Sharp drop in Turkish university exam applications reflects social shifts

ANKARA

Applications for Türkiye’s nationwide university entrance exam have significantly declined in 2024, with 2,560,640 candidates applying — down from over 3.1 million last year.

This marks a decrease of more than 560,000 applicants, the lowest figure in the last five years.

Educational expert Cihan Yeşilyurt attributes the downward trend to several overlapping trends, including the growing preference among Turkish students to study abroad.

Unlike previous years, when mostly students from foreign-language high schools aimed to continue education overseas, there is now increasing interest from students in private and vocational high schools.

In 2023, there were over 1 million 12th-grade students who applied for the exam. This year, the number dropped to 831,000. Some high schools are not graduating students this year due to the reintroduction of preparatory years.

Another factor lies in Türkiye’s “4+4+4” education model, which refers to three sequential four-year phases of schooling. Introduced in 2012, it led to younger children starting school at age five. As a result, a temporary spike in 12th-grade students occurred in 2024; with that bubble passing, the 2025 candidate pool is expected to drop by about 270,000.

Other reasons include rising accommodation costs and exam fees, making university attendance less feasible. Youth unemployment among graduates hovers around 25 percent, discouraging students who fear they won’t finds jobs even with degrees. Meanwhile, trades such as plumbing, hairstyling and carpentry now often yield better incomes.