Number of international students at universities in Bulgaria is on the rise

The number of international students enrolled in higher education in Bulgaria is increasing.

In the academic year 2021/2022 their number is 16 525, which is 8,2% of all students in the country. In 2013, their share was twice as small - 4.1%. This is according to data from the National Map of Higher Education in Bulgaria, which was updated today by a decision of the Council of Ministers.

According to the document, Bulgaria is the EU leader in the share of international students in medicine.

The total number of students in Bulgaria is 200,781. This is less than half (48%) of the total capacity of all higher education institutions in the country, as defined by the National Evaluation and Accreditation Agency (NEAA), which have places for 415 472 students. Last year, active students occupied 53% of the capacity set by the NEAA.

The average starting salary of university graduates in Bulgaria have almost doubled in the past 10 years.

In 2013 it was BGN 868 per month, and this year it is BGN 1646. Only 2.5% of the country's university graduates in the past 5 years are now unemployed, compared to 4.15% in 2013. However, there are significant differences in terms of vocational realization in different professional fields. For example, 95% of medical graduates are working in their specialty, while in the field of tourism only 21% of graduates are in positions relevant to their education.

The updated National Map also takes into account other imbalances in the structure of higher education, different in nature and depth. The trend towards more women in higher education continues. Their number is approximately 114 thousand (57%), while men are around 86 thousand. In some professional fields, students are almost entirely women - especially in Pedagogy - 96% and Theory and Management of Education - 89%. Men have more than 80% share in "Metallurgy", "Electrical Engineering, Electronics and Automation", "Power Engineering" and "Mechanical Engineering".

There are also imbalances in the territorial structure of higher education. The largest number of higher education institutions (28) is in the South-West planning region, which includes Sofia. At the other pole is the North-Western region, where only two higher education institutions are based (the Medical University in Pleven and the Higher Military Air School in Dolna Mitropolia), and three others operate through branches.