Statement Regarding Higher Education Quotas for 2019

July 21, 2020

- The Opinions of the Advisory Board for Higher Education Programs were Received while Determining the Quotas for 2020

The suggestions of the Advisory Board for Higher Education Programs, which is consisted of public and private sector representatives, were taken into consideration in determining the quotas for the first time last year.

The Board, which was established on a legal basis with the concept of authority sharing under the New CoHE, is consisted of representatives from the Ministry of Treasury and Finance, Ministry of National Education, Ministry of Industry and Technology, Ministry of Health, the Strategy and Budget Office of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey, Social Security Institution and Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey.

While planning the quotas for 2020 this year, the suggestions submitted by the Advisory Board for Higher Education Programs were taken into consideration with a participatory approach.

- Number of Candidates Applying to YKS

While the number of candidates, who applied to 2019-YKS was 2 million 528 thousand 116, the number of candidates for this year is 2 million 436 thousand 958.

While the number of candidates who applied to YKS in the last year of high school was 983 thousand 710 last year, it has become 894 thousand 187 this year.

However, while the number of candidates among the applicants of 2018-YKS, who were previously placed in a program, was 397 thousand 614, this figure decreased to 374 thousand 806 in 2019 and 335 thousand 347 this year. This data shows the success of the YKS, an exam created by the New CoHE that prioritizes the judgment and analysis, and rational quota planning.

- Quotas for 2020

In line with a number of parameters such as the country's needs, employment opportunities, capacities of higher education institutions, tendencies of students, and the priority to increase the quality in higher education (including distance education), 834 thousand 509 quotas were determined for formal education programs at associate and Master’s degree level in 2019. This year, the total quotas for formal programs (including distance education and excluding the quotas for top students) is determined as 845 thousand 909.

In the formal programs of the 2020 Higher Education Institutions Exam (YKS):

651 thousand 885 quotas, including 282 thousand 402 quotas for associate degree programs, 345 thousand 997 quotas for undergraduate programs, and 23 thousand 486 quotas for special talent programs, were allocated for public universities, excluding the quotas for top students.

168 thousand 150 quotas, including 76 thousand 268 for associate degree programs, 87 thousand 838 for undergraduate programs, and 4 thousand 44 for special talent programs, were allocated for foundation higher education institutions. 15 thousand 148 quotas, including 3 thousand 643 quotas for associate degree programs, 11 thousand 211 for undergraduate programs, and 294 for special talent programs, were allocated for TRNC and other universities.

While the number of quotas of the formal programs at state universities remained the same compared to the previous year, the quotas at foundation universities have increased significantly.

There are 835 thousand 383 quotas for formal programs, including 362 thousand 313 quotas for associate degree programs, 445 thousand 246 quotas for undergraduate programs, and 27 thousand 824 quotas for special talent programs.

151,350 quotas were allocated for the programs in open education faculties in 2020. The number of quotas for open education was 172,125 in 2019 and 193,250 in 2018. It is observed that CoHE has gradually decreased the number of quotas in open education programs. As we declared to the public last year, the function of “lifelong learning”, which is at the core of open education, will be made more evident and the increasing positive perception of open education programs in recent years will be further enhanced.

The total number of quotas, including open education, is 997,259.

- Quotas to be allocated for programs were evaluated at the Advisory Board for Higher Education Programs

The associate degree and undergraduate programs were evaluated before the quotas were determined at the Advisory Board for Higher Education Programs.

Last year, CoHE made a new plan for the programs related to health sciences in line with the opinions and suggestions of the Ministry of Health officials regarding the gradual decrease of the number of health programs and continued with the same approach this year. The Board proposed that CoHE should set upper limits for the quotas of daytime and evening education at associate degree level in the field of health and gradually decrease the number of quotas of these programs. The General Assembly of the Council of Higher Education decided to implement this proposal.

The Board also discussed the topics regarding the establishment of more than two health programs with the same name in different statuses (daytime education in Turkish, evening education in Turkish, daytime education in English, etc.) in foundation higher education institutions and at TRNC universities and the establishment of the same program in different units of the same university (in faculties and schools). The Board proposed that the maximum number of similar programs should be two and that only one of the programs with the same name and content in the different units of the same university could get quotas. The proposals of the Board were taken into consideration. This approach will also include other programs next year and the role of the Board in determining quotas will increase. The Board also made some suggestions regarding engineering programs and these suggestions were accepted by CoHE. The number of quotas for engineering programs, which was 77.460 last year, is determined as 71.244 this year.

A rational planning was made considering the parameters such as the number of faculty members/academic staff in programs, enrollment rate, regional differences, number of patients and variety of diseases, cultural environments and dormitory facilities, and R&D expenditures for foundation universities while determining the quotas of higher education programs.

