Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

Speaking at the opening of the meeting held at TOBB Twin Towers with the participation of Higher Education Council (YÖK) President Prof. Dr. Erol Özvar and representatives of foundation universities, TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that YÖK will share information about its projects for the 2022-2023 academic year just before the university registration period.

Hisarcıklıoğlu said that in previous meetings with the Council of Higher Education, they demanded that the quotas be arranged in line with the needs of the country, and continued:

“Our president resolved these issues in a short time. The removal of the minimum point barriers also had a positive effect on the quotas. This year, the occupancy rate in our universities has reached 99 percent. 850,000 candidates were placed in universities. Behind this important success lies the evaluation of needs and planning with the right vision. The contribution of our YÖK President here is very great.”

Stating that the shaping of higher education in a delicate balance, with short, medium and long-term plans with the opinions of all parties from students to academicians, investors and managers, is of great importance in terms of the correct grounding of the future, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “2022 has been and continues to be a difficult year for us. At this point, I would like to state that the higher education sector needs support and close attention more than ever.”

- YÖK President Özvar

In his speech, the President of the Council of Higher Education (YÖK), Prof. Dr. Erol Özvar, stated that it would be beneficial for foundation universities to make a discount campaign in order to prevent the hesitations caused by fees from adversely affecting the number of enrolled students.

Emphasizing that Turkey has experienced very radical changes and transformations in the field of higher education, Özvar stated that expansion and growth came at the beginning of these transformations.

- “Extra discount campaign will be useful”

Özvar stated that they received discount requests from parents regarding the fees announced by the foundation higher education institutions for this year, and said, “Even if your students prefer your universities within the framework of the conditions in the Higher Education Programs and Quotas Guide, it will be useful for you to make an extra discount campaign in order to prevent the hesitations that may arise due to the fees during the registration phase from adversely affecting the number of registered students.”

- Statement at the end of the meeting

At the end of the meeting, TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu read the joint statement. The text read by Hisarcıklıoğlu is as follows: “On 17.08.2022, the President of the Higher Education Institution and the TOBB Higher Education Council met at the TOBB Presidency and a consultative meeting was held on the important issues of our higher education life.

As a result of the meeting, taking into account the extraordinary occupancy / placement rates of the quotas this year, it was decided that our foundation universities would support our students who want to register for tuition fees to the extent of their possibilities.

At the meeting, it was decided that the housing needs of the students who will register will be evaluated by our foundation universities to the extent of the possibilities and efforts will be made for a solution. It is respectfully announced to the public.”