Since 2013, the influx of students in Hungary has increased by more than two-thirds

According to a spokesperson for the Hungarian Ministry of Innovation and Technology, the government’s policy to improve the international role of institutions across the country has resulted in a more than two-thirds ruse in the number of foreign students in Hungary since 2013.

The ministry quotes state secretary Tamas Schanda as saying that the number of international students enrolled in Hungarian universities increased to more than 38,000 in the 2019/20 academic year, almost reaching the 40,000 targets set by Hungary’s Minister for Innovation and Technology Laszlo Palkovics in 2014.

The majority of International students settled in Budapest, Szeged, Debrecen, and Pécs during 2019/20, according to a report by Tempus Public Foundation, a non-profit organization supervised by the Ministry of Innovation and Technology that provides mobility in Hungary through the programs it manages.

According to Erudera.com, these students’ spending in Hungary’s south-western area and Baranya County exceeded one percent of GDP.

Despite the fact that the pandemic has had an impact on the number of international students in Hungary, Schanda is optimistic that the reopening will bring in more foreign students.

The ministry also emphasized the significance of the government’s Stipendium Hungaricum scholarship program in recruiting more overseas students to Hungary.

Nearly half of international students, according to Schanda, believe that a degree earned in Hungary has more value than one earned in their native countries.

According to Statista, the number of international students in Hungary has been steadily increasing since the 2009/2010 academic year. In that year, barely 14,000 students in the country were pursuing higher education.

Hungary recently signed a strategic partnership with Shanghai’s Fudan University to establish a branch campus in Budapest, which opponents viewed as contentious because Fudan University is regarded as an exceptional university.

In addition, beginning in the autumn of this year, around 70% of the students in Hungary will attend a privately supported university, according to a measure passed by the Hungarian parliament that transfers universities from public to private foundations.

In one academic year, international students in Hungary spend 111.2 billion forints million on consumption and over 63 billion forints on tuition fees.