Over 70% of students study on a contract basis

The number of students admitted to higher education establishments this year is by 15.7% higher than last year, Info-Prim Neo has learned from the National Bureau of Statistics. The students in the 33 universities of Moldova totaled 107,800 at the start of the 2010/11 academic year. Over two thirds of them are in full-time education. The female students make up 56.8%, a slight increase compared with the previous years. The students studying on a contract basis represent 71.3% of the total number. 82.4% of the students study at the 19 state universities, while the rest at private ones. As many as 84,500 students or 78.4% of the total study in the official language, 21,000 or 19.5% in Russian, 1,400 in English and less than 1,000 in other languages like French, German and Ukrainian. More students chose social sciences, economics and law. The number of students at the faculties of exact sciences and natural sciences has decreased. A number of 1,400 foreign students study in Moldova. They are mainly from Israel, Ukraine, Russia and Turkey.