J. Selye University was founded on 23 October, 2003 through the passing of the law No. 465/2003 on its establishment by the National Council of the Slovak Republic. The act came into force on 1 January 2004. J. Selye University is the only independent legal entity in Slovakia, which offers academic study programmes to an ethnic minority in their mother tongue, i.e. Hungarian. It serves as a public institution providing education for the Hungarian minority on the highest educational level. Not only was the establishment of J. Selye University a significant step in the development of Slovak higher education, it was also a unique event in the history of the EU.