INTRODUCTION
Study in Greece participated in the Study and Global Study Abroad Fair, organized by Keystone Education Group. The fair took place on three different dates, in order to focus on a different region per day. On Tuesday October 26th, Tuesday November 2nd and Tuesday November 9th, SiG members had the opportunity to present the wide range of study options offered by Greek Universities to students from every corner of the world.
TOPIC
The fair reached thousands of foreign students from every region. During the event we were able to gather information on everyone who showed interest in our booth, specifically about the students’ region of origin, the type of program and subject they were looking for. The info we gathered can help us develop a strategy aiming to meet the Study Abroad-Market needs.
Let us continue by presenting our data, starting with Regions of Origin.
- Region:
| AFRICA | 31% |
| LATIN AMERICA | 23% |
| EUROPE | 21% |
| ASIA | 14% |
| USA & NORTH AMERICA | 6% |
| ANONYMOUS | 5% |
ANALYSIS: By taking part in G.S.A.F., we were specifically exposed to Latin America for the first time and so we noticed an amazing demand from the respective students, making Latin America second in the ranking with 23%. As for the rest of the regions, the interest was as expected, with minimal differences (see previous surveys).
- Level of Program:
| Bachelor’s | 30% |
| Master’s | 30% |
| Doctorate/PhD | 12% |
| Summer/Short Course | 4% |
| Other | 24% |
ANALYSIS: We noticed that in this particular fair the students had more options to state the level of the program they wanted. Specifically, in addition to Bachelor’s and Master’s, there were also Doctorate/PhD, Summer/Short Course and many more, which are included under the “Other” item.
Bachelor’s and Master’s requests were equal, at 30% each, followed by Doctorate/PhD with 12% and Summer/Short Course with 4%.
- Disciplines:
| Humanities (incl. Art, Languages, Education) | 23% |
| Science & Engineering | 23% |
| Health & Well Being | 16% |
| Economics | 12% |
| Social Sciences (incl. Law and Media) | 12% |
| Computer Science & IT | 9% |
| Tourism | 5% |
ANALYSIS: While most students showed interest in Humanities and Science & Engineering, at 23% each, it is important not to ignore the rest, as the two aforementioned are in fact broad categories, including many different subjects, while Health (16%) and Economics (12%) refer mainly to Medicine and Business respectively. Moreover, Computer Science & IT (9%) and Tourism (5%) can be considered disciplines on their own. Last but not least, Social Studies (12%) included mainly Law and Media.
CONCLUSION
Οur conclusions can be summarized in simple words in the following thought: Greece needs to expand! More specifically:
- There definitely need to be more Bachelor’s Programs, as they were demanded equally as the Master’s, in order to cover more scientific fields.
- More Doctorate/PhD’s and Summer/Short Courses need to be organized by the Greek Academic Institutes (as we have pointed out before the benefits of Academic Tourism).
Apart from the statistics, another interesting observation relates to scholarships. More than 50% of the students we contacted with during the fair raised questions about scholarships. Therefore, one final conclusion is the need for more scholarship opportunities for international students. Such an addition will greatly benefit the internationalization of Greek universities, as it will provide the element of competition, making the programs offered much more attractive, enhancing the promotion of their quality.
