Status , subdivision_name2 ...

Szeged Szeged ( , ; see also #Etymology, other alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county seat ...

Miskolc Miskolc ( , , ; Czech language, Czech and sk, Miškovec; german: Mischkolz; yi, script=Latn, Mishkoltz; ro, Mișcolț) is a city in northeastern Hungary, known for its heavy industry. With a population of 161,265 (1 Jan 2014) Miskolc is the ...

Pécs Pécs ( , ; hr, Pečuh; german: Fünfkirchen, ; also known by other #Name, alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the fifth largest city in Hungary, on the slopes of the Mecsek mountains in the countr ...

and

Győr Győr ( , ; german: Raab, links=no; names of European cities in different languages: E-H#G, names in other languages) is the main city of northwest Hungary, the capital of Győr-Moson-Sopron County and Western Transdanubia, Western Transdanubia ...

Governance

The MCC is governed by a foundation. Members are appointed for life, and only the current members can choose new members. The leader of its main board is

, who is also state secretary in the office of

, the prime minister of Hungary.

Controversy

Some commentators regard the MCC as being closely linked to the Orbán government. In 2020, the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

apportioned a 10% shareholding in each of MOL and

Gedeon Richter Gedeon Richter (23 September 1872 – 30 December 1944) was a Hungarian pharmacist, founder of Gedeon Richter plc and a pioneer of the modern Hungarian pharmaceutical industry. Life Richter was born to a Jewish family in Ecséd, Hungary, ...

to the MCC's endowment, valued at US$ 1.3 billion, plus $462 million in cash and $9 million of property. This was seen as controversial as many of the MCC's leading personalities are associated with

and the inner circle around PM