Statistics

The Department of Higher Education (DAE) has proceeded to the Mapping of the Educational field for Higher Education in Cyprus for the academic year 2019-2020.

Specifically, the DAE collected data from the Higher Educational Institutions of Cyprus (Private and Public Universities and Private and Public Institutions of Tertiary Education) concerning the number of students (Cypriots, other EU-citizens and citizens of non-EU countries) per Level of Study and Discipline, as well as the preferences of students per Discipline and Level of Study.

Analysis of the data showed that the total number of students studying in Cyprus for the academic year 2019-2020 (according to data collected for the 2020 spring semester) is 53.262, 39.203 of whom study at the Universities of Cyprus and 14.059 study at the Institutions of Tertiary Education. As Chart 1 indicates, 5.421 students attend 1-3 year Programmes of Study offered by Institutions of Tertiary Education, whereas 19.271 students attend Undergraduate Programmes at the Universities, 7.213 students attend Undergraduate Programmes at the Institutions of Tertiary Education, 18.470 students attend Postgraduate Programmes at the Universities, while 1.338 students attend Postgraduate Programmes at the Institutions of Tertiary Education, 1462 students are pursuing their Ph.D. studies at the Universities, while 87 students are pursuing their Ph.D. studies at the Institutions of Tertiary Education.

Chart 1: Number of students at Universities and Institutions of Tertiary Education according to the level of study

From a total of 53.262 students at Higher Educational Institutions in Cyprus, 22.949 are Cypriot nationals (43.08%), 18.863 are nationals of other EU countries (35.42%), while 11.450 are non-EU nationals (21.5%).

Tables 1-5 below show data on Cypriots, EU and non-EU students studying at the Universities of Cyprus during the academic year 2019-2020.

Table 1: Number of students at Public and Private Universities according to level of study, sex and country of origin (Cypriot nationals, nationals of other EU countries, non-EU nationals).

Number of students studying in Universities
Level of Study	Cypriots		Other EU nationals		Non-EU nationals		Total
Level of Study	Men	Women	Men	Women	Men	Women	Total
Undergraduate level	5823	6670	2394	2815	837	732	19271
Masters level	1736	2744	3275	9891	475	349	18470
Ph.D. level	409	633	147	172	55	46	1462
Total number of students	7968	10047	5816	12878	1367	1127	39203
Total number of students	18015		18694		2494		39203

Table 2: Number of students at Public and Private Universities according to level of study, sex and continent of origin

Number of students studying in Universities
Level of Study	America		Asia		Oceania		Africa		Europe		Total
Level of Study	M	F	M	F	M	F	M	F	M	F	Total
Undergraduate level	81	80	350	287	44	38	220	135	8359	9677	19271
Masters level	56	49	122	106	9	4	249	143	5050	12682	18470
Ph.D. level	6	9	32	19	1	2	16	6	556	815	1462
Total number of students	143	138	504	412	54	44	484	284	13966	23174	39203

Table 3: Number of undergraduate level students at Public and Private Universities according to sex and country of origin (Cypriot nationals, nationals of other EU countries, non-EU nationals)

Number of students studying in Universities
Type of University	Cypriots		Other EU nationals		Non-EU nationals		Σύνολο
Type of University	Men	Women	Men	Women	Men	Women	Σύνολο
Public	2551	3741	435	701	21	38	7487
Private	3272	2929	1959	2114	816	694	11784
Total number of students	5823	6670	2394	2815	837	732	19271
Total number of students	12493		5209		1569		19271

Table 4: Number of Masters level students at Public and Private Universities according to sex and country of origin (Cypriot nationals, nationals of other EU countries, non-EU nationals)

Number of students studying in Universities
Type of University	Cypriots		Other EU nationals		Non-EU nationals		Σύνολο
Type of University	Men	Women	Men	Women	Men	Women	Σύνολο
Public	935	1488	867	1101	54	67	4512
Private	801	1256	2408	8790	421	282	13958
Total number of students	1736	2744	3275	9891	475	349	18470
Total number of students	4480		13166		824		18470

Table 5: Number of Ph.D. level students at Public and Private Universities according to sex and country of origin (Cypriot nationals, nationals of other European countries, non-EU nationals)

Number of students studying in Universities
Type of University	Cypriots		Other EU nationals		Non-EU nationals		Total
Type of University	Men	Women	Men	Women	Men	Women	Total
Public	302	480	82	96	20	11	991
Private	107	153	65	76	35	35	471
Total number of students	409	633	147	172	55	46	1462
Total number of students	1042		319		101		1462

Tables 6-9 below show data on Cypriots, other EU and non-EU students studying in Institutions of Tertiary Education in Cyprus during the academic year 2019-2020.

