Why did Hungarians stop choosing higher level education?

The Hungarian Central Statistics Office recently reported that it is no longer a tendency among Hungarian residents to choose the opportunity to take higher level education. According to the statistics, in 2005 the percentage of students who chose further education was 4.2. Since then this number has dropped rapidly. In 2016 only 2.9% of the students chose higher level education, and their percentage keeps getting lower and lower.

According to Adatujsagiras.atlatszo.hu, many changes will affect the number of people who would like to take further education. For instance, from 2020 on state-sponsored semesters will not be available at the Corvinus University of Budapest, which will provide a scholarship for a group of students instead. Many are worried that the government might broaden this model to the whole educational system in the near future, but the Ministry of Innovation and Technology denied the assumptions for now.

Despite the government’s new plans with the Hungarian educational system, the situation is getting worse. It was reported at the beginning of October that Hungary is the only country in the European Union where the number of people with a university degree between the age of 24 and 35 decreased rapidly in the recent few years. The lack of language certificates is also a problem among students.

The number of university students changed a lot in the capital city. In 2005 nearly 39,687 students attended a university, while in 2017 this number reaches only 31,023. Not only the capital city but several regions of Hungary are affected. In the eastern regions, the number of university students was approximately 15,257. Last year this number was only 9,935.

The situation is the worst in Tolna region, where, in the last 13 years the number of university students dropped by almost 39%!

It is bittersweet news that the number of people with a university degree increased, but Hungary is still the last one on the European Union’s list. In 2005 17% of Hungarian residents had a diploma, and in 2017 this number changed to 24%. The winners of this list are the United Kingdom and Ireland with 46%.

Source: adatujsagiras.atlatszo.hu