A Review of Historical Development of Student Selection and Placement for Higher Education in Turkey

Abstract

A central exam with objective criteria in student selection and placement for higher education in Turkey had not been applied until 1960s. Each higher education institution used to conduct its own exam according to the demand density. No exams were made when the applications were sometimes below the available capacity. In the 1960s, there were so many applications to higher education institutions that it exceeded the existing capacity. Upon the increase in the number of graduates from secondary education, the number of students who want to enroll in higher education increased, and thus some efforts were made to generate an examination that was acceptable by everyone, based on objective criteria, central, equal, fair, and economical, except for the oral and/or written exams of higher education institutions. In conclusion, the “Interuniversity Student Selection and Placement Center (ISSPC)” was established in 1974 so as to conduct exams for student selection and placement in higher education institutions. So, the student selection and placement exams for higher education gained a central quality based on the principles of assessment and evaluation. In this context, it is aimed to show the historical development of the student selection and placement process in higher education in Turkey in this study, which was carried out using document analysis method.