Table 6: Number of students at Public and Private Institutions of Tertiary Education for the fall semester of the academic year 2019-2020, according to country of origin (Cypriot nationals, nationals of other EU countries, non-EU nationals), and sex

Public and Private Institutions of Tertiary Education	Enrolled students – Winter Semester 2019-2020
	Cypriots	Other EU nationals	Non-EU nationals	Men	Women	Total
Private Institutions of Tertiary Education	4247	193	8446	8904	3982	12886
Public Institutions of Tertiary Education	775	36	6	485	332	817
Total number of students	5022	229	8452	9389	4314	13703

Table 7: Number of students at Public and Private Institutions of Tertiary Education for the spring semester of the academic year 2019-2020, according to country of origin (Cypriot nationals, nationals of other EU countries, non-EU nationals), and sex

Type of Institution of Tertiary Education	Enrolled students– 2019-2020 Spring Semester
	Cypriots	Other EU nationals	Non-EU nationals	Men	Women	Total
Private Institutions of Tertiary Education	4159	133	8950	9160	4082	13242
Public Institutions of Tertiary Education	775	36	6	485	332	817
Total number of students	4934	169	8956	9645	4414	14059

Table 8: Number of students at Public and Private Institutions of Tertiary Education for the Fall Semester 2019-2020, according to level of study and country of origin (Cypriot nationals, nationals of other EU countries, non-EU nationals)

Level of Study	Number of students at Public and Private Institutions of Tertiary Education
Level of Study	Cypriots	Other EU nationals	Non-EU nationals	Total
1-3 years programmes	2645	115	2789	5549
Undergraduate level	1539	54	5157	6750
Masters level	784	59	471	1314
Ph.D. level	54	1	35	90
Total number of students	5022	229	8452	13703

Table 9: Number of students at Public and Private Institutions of Tertiary Education for the Spring Semester 2019-2020, according to level of study and country of origin (Cypriot nationals, nationals of other EU countries, non-EU nationals)

Level of Study	Number of students at Public and Private Institutions of Tertiary Education
	Cypriots	Other EU nationals	Non-EU nationals	Total
1-3 years programmes	2587	67	2767	5421
Undergraduate level	1456	41	5716	7213
Masters level	836	60	442	1338
Ph.D. level	55	1	31	87
Total number of students	4934	169	8956	14059

Chart 2 below shows the number of students studying at Public and Private Institutions of Tertiary Education, according to the Level of Study over the last four academic years (2016-2017 until 2019-2020). It seems that there has been a steady increase in the number of students studying in the 1-3 years duration Programmes, as well as in the number of students studying in Undergraduate Level Programmes, while the number of graduate students both at a Masters and a Ph.D. level has remained stable.

Chart 2: The number of students at Public and Private Institutions of Tertiary Education, according to the level of study during the academic years 2016-2017, 2017-2018, 2018-2019 and 2019-2020

Chart 3 below shows the number of students who studied at Cypriot Universities, according to Level of Study over the last four academic years (2016-2017 until 2019-2020). It seems that there has been a steady increase in the number of students studying at both Masters and Ph.D. level over the last four years, with the only exception being a drop in the number of students studying during the academic year 2019-2020 compared to the academic year 2018-2019 (a drop of 1.168 students).

Chart 3: The number of students at Public and Private Universities, according to the level of study during the academic years 2016-2017, 2017-2018, 2018-2019 and 2019-2020

It should be noted that from a total of 39,203 students studying at Public and Private Universities, 15.689 students (11.373 women and 4.316 men) were enrolled in a Distance Learning Study Programme (40%).

