Armenia’s top university choices revealed

Armenia’s most sought-after university programs this year are concentrated in medicine, economics and law, while English and mathematics remain the most popular entrance examination subjects, according to officials from the country’s Assessment and Testing Center.

Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Deputy Director Karо Nasibyan said Assessment and Testing Center reported the highest number of applicants among Armenian universities for Yerevan State University, followed by Armenian State University of Economics and National Polytechnic University of Armenia.

They were followed by Yerevan State Medical University after Mkhitar Heratsi, Brusov State University and Armenian State Pedagogical University after Khachatur Abovyan.

Nasibyan said English continued to be the most popular subject among university applicants for the past several years, including this year. A total of 7,222 applicants took the English examination in January, while another 5,787 are expected to sit the test in June.

Mathematics ranked second with 5,467 applicants, followed by Armenian language and literature with 4,232. Biology attracted 1,504 applicants, chemistry 1,299, Armenian history 1,288 and physics 998. All remaining subjects had fewer than 400 applicants each.

Among university degree programs, dentistry at Yerevan State Medical University after Mkhitar Heratsi remained the most competitive course, with 2.9 applicants per available place.

The university’s general medicine program ranked second with 2.3 applicants per place, followed by law at Yerevan State University with 2.1 applicants per place.

Nasibyan said environmental design had also emerged recently as a notable area of growing interest among students.

At Armenian State University of Economics, economics programs were attracting roughly two applicants per place, followed by accounting and finance. He noted that five of the country’s 10 most in-demand degree programs are offered by the economics university.

At the same time, Nasibyan highlighted a widening imbalance in higher education demand, saying 53 academic programs across 22 universities had only one applicant each, while 119 programs across 31 universities had received no applications at all.