Education Facts about Cyprus Higher Education II

      Tweet

The relatively low cost is another factor that attracts international students to Northern Cyprus. Tuition at E.M.U. runs $6,000 to $8,000 a year, with scholarships of 50 percent available to around 3,000 of the 16,000 students there, said Mr. Oztoprak, the rector.

With more than 22,000 students, Northern Cyprus’s largest University, Near East University charges tuition of $3,800 for most schools. Certain fields like medicine can cost as much as $17,500. Several packages are provided by the university that cover tuition at most schools, three meals a day for $6,000 per year, and dormitory accommodation.

While these rates may be low by international standards, they go a long way toward supporting an economy battered by decades of sanctions.

If one comes outside the gates of E.M.U., they can see that Famagusta’s streets are lined with small service businesses, documentation translation services, bars, fast food joints, exchange bureaus, cafes, travel agencies, and copy shops.

With students spending not only on tuition but also on accommodation, travel, food, entertainment, and transport, the universities have become the leading sector of the Northern Cypriot economy.

According to the Cyprus Foreign Ministry, the nation’s last year per capita gross domestic product was $15, 555. The local trade chamber estimates that every student spends an average of $16,000 per year in Northern Cyprus, which is a notable contribution to the nation’s economy.

It is welcome revenue in a country that has virtually no other source of income.

The nation is having its detriments well. The nation is not having direct flight services from the rest of the world. They don’t have the facility of direct shipping.

Mr. Gokcekus, the Yodak president, estimates that education contributes $875 million to the government’s $ 1.6 billion budget.

Suat Gunsel, the founder of N.E.U., is on the Forbes list of the world’s billionaires, estimated to be worth $1.1 billion by that magazine last year.

The University features a state-of-the-art hospital with advanced medical equipment that is unique to the island.

“What we have is education, and we are only as strong as our universities” said one of the University officials.

The number of International students has almost quadrupled within the last four years. This year, almost 5,500 International students are studying at E.M.U. Mr. Oztoprak, the rector, estimates that international students will make up half the university’s enrollment of in the next three to four years. Every year 16,000 students enroll here for different courses.

Across Northern Cyprus, the total number of students surged from 43,000 in 2008 to 63,000 this academic year.

“We can reach 100,000 students within the next 10 years,” Mr. Gokcekus, the Yodak chairman, predicted. “We will call ourselves University Island.”