Why are so many international students choosing to study in Türkiye?
- Türkiye’s international student population has increased five-fold over the past decade
- At a time when families in emerging markets are prioritising affordability, value for money, and safety, Türkiye offers many advantages
- However, it faces challenges in terms of providing post-study work and immigration opportunities
Türkiye used to be a niche study abroad destination, but not anymore. A rapidly growing number of international students from across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East are choosing Türkiye for several reasons, including:
- Affordability
- Value for money
- Quality
- Scholarships
- Degree recognition across Europe
- English-taught programmes (15,000+ delivered wholly or partially in English)
The country has become especially popular in the past couple of years as thousands of international students find themselves priced out of programmes in the Big Four anglophone destinations (Australia, Canada, the UK, US) or rejected for a study visa.
A new whitepaper from student recruitment platform MSM Unify delves into the reasons for Türkiye’s ascent, while also outlining challenges the country faces in retaining foreign graduates. In this article, we will reference the report as well as other sources to provide an understanding of Türkiye’s new status among major study abroad destinations.
Burgeoning international student numbers
International education is a priority export sector for the Turkish government. Alongside tourism, the sector’s contribution to GDP has greatly accelerated in the past five years as the number of foreign students in Türkiye has increased.
The goal is to welcome 500,000 students by 2028, a target that looks likely given the pace of growth in recent years. Turkish universities – of which there are over 200 – now host twice as many foreign students as they did five years ago (about 350,000 in 2026).
The new competitive advantage: predictability
It wasn’t that long ago that international students travelled (1) mostly to North America and a handful of European destinations and (2) prioritised rankings/reputation when selecting an institution. But especially over the past couple of years, this has changed. The MSM Unify report makes a great observation:
“Students are reassessing destination value propositions, placing greater emphasis on cost predictability, degree recognition, and access certainty over brand prestige alone.”
It isn’t just that the leading anglophone destinations are becoming more expensive. It is that they also are becoming more unpredictable in terms of post-study work rights, visa rejection rates, visa processing times, and costs of living.
By contrast, when international students choose Türkiye, they can expect stable, and much more affordable, tuition fees and living costs. The MSM Unify report compares the “total cost of attendance” (tuition plus living costs) across the US, UK, major European destinations, and Türkiye, as shown in the following chart.
The report notes:
“Undergraduate tuition fees in Türkiye typically range between USD$3,000 and USD$30,000 per year, depending on institution type and discipline. Professional and regulated programs, most notably medicine, generally fall within the USD$18,000 to USD$50,000 annual range, significantly below comparable programs in Europe, North America, or Australia. Public universities and selected foundation institutions offer even lower tuition for non-professional programmes.”
“Cost-efficient” rather than “low cost” higher education
Türkiye wants to position itself as “cost-efficient” rather than simply cheaper than Big Four alternatives. The report explains:
“Türkiye offers affordability without structural dilution of degree value. Its cost-value equation lowers financial risk while preserving international recognition, making it one of the most economically rational choices in today’s increasingly price-sensitive global higher education market.”
As long as students choose a well-respected Turkish institution (most of these are in Istanbul or Ankara), they can expect a high quality of education at a lower price than in most other major destinations. Six Turkish universities are in QS’s 2026 top 500, and 11 in total are in the top 1,000.
EducationinTurkiye.com provides interesting comparisons between value-for-money at Turkish universities and at those in the Big Four, looking at features such as tuition costs, graduate employability rates, and the length of time it takes students to “earn back” their tuition fees. For a variety of reasons, it argues that:
“Students [from emerging markets] with genuine elite potential targeting Harvard, Oxford, or Imperial can justify premium pricing. Students aiming for solid professional careers increasingly can’t justify the premium Western universities charge over Turkish alternatives.”
Geographic positioning
The time and cost required for students from emerging markets to get to a study destination is perhaps not recognised enough as a factor in international student mobility flows – especially in a context where:
- Affordability is the top consideration for many families;
- Geopolitical tensions and anti-immigrant sentiment in some countries have moved safety up on the list of concerns.
