More youngsters opting for private college route

Some 100,000 students in Greece choose private colleges over public universities after graduating from high school, with the Hellenic Colleges Association (HCA) reporting a 10% rise in admissions in the 2022-2023 academic year.

HCA head Vassilis Daskalakis argues that this increase is due to “surge in the cost of tuition in Britain after Brexit, rather than failure to meet the minimum pass grades,” introduced in 2021 for students sitting national university entrance exams.

A study by Thessaly University, however, found that 68% of students at private colleges had not chosen this path to begin with. Of them, 54% went private after failing to make the grade for their public school of choice and 43% said that they wanted to study close to home.

According to Education Ministry data, there are 32 branches of foreign universities at 30 private colleges in Greece. Of these branches, 25 are British.