Page 50 - Azerbaijan State University of Economics

THE JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC SCIENCES: THEORY AND PRACTICE, V.77, # 2, 2020, pp. 40-60

Table 4: Number of students studying in non-state higher education institutions (at
the beginning of the academic year)

Number of students

30000
25000
20000
15000
10000
5000
0

Source: Statistical Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan

INCREASE IN COST OF UNIVERSITY DEGREE

One of the trends observed in the Azerbaijani higher education market is related to
cost of education, particularly to tuition fees in higher education institutions. There
has been an increase in tuition fees over the past years.
There are a number of reasons for changes in tuition fees. Examples include the
improvement in the quality of education offered, the completeness of the admissions
plan, and other factors. Tuition fees in public higher education institutions are
applied on the basis of two criteria. Tuition fees for students studying on the basis of
the state order are paid to the relevant state universities in the state budget. Tuition
fees for students studying on a fee basis are determined by the universities and
agreed with the Ministry of Education (Ministry of Education, 2020). In general, a
comparison of the last 10-13 academic years shows that tuition fees have doubled
and, in some cases, even more in certain degree programmes.

For example, as of July 2017, the tuition fee at the Law Faculty of Baku State
University (BSU) was increased by AZN 500 compared to the previous year. Tuition
fees at Khazar University, a private university, were AZN 4,500-5,000, and at
Azerbaijan University, AZN 3,000, which is represented an increase compared to
previous years. However, according to 2017 data, some universities, which could not fill
the planned places in the previous year, reduced tuition fees. Such practices took place
at Odlar Yurdu University and Western Caspian Universities (Moderator.az, 2017).

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