Government: Nine per cent of university students in Bulgaria are foreigners

Sofia: Nine per cent of the students at Bulgarian higher educational institutions are foreigners, according to a regular report presented at a December 23 meeting of the caretaker government.

National Map of Higher Education data for the 2023/24 academic year showed that there were 182 759 students at Bulgarian universities and other higher education institutions, close to 3000 more than the previous year.

Of the total, 15 737 per cent are foreigners. Previously published data showed that in the 2022/23 academic year, there were 17 593 foreign students, about 8.1 per cent of the total.

According to the report for the 2023/24 academic year, of the total number of students, more than 120 000 were doing bachelor’s degrees and more than 58 000 were doing master’s degrees. There are 5673 doctoral students.

The most popular professional fields are economics, education, medicine, administration and management, communication and computer engineering, information technology and computer science, and health care.

More than half of all students were studying one of these.

As of 2024, there are 51 accredited higher education institutions in Bulgaria, of which 38 are state and 13 are private.

Twenty-seven are in the south-western region, including Sofia, and the fewest universities and their branches are in the north-western region.

The National Map of Higher Education is updated annually, and the information from it is used to determine state policy on higher education, including admission to certain fields and specialties and the opening of new universities or branches.

The goal is to have a balanced development of the network of higher education institutions that meets the real needs of the regions and the labour market forecasts, the government information service said.