Constitutionally each higher education institution is directly responsible to the Minister of Culture and Education. The law governing the operation of each institution defines its main role in education and research, the degrees granted and length of the various programs offered, the competent administrative authorities and the form of their control, and structure of their internal organization and administration. Within the framework of the available appropriations, the individual institutions draw up and update their programs, determining their aims, scope and duration, and the form and content courses. Most of the higher educational institutions are run by the State, while three are operated by private parties in cooperation with the State. There are two types of higher educational institutions in Iceland, universities and colleges.
Universities have research responsibilities and offer more than one program of study.
Colleges offer specialized training courses at higher education level, but generally do not carry out research. Their teaching is, however, based on the results of university research. There are three universities in Iceland with research responsibilities offering more than one program of study. The University of Iceland offers programs of study in all traditional university subjects, while the two other universities are more specialized and offer fewer programs of study. The University of Iceland is comprised of nine faculties with research and teaching responsibilities.