In this context, the fact that Türkiye is located at the intersection of Europe, Africa, and Asia is a major competitive advantage in emerging markets.
Türkiye’s top 10 sending markets are Syria, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Egypt, Afghanistan, Somalia, and Pakistan. Of these, only three (Somalia, Pakistan, and Kazakhstan) require students to take direct flights of more than five hours. Even then, the travel time is less than seven hours. Students from all top 10 markets would spend at least 12 hours getting to Canada, the US, or Australia – at about double the flight cost.
Lower travel costs and proximity can be added to the list of Türkiye’s relative advantages, including affordable visa application fees, tuition fees, and costs of living. Collectively, this is a very attractive list for a large segment of prospective students in emerging markets.
Public versus private
When deciding whether to apply to one of Türkiye’s 62 private universities or to a public, state-funded institution, international students consider the following general strengths and weaknesses:
- Private universities often charge more in tuition fees compared to public institutions; are less likely to place in major world university rankings (with some exceptions); and offer more English-taught programmes (ETPs), especially at the undergraduate level. They also often offer generous scholarships.
- Public universities outperform private institutions in global rankings and are much more competitive to get into. They offer much lower tuition (annual fees can be as low as US$200 to US$1,000 depending on the programme and university), and about 5,000 international students receive substantial funding through the Türkiye Scholarships programme every year. However, Turkish is the main language of instruction in public universities, which can be difficult for foreign students.
Challenges
Türkiye is clearly able to attract a diverse range of students from multiple emerging markets (many of them Muslim-majority). However, it struggles in its ability to add top foreign talent to the labour force. A major barrier is that:
“Turkish language competence remains a decisive factor in accessing the domestic labor market. While English-medium instruction facilitates academic access, functional Turkish proficiency substantially improves employability, particularly in client-facing, regulated, and public-sector-adjacent roles.”
In addition, Türkiye’s own students are having serious issues finding good jobs. Eurostat data shows that Türkiye ranks last of 33 European countries in employing recent university graduates (i.e., those who graduated within the past three years), with less than two-thirds (63.5%) of recent Turkish graduates employed in 2024. The European Union average was 85%, pulled up at the extreme end by Bulgaria, Estonia, and the Netherlands (over 92% employed).
Türkiye’ labour market is simply not performing well when it comes to absorbing university graduates, and many international job candidates have the added hurdle of language barriers. These obstacles are significant.
Work opportunities
While studying, international students can obtain a permit to work for up to 24 hours per week, but undergraduate students need to wait until their second year to work. Graduate students can work as soon as they begin their programmes.
International graduates can obtain a short-term residence permit allowing them to look for work for a year. To receive a work permit, they must secure employment within that first year. Their employer must prove that the international graduate has skills that a Turkish national does not for the position when applying for the permit. Boğaziçi University’s website notes that “to obtain a work visa can take months.”
All work (in-study and post-study) contributes to the points required for eligibility for the Turquoise Card (Turkuaz Kart), which is designed to attract highly qualified foreign professionals, and which StudyAbroad.com says “functions like a permanent residence and work permit combined.” The website outlines the criteria upon which Turquoise Card applicants are judged:
- “Education: Master’s or PhD from a Turkish or internationally recognised university
- Work experience: 3+ years in a relevant field (Turkish experience preferred)
- Salary level: Above a threshold set by the Ministry
- Strategic field: STEM, healthcare, energy, or other priority sectors
- Turkish language skills: Bonus points for B2+ Turkish proficiency”
The road ahead
The past few years have proven that Türkiye’s offer to international students is strong. But the MSM Unify report notes that to keep the momentum – and to transition from enrolment volumes to more targeted goals such as retention – reforms are needed to close the education-employment gap:
“Türkiye’s international education credibility will ultimately be judged not by enrollment volume, but by measurable graduate outcomes, including skill relevance, employability transparency, and the ability of institutions to translate academic access into sustained career value for international graduates.”
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