Armenian universities report zero applications in multiple arts and humanities programs early in admissions cycle

Ten days into Armenia’s 2026 university admissions cycle, a number of academic programs, primarily in the arts, humanities and cultural studies, have yet to receive a single application.

The Assessment and Testing Center opened the application process on April 15, enabling prospective students to select universities, academic programs, and relevant entrance examinations. The application window remains open through May 10. However, early data reveal stark disparities in demand across disciplines, Panorama.am has revealed.

Programs in law, international relations, dentistry, general medicine, accounting and economics continue to dominate applicant preferences. In contrast, many culture- and arts-related disciplines are seeing minimal to no engagement.

At Yerevan State University, no first-choice applications have been recorded for programs in food safety and art studies. Several other departments, including mathematics, mechanics, cultural studies, theology and sociology, have attracted only one applicant each. By comparison, the university’s law faculty has drawn 123 first-choice applicants for 140 available places.

A similar trend is evident at the National Polytechnic University of Armenia, where programs such as chemical technology, computational linguistics, environmental protection, thermal energy, electrical systems design, automation, mechanical systems design, metallurgy, instrumentation systems and mineral processing have received no applications so far.

At the Armenian State University of Economics, all faculties have registered some level of interest, though the environmental protection and natural resource management program has drawn just four applicants.

The situation is particularly concerning at the Armenian State Pedagogical University named after Khachatur Abovyan. No applications have been submitted for a wide range of programs, including technology and entrepreneurship, social sciences, art theory, history and management, cultural studies, museum and heritage preservation, journalism, library and information science, environmental science, and arts and crafts.

At Brusov State University, there have likewise been no first-choice applications for several language and pedagogy programs, including linguistics in French, German, and Italian, as well as professional pedagogy tracks in multiple languages and computational linguistics.

Meanwhile, Yerevan State Medical University has seen applications across all faculties, though interest in its General Medicine in the Armed Forces program remains limited, with only seven applicants in the first ten days.