Esmeralda Topi
Almost 45 percent of University quotas remain vacant as the academic year begins. Verified data by Faktoje.al shows that by last Friday, there were still 8,775 vacant spots out of a total of 19,212 at public universities.
The University Application Portal, which provides students with information about criteria, programs, and enrollment results, shows that after the second registration phase, there are still thousands of unfilled quotas, with only 10,437 students having completed their registrations.
In her message welcoming the start of the academic year, Minister of Education Ogerta Manastirliu appears to refer to the initial quotas, stating, ‘Wishing success to over 20,000 students who are stepping into university classrooms for the first time today…‘ on her official Facebook profile.
Branches facing extinction
The Environmental Science program at the University of Tirana has emerged as the least popular this year, enrolling just 2 students. Following closely are Physics, with 5 students, and Chemistry, which has 8 students.
‘There should be a national emergency while the number of teachers decreases and schools are in need of educators to meet their requirements. Particularly, subjects like Physics, Mathematics, and languages, as well as other basic subjects, remain unfilled. If this trend continues, it is predicted that some of these programs will be closed in the coming years under the law if they do not enroll at least 10 students over two years,’ warns Rigers Xhemollari from the Citizen Resistance Center.
On the other hand, Economic Informatics stands out as one of the most favored programs at the University of Tirana, with only 4 available spots left out of 240.
Engineering programs continue to be in high demand at the Polytechnic University, alongside architecture.
The departments of architecture, urban planning, and interior design have no available slots left at this stage of registration. In contrast, mining engineering, geological engineering, and environmental geology are among the least popular programs this year, with minimal enrollment.
At the Agricultural University, around 638 students have enrolled, with agribusiness management and rural tourism management being the top choices. In contrast, the agro-food engineering program has only 1 student enrolled, while animal husbandry and livestock product safety have 2 students each, and forestry engineering has attracted just 5 students.
According to U-Albania data, this year, the University of Medicine continues to attract the majority of students. At present, it has only 146 available spots out of a total of 1,624. Notably, there are no vacant positions in the general medicine, pharmacy, or dentistry programs.
Districts Facing Significant Enrollment Drops
Data from U-Albania reveals that universities in districts are experiencing substantial declines in student numbers once again this year. Gjirokastra and Korça have the lowest registration figures.
As of now in the application phase, ‘Eqerem Çabej’ University in Gjirokastër has seen 195 students enroll out of a total of 599 available spots. The university boasts 121 Professors, leading to a favorable ratio of 1 Professor for every 1.6 students.
Departments such as tourism management, history-geography, and mathematics have only 1 one student registered each.
‘The interest of young Albanians in choosing teaching programs is drastically declining. Shkodra has one student for history and two for geography. In Elbasan, there are only 6 students for language and two for teaching,’ notes Rigers Xhemollari from Civic Resistance.
Additionally, ‘Fan S. Noli’ University in Korça has registered 357 first-time students this year. The physics and mathematics departments each have only two students registered. Meanwhile, the general nursing program has no available spots. out of 75 total quotas, there are currently none left open.
