Study in Turkey

Quality Education

Turkish higher education system has developed significantly in the last few decades in terms of both quality and quantity. Turkish universities now offer a rich field of choices for international students.

An INTERNATIONAL VALIDITY DIPLOMA

Turkey is part of the Bologna Process since 2001 and also a member of many different international platforms. What this means is that first all students can continue their education in other countries with ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) and second they can get their diplomas recognized by other countries.

ECONOMIC EDUCATION

The cost of study and living will be your other consideration in your study abroad decision. Compared to other international student destinations, Turkey offers significantly lower annual tuition fees and much lower living expenses.

A FRIENDLY ENVIRONMENT

Turkey offers a variety of cultural experiences for international students. Bringing together different cultures, religions, people, lifestyles and definitely different cuisines, with its unique location, Turkey has served as a gate to Western World for Eastern cultures and to Eastern World for Western societies.

Education System

The Turkish education system is under the supervision and control of the state, namely the Ministry of National Education. According to the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey, everyone has the right to receive an education. Education is compulsory from ages 6 to 14 and free in state schools. The country’s primary schools currently have a 98 percent participation rate.

The academic year in Turkish education institutions generally begins in the mid-September or early October and continues to May or early June. There is also a two-week winter break in February.

Stages of the Education System:

Pre-School Education: Optional kindergarten education, up to 6 years of age.

Primary Education: Compulsory and free basic education for eight years (5 years elementary + 3 years secondary), 6-14 years of age.

Secondary Education: 4 years of High School (Lise), or Vocational High School education, 15-17/18 years of age. Some schools might have an additional year of language study. High schools are mostly owned by the government and provide free education.

Higher Education: 4 years of University, or 2 years at Higher Vocational Schools. Some schools have an additional year of language study. Under normal circumstances, Master’s study lasts 2 years; Ph.D. 3-5 years. This category includes all educational institutions which will provide post-secondary education. They are under the supervision of the Higher Educational Council (YOK).

Turkish universities offer:

* Associate’s degree programs
* Bachelor’s degree programs
* Graduate programs
* Post-graduate programs.

Types of Higher Education Institutions:

Public Universities: The university system in Turkey is governed by the Higher Educational Council (YOK). Turkey has 112 state and 72 private universities (a total of 184 institutions of higher learning), of which 8 foundations higher vocational schools serve the job market.

Generally, undergraduate education takes 4 years at universities, but some fields such as medicine (6 years), dentistry (5 years), and veterinary science (5 years) take longer. The medium of instruction at some state universities is English, German or French. Therefore, all correspondence with the university staff and applications to the faculties can be done in English, German or French. However, instruction language at state universities is mostly Turkish. When entering the exam at the university, the knowledge of Turkish is not necessary. Those who pass the exams, and have only a little knowledge of Turkish, are considered to take one year of language foundation to gain proficiency in the Turkish language.

Graduate-level programs consist of master and doctoral programs, coordinated by institutes in universities. Medical specialty programs are carried out within the faculties of medicine and the training hospitals owned by the Ministry of Health and the Social Security Institute (SGK).

Higher Vocational Schools: They offer 2 years of undergraduate study after high school. The graduates of 2-year programs are awarded the Associate’s or Pre-Bachelor’s Degree.

Private or Foundation Universities: In Turkey, private foundations obtained the right in 1984 to establish and develop universities. They were established with the fundamental aim of creating a center of excellence in higher education and research. Private universities take more active initiatives to form and to select international and global educational and research networks. The medium of instruction in most private universities is English. Almost all have one year of English study for those whose level of English is not found to be proficient upon entrance.

Diploma Evaluation

Equivalency

The equivalency is a process of recognition of foreign diplomas taken from the higher education institutions abroad.

For Turkish Citizens who take their diplomas from other countries, they must apply for Equivalency of their foreign diplomas and bring their “Diploma Equivalency”. This is not necessary for non-Turkish citizens to study in Turkish Universities).

Type of diplomas for equivalency

Secondary Education: Documents taken from secondary schools abroad, like a transcript, education certificate, certificate, examine this documents and a class of secondary education in which /branch/department/ of the process of determining that it is equivalent in turkey. (Ministry of National Education Equivalence Regulation).
Higher Education: Associate’s, bachelor or master degrees Taken from an international higher education institution recognized by the Higher Education Council, Recognition them by (YOK) like an undergraduate and graduate diplomas taken in Turkey.

For more information:

Turkish Language

Learn the Turkish Language

Education languages in most of the Turkish universities are Turkish and English. There are even some courses that are conducted in English within universities in which the education language is Turkish. If you apply for a program in which the education language is Turkish whether you need to learn Turkish in the Turkish center in the university you applied for or in an independent language center. Turkey is the best place for those who are interested in learning Turkish. There are many language centers in Turkey.

Some of them:

– Turkish language teaching and research center (TÖMER)
– A language center in the relevant university
– Yunus Emre Institute and Turkish Culture Centers
– Private Language Courses

About Turkey

Turkey is a unique country with its natural beauty, historical and cultural. Turkey, which hosted many civilizations, can be considered an open-air museum. Where they follow the accumulation of each civilization in a colorful structure such as daily life, attracting the attention of the whole world as a unique country in terms of culture.

Almost all the province of Turkey resembles a world of imagination. like mountains, rivers, caves, ski resorts and beaches, where it has a distinguished place and rate in the world of tourism.

