Professional management is an important prerequisite to enable the higher education institutions to perceive themselves as autonomous organizations and act entrepreneurially rather than as subordinate to the central government. Professional management will also enable higher education institutions to increase and simplify cooperation with partners such as enterprises. As higher education institutions grow larger and more extensive, and as the tasks demanded of them multiply, academic administration and management become increasingly complex and the need to provide skilled management and administration personnel becomes more acute. The sustainability of higher education reforms generally, but especially in the new EU candidate countries, will be directly proportionate to the professionalization of higher education management.