In the 2025/26 academic year, universities in Bulgaria are clearly growing in popularity: they enroll almost 17,000 foreign students (almost 8.5% of the total number), 3.9% more than a year earlier. This data was published by the National Statistical Institute of Bulgaria (NSI).
Most people who study in Bulgaria come from the following countries:
- Greece — 17%,
- United Kingdom (!) — 13.6%,
- Ukraine — 12.4%,
- Germany — 8.9%,
- Italy — 5.7%.
Among doctoral students, the picture is slightly different: foreigners make up about 12% of the total number (roughly 715 people), and they represent the following countries:
- China = 35.7%,
- Germany — 12.7%,
- Greece = 11.7%.
In 2025, graduation from Bulgarian universities and higher schools reached 48,000 people, almost evenly split between bachelor's and master's programs. The most popular fields across the country as a whole are:
- Business and management — 23.1%,
- Education — 15.5%,
- Healthcare — 9.4%,
- Engineering — 9%,
- Social sciences, behavioral disciplines — 8.8%.
