Education and Science, Estonia, EU – Baltic States

In Tallinn Technical University (TTU), the number of new foreign students grew this year by 33.8% as compared to last year, to 127. The university offers 12 different study plans in English and the number applications was highest for cyber defence and legal sciences.

In the University of Tallinn, 273 students from 47 states study this autumn semester, 120 of them started their studies this autumn, said foreign students coordinator Merje Song. During the whole of the previous academic year, 309 foreign students studied in the university and the number will be bigger this year, she said, adding that the exact figure isn’t known yet as students who will come to the university for the spring semester have not all sent their applications.

Tartu University accepted 136 foreign students versus 92 last year. The number of people accepted to master’s degree studies has increased by over two times, said the university’s international studies chief specialist Ülle Tensing. She said that the most popular subjects were software technology and semiotics. A total of nearly 650 foreign students altogether study in the university.

In Estonian Music and Theatre Academy, there are 73 foreign students this autumn, more than a half of them, 43 are Chinese.

Estonian Student Bodies Union bard deputy chairman Eimar Veldre said that although no one has researched why foreign students come to study in Estonia, one of the reasons may be that North European university education is valued highly in the world and we are in its influence sphere. Since tuition is among the highest in Europe in Estonia, students are unlikely to come here because of low study costs, he said. He added that many foreign students study in Estonia for a short period of time and then go back home or to some other country.