The number of foreign students in the Czech Republic is constantly growing
According to Radio Prague, since 2000 the number of foreigners studying at Czech universities has increased almost sixfold. While in 2000 about 7,000 young people came to study in the Czech Republic per year, today that number is more than 41,000. Given that the so-called demographically "weak" years born in the Czech Republic are now entering universities, more than 10% of students at Czech institutions are foreigners. Among foreign students, Slovaks are the most numerous. In 2014 their number was more than 22,000, followed by Russians and Ukrainians.
Currently, more than 36,000 foreigners study in Czech at public higher education institutions in the Czech Republic. Free education is undoubtedly a strong motivation for them, but far from the only one, emphasize the authors of an article in the newspaper Mladá fronta Dnes, and they give several examples.
For example, 18-year-old Ukrainian Tanya studies at the Prague Polytechnic University because the situation in her homeland is very difficult. Nevertheless, the number of foreigners who, when studying in English, are required to pay for their education - unlike the group studying in Czech - is also growing. At the end of last year there were 5,628 such students, and for some universities they represent considerable interest as a relatively new source of income.
Every fifth student studying at the First Faculty of Medicine of Charles University is a foreigner. A year of study for future doctors here costs 330,000 crowns (12,222 euros), and for dentists 360,000 crowns (13,333 euros). Young people come, for example, from India, the USA, Israel, or Sweden.
"Upon returning home, they do not have to take additional exams in those countries," said Professor Alexi Šedo, dean of the First Faculty of Medicine of Charles University, which is the oldest medical faculty in Central Europe. Students cope with the program just as well as Czechs, despite the fact that within three years they must master the Czech language to be able to communicate with patients in this language, the dean assured.
The University of Economics, Prague (VSE), the country's leading economic university, does not complain about a shortage of foreign students. Income from teaching foreigners at VSE in 2014 amounted to 41.6 million crowns (more than 1.5 million euros). For one semester of "granite of science" at this educational center, they charge 1,800 euros. The record holder for the proportion of foreign students at 23.2% in the Czech Republic is the University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno.
For comparison: Masaryk University in Brno has 19.2% foreigners, VSE has 18.8%, Charles University has 15.5% (7,414 people), and the Czech Technical University in Prague has 12.8% foreign students.