Türkiye is aiming to host 500,000 international university students by 2028, building on a decade of substantial growth in its higher education sector.
Currently, the country hosts approximately 340,000 foreign students. The plan reflects a strategic effort to position Türkiye as a global hub for international students, leveraging its location between Europe and Asia and the expanding range of English-taught programmes, ICEF Monitor reports.
Over the past ten years, international student enrolments in Türkiye have multiplied sixfold, partly driven by policy changes that removed caps on foreign student quotas in 2019.
The growth has been accompanied by increased institutional capacity, with multiple Turkish universities offering a wide array of English-language programmes, especially in computer science and artificial intelligence. For example, Türkiye now ranks among the leading European countries in Master’s and PhD graduates in Artificial Intelligence courses.
Cost competitiveness is another factor that has been attracting international students. Tuition for English-taught programmes in Türkiye can be as low as USD 500 to USD 1,500 per year, depending on the institution and major.
In addition, 26 Turkish universities made it into the QS World University regional rankings (Asia) for 2026, with three in the top 500.
The country has also expanded scholarship opportunities and actively targeted students from Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia. Africa-origin students in Türkiye increased from roughly 40,000 in 2019 to over 60,000 by 2023.
The top 10 sending markets for Türkiye, based on official government data for 2024-2025, are:
Syria
Azerbaijan
Turkmenistan
Iran
Iraq
Kazakhstan
Egypt
Afghanistan
Somalia
Pakistan
Officials argue that the benefits of this growth are multifaceted, as international students contribute to tuition income, boost local economies through living expenses, and deepen bilateral cultural and diplomatic ties.
