The Demand for Tertiary Education in Slovakia: Interests and fields of Study
Authors | |
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Year of publication | 2015 |
Type | Article in Proceedings |
Conference | CIHES Working Paper No.12. |
MU Faculty or unit | |
Citation | |
Web | Central European Higher Education Cooperation Conference Proceedings |
Field | Economy |
Keywords | higher education institutions - enrollment - tertiary education |
Description | The Slovak higher education system has undergone fundamental changes since the fall of the Iron Curtain, through a series of reforms primarily focused on quantitative development. This enormous effort to increase participation in higher education has, however, not been accompanied by adequate emphasis on the quality of educational and research activities. Slovak universities occupy low positions in international rankings and attract only a small share of international students. The number of new students enrolled each year is falling due to unfavorable demographic development. Slovakia is one of the OECD countries in which the 19-year-old cohort is projected to shrink the most over the coming decade. We show that the drop in enrollment rates is accelerated by the outflow of students who choose to study abroad. Czech universities are the most popular foreign institutions among Slovak students, as they offer better quality and a closely related study language. The only sustainable strategy for the Slovak institutions is to enhance their academic environment. |
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