When they want to go and study at university abroad, prospective students from Bulgaria most often opt for law, economics and engineering, say the organizers of the World Education Fair, to be held at the end of this week with the participation of over 80 educational establishments. Most popular as education destinations among Bulgarians are Great Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy and Spain.

2,080 Bulgarians have applied to universities in Great Britain. This year has seen a 6 percent rise in the number of applicants to Oxford, Cambridge, as well as for medical specialties though with other universities the tendency has remained on the whole unchanged. The British government has not said yet whether it will continue to finance the study of students from the EU after Brexit, but British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said in Sofia this week that the UK was the No.1 destination for Bulgarian students and that he expected this to continue.

Bulgarian students are particularly interested in universities in the Netherlands, where they most often choose economics and business, tourism and law.

Germany is another leading education destination, most of all because tuition fees there are minimal – 150-200 euro is enough to cover administrative expenses. Low expenses combined with an economy that is going strong and an excellent system of education is what makes studying in Germany so attractive to Bulgarians.

As of this year applicants in France will be able to apply to 10 instead of 12 universities. In France, Bulgarians mostly opt for law and applied linguistics, but also to some specialized engineering schools.

Interest in studying at universities abroad may be running high, not so inside Bulgaria, where interest has been dwindling. During the 2017/2018 academic year admission to state higher educational establishments dropped by 8 percent compared to the previous year. This year the state is funding the education of a total of 45,584 students at 37 state universities. The drop in the number of state quota admissions to state universities was compensated for by admitting more full-fee students. For the current academic year, 12,104 admissions were planned for the purpose, plus the students at private universities which were able to admit up to

16,159. Some observers say that in order to fill their vacancies, universities have been lowering their admission requirements. This, along with the growing interest in studying abroad has meant a steady downward trend in the number of students inside Bulgaria – in five years, they have seen a drop of 30,000. This downward trend is valid for state, as well as for private universities, but it is not as yet possible to conclude whether interest is higher in private or in state-funded programmes.

Compiled by Stoimen Pavlov