Rise in transfers putting strain on bigger universities

Looser regulations governing student transfers between universities introduced under the previous leftist-led government have resulted in a steady rise in first-year student populations, putting a strain on resources at Greece’s most popular universities, writes Apostolos Lakasas for ekathimerini.com.

Figures show a steep increase in transfers over the past four years, to 10,130 in the 2019-20 academic year, from 8,982 in 2018-19, 7,574 in 2017-18 and 7,258 in the 2016-17 academic year.

The University of Athens, which had admitted 7,836 new students for the current academic year, saw its first-year student body boosted by an additional 1,600 transfers. Similarly, the National Technical University of Athens added 410 students to its initial first-year intake of 1,256 – an increase of 33% – while the Athens University of Economics and Business saw its first-year student population grow 25% with 409 transfers. At the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki – the country’s biggest – transfers added 1,870 students to an initial total of 6,554 first years.
Full report on the ekathimerini.com site