English-language university degrees going strong
The first batch of students will be graduating in the coming days from Athens University’s English-language programs, as Greece’s effort to become more of an international education hub gains momentum.
Launched in 2020, the BA in Archaeology, History and Ancient Greek Literature was the first undergraduate program to be taught in English at a Greek public university, while another three have been launched since, bringing much-needed funds.
At Thessaloniki’s Aristotle University, “about 4.5 million euros have flowed into the coffers so far, 50% allocated to the recruitment of new scientists, 30% to improving the infrastructure and 20% in scholarships,” says Nikos Foroglou, a professor of neurosurgery and coordinator of Aristotle’s English-language undergraduate program in medicine.
Members of Greece’s diaspora are an important pool of young people to whom the English-speaking undergraduate programs are addressed, but the four existing programs have students from about 80 countries, including the United States, China, Japan, India, Albania, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Turkey, Serbia, North Macedonia, the Netherlands, and Cyprus.
According to National Higher Education Authority data, another eight programs are expected to start in six different universities in the new academic year starting in October, offering degrees in subjects as varied as Artificial Intelligence and Data Science, Pharmacy, Greek Studies, Accounting and Finance, Medicine, Economic Studies and Sustainable Development and Creative Writing.
