Universities in Turkey

Abstract

Universities are quite recent institutions in Turkish life. The oldest of them, Istanbul University, was established just before the First World War. It grew out of a number of schools or colleges mostly founded towards the end of the nineteenth century as a part of the efforts of the declining Ottoman Empire to westernise itself. As at present constituted, higher educational institutions in Turkey are divided into two broad classes : the universities and the higher education institutions under the Ministry of Education, such as the academies of commerce, technical high schools and teacher training colleges. The latter accept either lycee graduates or graduates of lower level technical and professional schools and train them for a period of two to four years. They all come under the direct authority of the Ministry of Education and are primarily designed to give their students professional or technical training. During the academic year 1964-65, the number of students in academies and high schools was 26,628 while the total number of students in universities was 53,316, standing roughly in a proportion of one student in colleges to two students in universities. In the following survey, I shall concentrate on the universities. The universities in Turkey include self-governing and independent universities subject to Law No. 4,936 of 1946 1 and universities established under different special laws and, in one way or another, attached to the Ministry of Education.