CoHE Publishes University Monitoring and Assessment Report for 2020

November 25, 2021 / Ankara ​​

The Turkish higher education system has largely completed its quantitative development and aims at quality-oriented structural transformation. In this context, the principles of transparency and accountability are considered to be one of the most essential conditions for ensuring the quality-oriented transformation of the Turkish higher education system and maintaining its development.

The committee has been carrying out the study on university monitoring and assessment since 2019 to contribute to the processes of higher education institutions in their fields of activity in line with transparency and accountability and to make evidence-based assessments of universities. In this scope, the indicator data of the previous year is obtained from various sources, especially Turkish universities, and shared with the public.

- Universities are assessed in 45 indicators in four main areas

45 indicators were determined for the study on university monitoring and assessment in the basic areas of "Education and Training", "Research and Development, Projects and Publications", "Internationalization" , and "Community Service and Social Responsibility", which aim to cover all the studies carried out by universities.

The study aims to reveal the strong points of universities and to support areas open to development through indicators determined by taking into account the unique conditions of our country. In addition, it is considered that the study will have a key role in the creation of the big data of the higher education system.

- The study contributes to the data-based decision-making processes of universities

The studies on monitoring and assessment, which the Council of Higher Education attaches importance, are also closely monitored by universities. In this context, we are pleased to see that the institutions carry out studies on the indicators determined through their monitoring and assessment units. We believe that these studies will contribute to the data-based decision-making processes of institutions and support their sustainable qualitative development.

- The reports are published in two categories every year

Under the Study on University Monitoring and Assessment, annual reports are published in two categories. The first one is the "University Monitoring and Assessment Report" of each university, and the second is the "University Monitoring and Assessment General Report" prepared as a result of the analysis of these reports.

- The “University Monitoring and Assessment Reports for 2020” of 193 universities were published

The “University Monitoring and Assessment Reports for 2020” of 193 universities were made available to the public as of today and can be accessed at https://www.yok.gov.tr/universiteler/izleme-ve-degerlenen-raporlari . The “University Monitoring and Assessment General Report for 2021”, which is prepared according to the analysis of the data in these reports, will be shared with the public until the end of the year.

- Despite the slight decrease due to the pandemic, it is observed that there is an increase in general

When the reports of the universities for the years 2018, 2019 and 2020 are compared, it is observed that there is a general increase in the data regarding some of the indicators in 2020 despite the slight decrease due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

When the data regarding some of the indicators in the main area of “Education and Training” are compared to the data for 2018, the rate of courses taken from programs other than the enrolled programs increased steadily from 14% to 18.58%, the number of accredited undergraduate programs increased from 420 to 689 and the number of printed books per student increased from 6.9. to 8.2. While the number of students graduating from doctoral programs was 7,250 in 2018, it increased to 8,275 in 2019 and became 7,525 in 2020. While the number of international symposiums, conventions and artistic exhibitions organized by universities was 2,222 in 2018, it increased to 3,930 in 2019 and was 2,084 in 2020. The number of students participating in Technocity or TTO projects in 2018, 2019 and 2020 was 13,646, 24,013 and 17,294, respectively.

When the 2018, 2019 and 2020 data for some of the indicators in the main area of "Research and Development, Projects and Publications" are compared, the number of publications in national peer-reviewed journals per lecturer rose from 0.05 to 0.20, and the number of publications in international peer-reviewed journals from 0.31 to 0.40, and the number of citations in the highest 10% slice increased from 16,256 25,620. These increases can be considered as an indication that university administrations have adopted a management philosophy based on academic performance. Similarly, the number of national and international research scholarships by TÜBİTAK increased from 5,357 to 8,087, the number of support programs increased from 3,752 to 10,576, the number of R&D projects supported by institutions and organizations increased from 5,770 to 9,015, the number of universities in the world rankings from 24 to 34 and the number of projects carried out jointly with the industry increased from 3,286 to 6,218.

When the 2018, 2019 and 2020 data for some of the indicators in the main area of "Internationalization" are compared, the number of international students increased steadily from 126,681 to 184,046. The number of international teaching staff with doctorate degrees in 2018, 2019 and 2020 was 1,219, 2,085 and 2,029, respectively. The COVID-19 pandemic affected the data on international mobility the most. While the number of incoming academic staff under international exchange programs was 1,368 in 2018, 1,585 in 2019, and 338 in 2020, the number of students was 5,609 in 2018, 6,753 in 2019 and 5,098 in 2020. On the other hand, while the number of academic staff participating in mobility under international exchange programs was 2,512 in 2018, 2,227 in 2019 and 568 in 2020, the number of students was 20,917, 19,556 and 13,681. The number of internationally funded projects increased from 1,105 to 1,563, with a steady increase compared to 2018. The number of projects carried out jointly with international institutions experienced a slight decrease despite the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, decreasing from 1,759 in 2019 to 1,724 in 2020.

The last main area is "Community Service and Social Responsibility". When the 2018, 2019 and 2020 data for some of the indicators in this category are compared, the number of projects carried out jointly with public institutions increased from 2,237 to 3,061, the number of activities organized for disadvantaged groups increased from 2,798 to 4,749, the number of Barrier-Free University Awards increased from 63 to 418, the number of awards received in the fields of zero waste, green campus and environmentalism from 26 to 102, the number of universities included in the green and university indexes increased from 29 to 55, and the amount of expenditure per student increased from 12,735 TL to 15,825 TL. The number of social responsibility projects was 2,793, 3,850 and 3,424, and the number of certificates awarded was 171,681, 291,024, and 281,992.

- With the transition to face-to-face education, it is predicted that there will be a significant increase in the data for 2021

It is predicted that there will be a significant increase in the data for 2021 with the continuation of face-to-face education, which has been suspended at universities for about 1,5 years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in most of the programs.

- Studies of universities on basic service areas will be closely monitored

With the Study on University Monitoring and Assessment, the main service areas of universities, especially "Scientific productivity of universities, Academic performance, University-industry cooperation, R&D, Internationalization and cooperation with international science academies and institutions, Social responsibility and service to society" will be closely monitored. It is considered that the studies will contribute to higher education by providing coordination between CoHE and universities.

Click here ​for the University Monitoring and Assessment General Reports for 2020.