Research on Education Financing in Romania: A Consolidated Trend or an Emerging Field?

Education financing represents a key determinant of human capital development, social cohesion, and long-term economic performance. In the context of Romania, this topic has gained increasing relevance due to persistent underfunding, regional disparities, and a strong dependence on European structural funds. Despite its policy importance, the academic literature addressing education financing in Romania remains fragmented and unevenly visible at the international level. Against this background, the present study aims to provide a comprehensive bibliometric mapping of the scientific literature on education financing in Romania. Using data extracted from the Web of Science database for the period 1995–2025, the analysis applies established bibliometric techniques, including publication trend analysis, keyword co-occurrence, author and institutional co-authorship networks, bibliographic coupling, and citation analysis. The visualization and network mapping were conducted using VOSviewer, allowing for the identification of dominant research themes, influential authors and institutions, and emerging directions within the field. The results reveal a relatively limited and fragmented body of literature, characterized by episodic growth linked to European funding cycles and a strong thematic focus on higher education, European funds, and regional development. Emerging topics such as digitalization, entrepreneurship education, and social inclusion are gaining visibility, yet remain insufficiently consolidated. At the same time, key dimensions such as preuniversity education, teacher training, and the sustainability of domestic funding mechanisms are underexplored. Overall, the findings highlight the need for stronger academic collaboration, greater international integration, and a more diversified research agenda to enhance the visibility and policy relevance of education financing research in Romania.