Turkey is in the First 10 in the World in Receiving International Students to Higher Education
- Turkey has become a power in the field of international higher education.
- Turkey achieved to be a spot of attraction in international higher education.
Turkey has achieved a great progress towards becoming a centre of attraction for international students in higher education, in terms of the number of international students that have demonstrated success in 2018 as being among the first 10 countries in the world.
As of 2018 data published by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), it became the 10th country in the world with the highest number of international students in higher education with 125,138 students.
According to UNESCO 2018 data, 987,314 out of 5,571,402 international students in the world study at higher education institutions in America. America was followed by England with 452,079 students and Australia with 444,514 students, respectively.
According to UNESCO’s 2018 data, the top 10 countries in the world that attract the most international students are as follows:
| 1. USA | 987,314 |
| 2. England | 452,079 |
| 3. Australia | 444,514 |
| 4. Germany | 311,738 |
| 5. Russia | 262,416 |
| 6. France | 229,623 |
| 7. Canada | 224,548 |
| 8. Japan | 182,748 |
| 9. China | 178,271 |
| 10. Turkey | 125,138 |
Chairman of the Higher Education Council (YÖK) Prof. Dr. Yekta Sarac said that the number of international students has reached to 183.000 from 48.000 in Turkey since he was appointed as the chair of Higher Education Council in 2014.
Saraç explained that Turkey is becoming a centre of gravity and strengthening its place in the global arena of higher education each year.
Saraç continued his release as follows:
The share of Turkey was %1.07 in a total of 4,495,000 in 2014 has become %2.24 in a total of 5,571,000 international students in 2018.
UNESCO’s data on higher education is 2-3 years behind. 2018 data has just been announced. We believe that we will see Turkey’s rise to higher ranks in the top 10 countries in the coming years. Because the number of international students in our country, which was 154 thousand 505 in 2019, has exceeded 200 thousand as of today. In 2021, despite the pandemic conditions, we aim for this number to exceed 220 thousand through various decisions we make such as virtual fairs we organize, other promotional activities and most importantly, a good teamwork.
