Cyprus becoming regional university studies centre

Cyprus is rapidly becoming a regional international centre for university studies and research with over 50,000 students at Cypriot universities, said Education Minister Prodromos Prodromou.

Speaking at a news conference on higher education, Prodromou said university research and related activity are worth around €300 mln.

“University studies and research are advancing in such a way that what seemed to be a vision 20 years ago, to turn the country into an international, regional education centre, has become a reality,” said Prodromou.

He said the Cabinet approved Thursday the registration of another private university, the American University of Cyprus (AUCY) in Larnaca.

The new addition takes the total number of universities in Cyprus to 10, and the number of students in Cyprus has almost doubled between 2013 and 2020.

Prodromou said that a 63% increase was recorded since 2013-2014 when the number of students was 32,824, and in 2019-2020 this figure rose to 53,262.

“Around 7% of the country’s population are students in higher education, and 74% of them are at universities.”