Canada top preferred country for Turkish undergraduate students

Önder Öndeş – ISTANBUL

Some 23 percent of Turkish students who went abroad to do their undergraduate degrees chose Canada in 2018, according to a research by the Association of International Education Counselors of Turkey (UED).

The top five countries that these students preferred in 2018 were Canada, the United Kingdom (20 percent), United States (17 percent), Australia (9 percent) and Germany (8 percent), respectively.

Some 45,000 Turkish students choose to continue their higher education overseas on average every year, the association said.

After the U.K., Germany was the most preferred country for Turkish students due to its high quality education and free education for international students.

Apart from Germany in Europe, students also chose Italy (3 percent), France (2 percent), Spain (2 percent), Hungary (2 percent), Austria (2 percent), Poland (2 percent) and Ireland (2 percent), the association said.

It also unveiled data for students’ choices with respect to Asian countries. While 2 percent of Turkish students preferred Japan and China in 2018, a less than 1 percent preferred South Korea and Singapore.

Of the total number of students who went abroad in 2018, only 10 percent chose to carry out undergraduate studies overseas, the association said.

Some 51 percent went overseas to attend language schools to improve their foreign language skills, 20 percent to attend summer schools, 8 percent to conduct graduate studies, one percent to do their PhDs, 3 percent to attend high schools, 4 percent to join work and travel programs, and the remaining 3 percent to participate in various training and special certificate programs.