An Increasing Proportion of Successful Applicants in Hungary

Nearly 81 thousand students were admitted to higher education in 2008

Although the number of admissions to universities and colleges was lower by 700 persons than last year, the proportion of applicants who succeeded at the entrance procedures to higher education has increased. 83.4 per cent of youths submitting their applications were granted admission in 2008, a ratio higher by 8.5 per cent than the 2007 result.

The majority were realistic in assessing their chances, as 63.8 per cent were admitted to the first place they named. 56 per cent of admittances were granted to women, 61 per cent took their final examinations in general secondary schools, and their average age is 23.1 years - as revealed by the statistics of the National Information Centre for Higher Education (OFIK).

Changes in the number of applicants during the past years

At the beginning of the 1990s, higher education in Hungary was exceptionally closed: only a minor proportion of the high number of young people wishing to continue their studies could enter higher education institutions. Later on, the number of state financed places increased year by year, and so did the range of universities and colleges offering higher education study opportunities. Apart from a great number of colleges maintained by foundations and universities established by churches, several new faculties were created at state maintained higher education institutions. At the same time, the number of programs with a tuition fee also showed a significant increase, which further contributed to the extension of study opportunities in higher education. All this explains why an increasing number of people from older age groups also enrolled in some degree program in correspondence or evening class arrangements. In general, we can say that the motivation to study was continuously increasing until the mid-2000s. However, this trend was reversed a few years ago.

As compared to the peak in 2004, when more than 166 thousand applicants were registered in the spring application period, the number of people intending to pursue further studies was continuously decreasing, and this year it was less than one hundred thousand (Figure 1). (The following analysis is based on the statistics of the April 17th figures of the database, with a total number of 96 549 applicants. The submission of missing documents for the applications is still in progress.) However, this was partly expectable. If we consider that two thirds of the applicants had represented older age groups before, that is, not those with a fresh secondary school qualification, then must have been predictable that the base of potential applicants to higher education would decrease with institutions gradually "absorbing" young people who had failed earlier in a first, second or third attempt.

Moreover, a significant proportion of the older age groups intending to pursue further studies were negatively affected by changes and the transforming system of education in several respects. The transformation of higher education, for example the changes in the application procedures introduced in the past few years or still being introduced today, the possibility of introducing tuition fees, may also play a role in the decreasing number of applications. Another possible explanation is that we are witness to a changing trend in the lifestyles of young people: a larger proportion of them wait after completing the secondary school, enrol in one-year or two-year vocational programs, seek employment or study abroad, or enrol in higher education programs providing non-accredited diplomas in Hungary.

However, it is important to note that the decrease has no demographic causes, as the overall number of students completing the secondary school has increased rather than decreased in the past few years. Truly, however, the decrease in applicant numbers in the youngest age group, among those holding a fresh secondary school qualification already stopped last year. This fact is especially remarkable as the public atmosphere surrounding higher education has been less than favourable recently, which was further aggravated by the tendency that news about unemployed degree holders frequently appeared in different media, usually without any grounds. These, however, were not attested by statistics.

Whatever explanations we find for the tendencies in application numbers, we can say that overall, the attractive power of higher education has definitely faded in the past few years, at least among people aged 20-30. The causes of this have not yet been found by researchers, due to the lack of time series motivation studies.

Figure 1. Changes in applicant numbers between 2004 and 2008* (persons)

* Not including the second round of applications and applications for studies starting in the second semester.

Though Hungarian higher education institutions increasingly need to compete with foreign universities, we find that the number of foreign applicants has not grown significantly in the past few years. The vast majority of applicants are citizens of Hungary. While there are American, French, Italian, German, etc. students applying to Hungarian colleges and universities, and some of them even come from Kazakhstan, Japan, Mongolia and Canada, a remarkable proportion of them comprises students of Hungarian nationality coming from neighbouring countries, probably mostly because of the language and reasons of cultural identity. However, several of them probably did not indicate "Hungarian beyond the frontier" on their application forms.