Table 10 below presents the number of Cypriot, EU and non-EU students studying in Distance Learning Programmes for the academic year 2019-2020.

Table 10: Number of students at Distance Learning Programs in Public and Private Universities according to level of study, sex, and country of origin (Cypriot nationals, nationals of other EU countries, non-EU nationals).

Number of Students at Universities
Distance Learning Study Programmes Level	Cypriots		Other EU Nationals		Non-EU Nationals		Total
Distance Learning Study Programmes Level	Men	Women	Men	Women	Men	Women	Total
Undergraduate level	145	189	215	349	25	19	942
Masters level	613	1112	2970	9455	308	206	14664
Ph.D. level	25	26	14	17	1	0	83
Total number of students	783	1327	3199	9821	334	225	15689
Total number of students	2110		13020		559		15689

Chart 4 below shows the number of students at Distance Learning Programmes in Cypriot Universities according to the Level of Study over the last four academic years (2016-2017 until 2019-2020). The number of students has been steadily increased, while the number of students at the Undergraduate Level has gradually dropped.

Chart 4: Number of students studying in Distance Learning Programmes at Public and Private Universities, according to the level of study during the academic years 2016-2017, 2017-2018, 2018-2019 and 2019-2020

As regards as to the most popular Programme of Study, it appears that the first choice among students at the Undergraduate Level is Medicine and Paramedical Sciences, followed by Finance and Business Administration, Social Sciences and Sciences of Education and Engineering (Table 11).

Table 11: Students’ of Undergraduate level programmes at Public and Private Universities discipline preferences

Programmes of Study	Number of students	Percentage
Medical and Paramedical Sciences	5157	26.8%
Finance and Business Administration	3888	20.2%
Social Sciences and Education Sciences	3862	20.0%
Engineering Sciences	2630	13.6%
Humanities	1771	9.2%
Pure and Applied Sciences	1622	8.4%
Philosophy	341	1.8%
Total	19271	100%

Table 12: Students’ of Masters level programmes at Public and Private Universities discipline preferences

Programmes of Study	Number of students	Percentage
Social Sciences and Education Sciences	9482	51.3%
Finance and Business Administration	5309	28.7%
Humanities	1766	9.6%
Medical and Paramedical Sciences	800	4.3%
Pure and Applied Sciences	530	2.9%
Engineering Sciences	499	2.7%
Philosophy	84	0.5%
Total	18470	100%

As it is shown at the above Tables, the students of Masters Level Programmes prefer mostly the fields of Social and Education Sciences (51.3%). The Finance and Business Administration Programmes is their second preference (28.7%), while Humanities is their third preference (9.6%) (Table 12). When it comes to the Ph.D. Programmes of Study, the first choice among students is Social and Education Sciences, followed by Engineering Sciences, Finance and Business Administration and Medical and Paramedical Sciences (Table 13).

Table 13: Students’ of Ph.D. level programmes at Public and Private Universities discipline preferences

Programmes of Study	Number of students	Percentage
Social Sciences and Education Sciences	418	28.6%
Engineering Sciences	321	22.0%
Finance and Business Administration	202	13.8%
Medical and Paramedical Sciences	188	12.9%
Humanities	133	9.1%
Pure and Applied Sciences	109	7.4%
Philosophy	91	6.2%
Total	1462	100%

The most popular Study Programme which lead to a Certificate, Diploma and a Higher Diploma for students studying at Institutions of Tertiary Education is Hotel and Tourism, followed by Business Administration and Finance, Aesthetics, Secretarial and Computers (Table 14). The first preference among students studying at the Undergraduate Level in the Institutions of Tertiary Education is Business Administration and Finance, followed by Hotel and Tourism, Aesthetics and Computers (Table 15). Students who study at a Masters Level at the Public and Private Institutions of Tertiary Education prefer mostly the Business Administration and Finance Programmes, followed by the Arts (Acting, Music, Art, Photography), Education and Medical and Paramedical Sciences (Table 16). As far as Ph.D. level studies and concerned, students at Public and Private Institutions of Tertiary Education prefer mostly Medical and Paramedical Studies, followed by Environmental Sciences and Computers and Cultural Heritage Studies (Table 17).

