The New Europe College (NEC) is an independent Romanian institute for advanced study in the humanities and social sciences founded in 1994 by Professor Andrei Pleşu (philosopher, art historian, writer, 1990-1991 Romanian Minister of Culture, 1997-1999 Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs) as part of the 1994 established New Europe Foundation (a private foundation subject to Romanian law).

Its impetus was the New Europe Prize for Higher Education and Research, that was awarded in 1993 to Professor Pleşu by a group of six Institutes for Advanced Study (Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, National Humanities Center, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences, Wassenaar, Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study in the Social Sciences, Uppsala, and the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin).

Since its founding, the community of fellows and alumni of the college has enlarged to over 250 members. 1998 the New Europe College was awarded the prestigious Hannah Arendt Prize for its achievements in setting new standards in higher education and research. One year later, the Romanian Ministry of Education officially recognized the New Europe College as an institutional structure of continuous education in the humanities and social sciences, at the level of advanced studies