November 18, 2025

Türkiye leads as region’s top study destination – Report

Türkiye tops the list as the Middle East and North Africa’s most popular destination for international higher education students, after the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to a report jointly produced by Studyportals and the British Council on Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA): Emerging trends as destination and source regions.

The findings are based on proprietary data from online international study platform Studyportals, based in the Netherlands, drawn from a database that adds 51 million users every year from more than 220 countries and territories.

The report, released on 28 October, shows that Türkiye attracted the highest volume of international students in the MENA region, being a “regional leader in programme supply”, with 906 bachelor degree courses offered to overseas students and 900 masters courses.

Türkiye is followed in popularity by the UAE and Saudi Arabia, according to Studyportals. The country slightly reduced its programme offerings this year in 2024, down by -2.3% for bachelors and –7.1% for masters, while demand for all higher education programmes within Türkiye fell by 11.7% and 19.6%, respectively.

Higher education experts who spoke to University World News concluded Türkiye’s popularity in global education was primarily due to the substantial number of English-language-taught programmes, affordability, and its geographical location.

Indeed, since 2018, the Turkish government has actively pushed for the country to become a global hub in higher education, while a state-backed scholarship programme supports nearly 20,000 international students from over 160 countries, said Professor Yusuf Alpaydin, a faculty member in the Department of Educational Sciences at Marmara University’s Atatürk Faculty of Education in Istanbul.

Alpaydin told University World News there were more than 300,000 international students in higher education in Türkiye in 2023, while the European Higher Education Area’s 2024 Bologna Process Implementation report noted that with 8.5 million students enrolled in higher education, Türkiye has the most university students in Europe.

Lower tuition fees

Low tuition fees compared to the rest of Europe, North America and the Gulf countries (US$3,000 to US$4,000 per annum at some of the leading Turkish institutions), more affordable living costs and straightforward student visa requirements are factors that have attracted foreign students, Othman Jamal, CEO of Directly Educational Services, a higher education consultancy in Istanbul, told University World News.

“The price of tuition is one of the most important factors for students, and a lot of [Turkish] universities are offering discounted tuition, while there is a lot of competition among universities.

“International students are also worried about visa rejections elsewhere, while Türkiye is supportive, with maybe around 1% of applicants rejected. There’s more guarantee of getting a visa for Türkiye than elsewhere,” said Jamal.

Mariam Orkodashvili, a professor of language and education at the Georgian American University, told University World News that Türkiye’s adherence to the European Union’s Bologna Process and the variety of courses and programmes adaptable to the European educational system have been a further boon.

“International branches, joint programmes and participation in the ERASMUS exchange project have also made Türkiye an educational hub that is attractive to students around the world,” she said.

The high number of programmes being offered in English in the country, at both state and private universities, particularly in engineering, medicine and business, has been a further driver, according to Alpaydin.

“It attracts students from non-Turkic or non-Muslim-majority countries who prefer global language instruction and, secondly, positions Türkiye as an alternative academic destination for students from Asia and Africa who may find Western education less accessible due to cost or visa barriers,” said Alpaydin.

“The increasing availability of English programmes explains why Türkiye now surpasses the UAE in programme volume, even though the UAE still dominates in transnational education (TNE) partnerships.”

Alpaydin attributed the Studyportals observation that the supply of all higher education courses has slightly contracted in Türkiye (-2% in bachelor and -7% in masters programmes) to “programme consolidation and quality assurance adjustments rather than a strategic retreat”.

The Studyportals report noted that the UAE had in the first half of 2025 experienced a “modest increase in bachelor offers (+2.8%) [year-on-year], although masters offerings declined slightly (-4.7%).

“This aligns with the UAE’s positioning as a high-growth education market actively attracting TNE providers and international institutions, particularly in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, through favourable visa reforms, English-medium provision and global partnerships”.

Source countries

Türkiye is particularly popular with students from Asia, who account for nearly 71% of international students, with 20% from Africa, said Alpaydin.

“This reflects cultural proximity and Türkiye’s expanding diplomatic and educational outreach. Unlike Gulf countries that rely heavily on imported Western branch campuses, Türkiye offers a blend of affordability, safety, cultural familiarity and academic credibility,” he said.

Jamal said that while English language programmes are popular for students from Europe, the Middle East and Asia, Turkish language programmes have attracted students from Central Asia, particularly Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, due to linguistic similarities.

Iran is a further source country for students, with degrees in medicine, physiotherapy and health programmes being particularly popular (around 25% of Iran’s population speaks a Turkic language). Iran’s weak economy has, however, led to a reduction in student numbers over the past year, Jamal said.

The number of Gulf higher education students in Türkiye had been on the rise in recent years but dropped over the past two years, “possibly due to racism, but also issues with residency permits for family members”, said Jamal, while the fact that Gulf countries have been offering more programmes has also kept students closer to home.

Popular cities

Ankara, Istanbul and ili (next to Istanbul, within European Türkiye) are the most popular cities for bachelor-level study, according to the Studyportals report, although all three have seen declines over the past year, with demand for ili dropping the most, by 55.5%.

At the masters level, the three cities also dominate, although demand for ili saw a sharp decline, by 63.1%, in the first half of 2025, according to Studyportals data.

Jamal said that around 80% of international students are in the country’s most populous city, Istanbul, due to the number of universities there.

In Istanbul, there are some 25 private institutions and better work opportunities compared to other cities. Türkiye allows students to work part-time. Jamal said ili may have dropped in popularity as it had become overly busy and is “not as nice a city to live in as it was”.

Türkiye’s emergence as an education hub is expected to continue. “It is not merely quantitative – it also signals a shift towards becoming a connector country, bridging the Global South with the academic traditions of Europe and Asia.

“The country’s vision now emphasises ‘global relevance through regional solidarity’, aiming to create a sustainable and inclusive model of internationalisation,” said Alpaydin.