Table 14: Students’ of 1-3 years programmes of study (Certificate, Diploma and Higher Diploma) at Private Institutions of Tertiary Education discipline preferences

Programmes of Study	Number of students	Percentage
Hotel and Tourism	486	16.3%
Business Administration/Finance	466	15.6%
Aesthetics	385	12.9%
Secretarial	277	9.3%
Computers	264	8.9%
Culinary Arts and related subjects	238	8.0%
Mechanical engineering	164	5.5%

Table 15: Students’ of Undergraduate level programmes at Public and Private Institutions of Tertiary Education discipline preferences

Programmes of Study	Number of students	Percentage
Business Administration/Finance	1583	50.5%
Hotel and Tourism	711	22.7%
Aesthetics	241	7.7%
Computers	143	4.6%
Culinary Arts and related subjects	93	3.0%
Medical and Paramedical Studies	87	2.8%
Arts (Acting/Music/Art/Photography)	74	2.4%

Table 16: Students’ of Masters level programmes at Public and Private Institutions of Tertiary Education discipline preferences

Programmes of Study	Number of students	Percentage
Business Administration/Finance	739	75.0%
Arts (Acting/Music/Art/Photography) Hotel and Tourism	93	9.4%
Teaching	63	6.4%
Medical and Paramedical Studies	53	5.4%
Culinary Arts and related subjects	17	1.7%
Computers	12	1.2%
Aesthetics	9	0.9%
Total	986	100%

Table 17: Students’ of Ph.D. level programmes at Public and Private Institutions of Tertiary Education discipline preferences

Programmes of Study	Number of students	Percentage
Medical and Paramedical Studies	28	47.5%
Environmental Sciences	12	20.3%
Computers	11	18.6%
Cultural Heritage	8	13.6%
Total	59	100.0%

Students of Distance Learning Undergraduate Programmes at the Universities prefer mostly the fields of Humanities, followed by Social and Education Sciences and Finance and Business Administration (Table 18). As regards as to the Distance Learning Graduate Programmes, the students’ first choice is Social and Education Sciences, followed by Finance and Business Administration, Humanities and Medical and Paramedical Sciences (Table 19). At the Ph.D. level, the first choice of Distance Learning Programme students is Humanities, followed by Finance and Business Administration, Social and Education Sciences and Pure and Applied Sciences (Table 20).

Table 18: Students’ of Distance Learning Undergraduate level programmes at Public and Private Universities discipline preferences

Programmes of Study	Number of students	Percentage
Humanities	366	38.9%
Social and Education Sciences	317	33.6%
Finance and Business Administration	259	27.5%
Total	942	100%

Table 19: Students’ of Distance Learning Masters level programmes at Public and Private Universities discipline preferences

Programmes of Study	Number of students	Percentage
Social and Education Sciences	8533	58.2%
Finance and Business Administration	4153	28.3%
Humanities	1355	9.2%
Medical and Paramedical Sciences	345	2.4%
Pure and Applied Sciences	268	1.8%
Engineering	10	0.1%
Total	14664	100%

Table 20: Students’ of Distance Learning Ph.D. level programmes at Public and Private Universities discipline preferences

Programmes of Study	Number of students	Percentage
Humanities	30	36.1%
Finance and Business Administration	28	33.7%
Social and Education Sciences	14	16.9%
Pure and Applied Sciences	11	13.3%
Total	83	100%

Chart 5 below shows the number of students who studied at Universities and Institutions of Tertiary Education over the last five academic years (2015-2016 until 2019-2020). It should be noted that over the last five academic years there has been a continuous increase in the total number of students, both at Universities and at Institutions of Tertiary Education. In particular, the academic year 2019-2020 there was an increase of 206 students in the total number of the University students compared to the number of students in the academic year 2018-2019. During the academic year 2019-2020 there is an increase in the number of students at the Institutions of Tertiary Education compared to the number of students of the academic year 2018-2019 (16.3%, increase of 1970 students).

Chart 5: Number of students at the Universities and at the Public and Private Institutions of Tertiary Education over the academic years 2015-2016, 2016-2017, 2017-2018, 2018-2019 and 2019-2020.