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Number of foreign students who want to study in Romania is increasing
The number of foreign students who want to study in our country is increasing, almost 140,000 accounts have been created on the "Study in Romania" platform in order to submit applications for scholarships offered by the Romanian state for bachelor's, master's and doctorate programs, the minister of Education, Ligia Deca, declared on Tuesday.
"The number of foreign students who want to study in Romania is increasing! Almost 140,000 accounts have been created on the Study in Romania platform in order to submit applications for scholarships offered by the Romanian state for bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs. I am happy not only for the large number of foreign students who want to study in our country, but also for the increase in the number of countries from which candidates come - 160 countries compared to 146 last year," Deca wrote on Facebook.
She mentioned that the Romanian state offers 500 scholarships for Romanian students from outside the European Union. According to the minister, interested candidates could apply for all fields of study, except medicine, dentistry and pharmacy.
A total of 81,914 applications from 160 countries outside the European Union were registered in the annual scholarship program offered by Romania, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE), for the 2024-2025 academic year.
According to a press release sent on Tuesday by the MAE, 37,670 of the candidates expressed their intention to pursue bachelor's degree studies, 42,232 master's degree studies and 2,012 doctoral studies.
The number marks a substantial increase compared to the previous academic years, when the application files received were 959 for the academic year 2020-2021, 4,593 (for 2021-2022), 44,733 (for 2022-2023) and 50,858 (for 2023- 2024), specifies the mentioned source.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is engaged in a constant effort to strengthen the process of awarding scholarships for foreign students from outside the European Union, an instrument that represents a remarkable training opportunity, an expansion of knowledge and personal and professional experience for candidates. This program is also part of the effort to promote education in the spirit of intercultural understanding, knowledge and respect for fundamental human rights, as a way to combat intolerance, radicalization among young people, tensions between communities and hate speech", stated Janina Sitaru, state secretary for inter-institutional relations, quoted in the press release.
According to the MAE, the large number of requests from foreign students highlights their interest in the offer of the Romanian education system and supports both the promotion and internationalization of higher education institutions in Romania, as well as the general objectives of foreign policy, through long-term consolidation of bilateral relations with the students' countries of origin.
The period for submitting applications from non-EU citizens who applied for a scholarship from the Romanian state ended on March 16, 2024. The submission of applications was made exclusively online, on a multi-device online platform developed with the support of the Unit Executive for the Financing of Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation (UEFISCDI) within the Ministry of Education. The program is carried out based on the Decision of the Government of Romania no. 288/1993 regarding the education in Romania of citizens from other countries, the release also informs.