Number of students admitted to colleges, universities up 28 pc in Hungary

The number of students admitted to colleges and universities this year has gone up by 28 percent compared with 2022, in a record over the past ten years, the state secretary for innovation and higher education said on Thursday after the formal announcement of admission thresholds in the previous evening.

Altogether 94,785 young Hungarians of the 126,449 who had applied can begin their studies in September, Balázs Hankó told a press conference. The state will cover the study costs of eight in every ten students, Hankó said, noting that translated into figures it means 14,000 more students entitled to receiving HUF 6 million (EUR 15,000) on average in a state grant.

The number of students admitted to universities in other cities outside Budapest has increased by 43 percent with 4,000 more students starting their studies in higher education in Debrecen, Miskolc and Nyíregyháza, he said.

Enrollment at the University of Dunaújvaros has gone up by 130 percent, at Sopron University by 76 percent, at Kecskemét Neumann János University by 71 percent and at Pannon University in Veszprém by 58 percent, Hankó added.

The largest number of students has been admitted to Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, followed by the University of Debrecen and the University of Szeged, he said.

As regards disciplines, the number of students in teacher-training has gone up by 67 percent, to 10,514, said Hanko, noting that “this record high number of the past six years is evidence that there is a reserve for future teachers”. Second most popular was the field of technical studies with 44 percent more students admitted to this year, followed by agriculture studies with 28 more enrollment, he said.

Hanko said that over 20,000 jobholders who are aged above 30 and sought to pursue studies in higher education had been admitted. “This is a 84 percent jump,” he said. Hanko also said that an applicant aged 77 had been admitted to German studies, one aged 73 in design, a 72-year-old in IT and a 70-year-old in law.

Source: MTI