The quotas in some health programs are as follows: 16 thousand 448 quotas in medicine, 7 thousand 752 quotas in dentistry, 3 thousand 893 quotas in pharmacy, 4 thousand 74 quotas in midwifery, and 16 thousand 239 quotas in nursing.

- Candidates with a TYT score of 200 or above can use their scores from last year

12.239 candidates, who scored 200 or above in TYT of 2019-YKS, used their 2019-TYT scores without taking TYT this year, provided that they applied to 2020 YKS.

The rules regarding this practice for candidates who took both 2019-YKS and 2020-YKS are included in the 2020-YKS Application Guide.

- The condition of “Success Ranking” is applied in Teaching Programs Accepting Students Taking a Special Talent Exam for the First Time This Year

The condition of “success ranking” in teaching programs, which accept students via the central placement system, was determined as 300 thousand in the relevant score type in recent years. However, unlike the teaching programs that accept students taking the central placement test, the condition of “success ranking” was not required for teaching programs that accept students taking a special talent test. The students who would take the exam this year were informed of the fact that the teaching programs that accept students taking a special talent exam would be required to have the condition of “success ranking” in the 2018-YKS and 2019-YKS guides two years ago. According to the results of YKS last year, the lowest success ranking was around 1 million 761 thousand in some teaching programs that accept students via a special talent exam. A reasonable and rational rate was determined by taking into consideration the importance of special talents in fields such as music and painting, and the minimum success ranking (corresponding to 300 thousand in teaching programs that accept students via central exams) was determined as 800 thousand. These programs are not only programs related to fields such as music and painting but also teaching programs.

These programs will continue to accept students via a special talent exam, provided that they exceed 800 thousand. In other words, in order to apply to the teaching programs that accept students via a special talent test, students should be placed in the top 800 thousand in TYT of 2020-YKS. The students, who fulfill this requirement for success ranking, will still have to fulfill the requirement for special talents. In this way, it is aimed to obtain positive results in the system through gradual and permanent development-based arrangements prioritizing success and quality for quality education.

- The Requirement of Success Ranking is Applied for the First Time in Pharmacy and Dentistry

The scope of the success ranking requirement has been expanded in line with the academia's and stakeholders' opinions and persistent proposals this year. In this context, pharmacy and dentistry programs became the first two programs that require the criteria of success ranking this year. The lowest success ranking requirement was determined as 100 thousand for pharmacy and 80 thousand for dentistry. This decision was announced to the public in a reasonable time before the exams.

- The Requirement of Success Ranking was Updated for Law Schools

Considering the opinions of our stakeholders, especially the Ministry of Justice, the requirement of success ranking to get enrolled in law schools, which was 190 thousand last year, was determined as 125 thousand this year and was announced to the public in a reasonable time before the exam. There is another important change for those who will be enrolled in law schools this year. The “Professional Practice Exam” that the New CoHE has been putting an emphasis on for the last five years has gained a legal basis within the scope of the Judicial Reform. We want to restate that we believe the legal arrangements for the introduction of the professional practice exam for some other programs starting from next year will produce positive results for the system in terms of quality. The quotas for law schools have been determined as 16 thousand 327 for this year.

- Status of Quotas in Some Other Programs

The quotas determined for some other programs through evaluations and rational planning are as follows:

The number of quotas for non-engineering programs in the faculties of Agriculture and Natural Sciences is 6 thousand 467.      

The number of quotas for architecture programs is 7 thousand 985.      

The number of quotas for engineering programs is 71 thousand 244.     

The number of quotas for fundamental sciences is 10 thousand 622.     

The number of quotas for the Faculties of Theology-Islamic Sciences is 19 thousand 353.

- More Students will be able to Study on Scholarship Through the Initiative of CoHE This Year

As is known, students, who were placed in the first ten percentage in the programs of foundation universities, were studying on a scholarship with the decision of CoHE. This ratio was increased to 15% through a process initiated by CoHE this year, and more importantly, it was taken under legal protection. This initiative of the student-friendly CoHE has given over 11 thousand more students the opportunity to have free education. As the New CoHE, we believe that education should rise on the concept of equal opportunity and social justice and that successful students should be supported. Therefore, we pay attention to these factors in our decisions.

- 2020-YKS Selection Guide Still Includes Future Professions

The Council of Higher Education has previously included undergraduate and associate degree programs such as Information Security Technology, Artificial Intelligence Engineering, Software Development, Digital Media and Marketing, Hybrid and Electric Vehicle Technology, Multidimensional Modeling and Animation, which are considered as future professions, in the 2019-YKS Selection Guide. This year, programs such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Technology and Operations, Support Program for the Disabled, Artificial Intelligence and Data Engineering were also added to the guide.

*It includes the quotas for formal and distance education and excludes the quotas for top students.