60 thousand fewer students! AIS publishes data, comparison with 4 years ago! The number of graduates in pre-university education decreases

The decline in the number of students completing school is becoming a challenge for the pre-university education system.

According to official AIS data, in the 2024–2025 school year, a total of 82,640 students and university students graduated from public and non-public institutions in the country, marking a slight decrease compared to the previous year. However, the main weight of this trend is driven by the decline in graduates in primary (9-year) and upper secondary education.

In the overall analysis, higher education leads with 35.0% of total graduates, followed by 9-year education with 33.5% and upper secondary education with 31.4%, while post-secondary non-tertiary education accounts for a negligible share of only 0.1%.

Pre-university education, 1.5% drop in graduates

The biggest concern comes from the pre-university sector, where a total of 53,701 students graduated, a figure that represents a 1.5% decrease compared to the previous school year.

This decline is reflected in both basic education levels. Specifically, 9-year education recorded 27,682 graduates, with a slight decrease of 0.1% compared to 2023–2024. At this level, girls accounted for 47.9% of students, while the vast majority (89.3%) completed their schooling in public institutions.

Meanwhile, the decline is even more pronounced in upper secondary education, where 25,925 students graduated, marking a 3.0% decrease compared to the previous year.

Girls slightly dominated this level with 51.3% of the total, while only 12.3% of students chose vocational education, where female participation remains quite low at 15.7%. In secondary schools as well, the public sector holds the main share with 83.9% of graduates.

Higher education on a positive trend

In contrast to schools, higher education has shown a positive trend. During the 2024–2025 academic year, 28,939 students graduated from universities in the country, marking a 2.6% increase compared to the previous year.

Of these, more than half (50.6%) graduated from Bachelor programs, while 43.4% completed Master studies. Girls continue to dominate at university level, accounting for 65.3% of all graduates. Public institutions also remain the primary choice, producing 66.6% of graduates.

As for fields of study preferred by Albanian students, the trend is led by administrative and medical profiles. Around one quarter of students (23.3%) chose “Business, administration and law.”

This is closely followed by “Health and welfare” with 22.4%, while “Engineering, manufacturing and construction” ranks third with 14.0% of total graduates.

"KORÇA BOOM"