Turkey, one of the most strategic countries in the world by geopolitical status, being at the crossroads of continents. It is the only bridge between all religions and civilizations from Eastern to Western.

and Turkey is a constitutional republic with diverse cultures. The official language is Turkish, spoken by 85% of the population and Most of the population is Muslim.

Turkey is a member of the European Council, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Group of Twenty. In 1963, she became a member of the European Economic Community and joined the European Union Customs Union. The country belongs to organizations such as the Turkish Council, the Turkish International Cultural Organization, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Economic Cooperation Organization. Today Turkey is a regional power thanks to its growing economy and diplomatic initiatives.

Capital city: Ankara

Largest cities: Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Adana, Antalya, Konya, Bursa, Kayseri, Samsun, Trabzon, Erzurum, Eskişehir, Kocaeli, Sakarya, Mersin, Gaziantep.

Area: 783.562 km

Coastal Length: 8333 km

Coastal Boundaries: the Mediterranean in the south, Aegean in the west and the Black Sea in the north

Language: Turkish

Neighboring Countries: Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Greece, Georgia, Iraq, Armenia, Iran, Syria

Currency: Turkish Lira 1 € = 4.30 || $ 1 = $ 3.60 (October 2017)

Population: 78,741,053 (year 2015)

Number of Provinces: 81

Average Life Span: 73,7 (Male: 76,1 – Female: 71,5)

Time Slice: GMT +2; CET +1

Working Hours: Business days in Turkey are between Monday and Friday. Most of the banks, government departments and private companies are open between 9.00 and 17.00.

Official vacations: In Turkey, official holidays are divided into two: official holidays, such as 1 January, 23 April, 1 May, 19 May, 30 August, 29 October, which are held on the same day each year.

Health Services: There are high-quality state hospitals and various international private hospitals in cities and major tourist areas.

Communication Services: In Turkey, there are 3 GSM operators (Turkcell, Vodafone, Türk Telekom), each of which has a coverage of 95% with 4.5G service. Internet access is available all over the country.

International Phone Code: +90

Life in Turkey

From the beginning of the history of Mankind, Turkey has hosted many civilizations as all as Anatolia have hosted wonderful Turkish cultures for centuries because of its geographical location which brings together European and Asian continents. Turkish culture still continues to develop under the influence of all these civilizations.

Anatolia has been the cradle of various civilizations throughout history, and this is reflected in the influences of these cultures, on Turkish cuisine and social life.

Turkey is a distinct choice for foreign citizens and their families by virtue of its unique geographic location and rich and deep history because it is the cradle of different cultures and civilizations. In addition, Turkey offers many cultural and artistic entertainment activities. In both major and minor cities. There are opportunities to participate in many cultural activities such as cinema, theater, concerts, ballet, modern dance, opera, and exhibitions, as well as traditional recreational activities and local festivals throughout the country and attract more attention. In addition to sports such as football, basketball, and volleyball, there are also alternative sports facilities such as golf, climbing, diving, kayaking, skiing and yachting. Because of Turkey being at a climate change point allows for different activities to be carried out simultaneously in different regions, For example, As such, it is possible to go skiing in a mountain resort after sunbathing on a sandy beach, both in the same day.

Healthcare in Turkey

Hospitals in Turkey

There are three types of hospitals in Turkey, first of the public hospitals, university hospitals, and private hospitals. Where social and health insurance is regulated by the government. and also there is private health insurance to be obtained. Most public and private hospitals in Turkey are served international standards by terms of expertise and infrastructure. Especially big hospitals have many of Turkish doctors who speak English. and it has a well-established health sector in the fields of medicine and dentistry. Where the Department of Ambulance in all hospitals are Serving 24 hours with Complete readiness by doctors and pharmacies.

Medical-Social

All health centers (medical-social) at Turkish universities provide free services to their students. At least one doctor and one nurse work in health centers on weekdays. Foreign students who study at Turkish universities can also benefit from university health centers for free. In addition, foreign students who will study at Turkish universities must do health insurance to obtain a residence permit.

Healthcare

There’s two types of Health insurance – public and private insurance.

1) Public insurance: a student registered in a Turkish university can obtain health insurance after 3 months from the date of registration at the university. Hospital pricing varies according to the agreement (SGK). Where most public hospitals have full agreement with (SGK) it means the patient does not pay anything to public hospitals. but in some private hospitals, the patient pays the non-covered section by SGK for health insurance and pays a total of 20% of the prescription price in pharmacy. After 3 months from registration date to university, and when applying for public insurance, the activation is done within 3 months, where the average cost of public insurance 42 TL monthly.

2) Private insurance: The person has private insurance cannot be treated in government hospitals. but some private hospitals offer discounts according to the agreements they make.

Visa

Transactions outside turkey (Visa Procedures)

Foreign students must apply to the Turkish Consulate with the following papers for a “study visa”.

Application procedures :

For visa applications, first, get an appointment from https://www.konsolosluk.gov.tr/.

Required documents :

1) Letter of acceptance from Higher Education Institution or equivalent document (student document or registration document).

2) A valid and long-dated passport.

3) A document showing the financial potential (bank account, guarantee document, etc.) in Turkey to prove the ability to spend during the education period.

4) Visa fee determined according to nationality.

5) Additional documents may be required by the consulate.