530 thousand children in schools: Decline in pre-university education, rise in higher education

During the 2024–2025 school year, a total of 528,602 students were enrolled across various levels of the Albanian education system, according to INSTAT. This marks a decrease of nearly 60,000 students compared to four years ago.

The breakdown shows that:

12.5% are enrolled in kindergartens

47% in 9-year basic education

17% in upper secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education

23.1% in higher education

In pre-university education, there are 405,989 students, representing a 2.6% decrease from the previous school year.

Meanwhile, in higher education, 122,613 students are enrolled for the 2024–2025 academic year — a 2.1% increase compared to the previous year. This figure is nearly the same as in the 2020–2021 academic year.

Of these, 70.9% attend public higher education institutions. In the “Bachelor” cycle alone, 68,080 students were registered, with little change in the distribution across study fields.

As in previous years, the most popular field of study remains “Business, administration, and law,” accounting for roughly a quarter of all students. Other preferred fields include “Health,” followed by “Engineering, manufacturing, and construction.”

“KORÇA BOOM”