International Student Selection Process in Turkey: Characteristics, Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the characteristics, problems and possible solutions in the international student selection process faced by higher education institutions in Turkey. The study group is composed of academic and administrative executives who are involved in the foreign student selection process of 5 universities in the Aegean region, the Marmara region, the Western Black Sea region, the Eastern Black Sea region and the Eastern Anatolia region. The research is designed with a case study of qualitative research methods. Semi-structured interview form was used in data collection process and data was analysed by content analysis method. According to the results of the research, the most common cases of higher education institutions in foreign student selection process are; management process of application processes, organization and transparency problems in exams, lack of cooperation between institutions, false document and document verification problem, inability to follow the applicants at the national level, high record deletion, quota of not filling the quota, preference infinity, special talent exam problem, shortcomings of legislation, central database deprivation, lack of centralized control and lack of personnel. Possible solutions have been developed in order to eliminate these problems.