Update on the Regulation on Recognition and Equivalence of Foreign Higher Education Diplomas in Turkey

In March 2024, Amendments to the Regulation on Recognition and Equivalence of Foreign Higher Education Diplomas prepared by the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) entered into force after being published in the Official Gazette. These amendments bring important innovations especially for students who completed their secondary education in Turkey.

15 March 2024 Amendments: With the amendments made in March, it was stated that the students who will apply for equivalence to the programmes in Turkey, for which the success ranking requirement is required, must meet the minimum success ranking requirement of the relevant programme in the central placement exam conducted by ÖSYM (Centre for Assessment, Selection and Placement) in the year of enrolment. According to this regulation:

• Students who have completed their secondary education in Turkey and enrolled in higher education institutions abroad, must document that they meet the minimum success ranking requirement specified for the relevant programme in the central placement exam conducted by ÖSYM in the year they enrolled in the programme in order to obtain equivalence when they return to Turkey.
• Applications for equivalence that do not fulfil this requirement will be rejected.

28 March 2024 Amendments:  The Council of Higher Education has published its procedures and principles in order to eliminate the hesitations arising in the implementation of the amendment made as of 15 March 2024. With the new amendments, it is clearly stated for which programmes success ranking will be required in equivalence applications. According to this:

• Students who have completed their secondary education in Turkey and who will apply for equivalence to medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, and law programmes must have met the minimum success ranking requirement of the programme in the ÖSYM central placement exam of the relevant year.
• Equivalence applications of students enrolled in higher education institutions abroad who cannot meet this requirement will not be accepted.

Exception for Previous Applicants: Those who enrolled in the diploma programme before the effective date of the new regulation will be exempted from these regulations.

Procedures and Principles Regarding the New Regulations: In order to eliminate the hesitations arising from the regulations made in March, the following procedures and principles were determined:

1. Institutions Covering International Rankings:

• Graduates of medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and law programmes of universities ranked in the top 400 will be able to obtain equivalence directly.
• Graduates from other programmes of the universities ranked in the top 1000 will be able to apply for equivalence without the obligation to take the central placement exam.

2. Institutions Not in the Top 1000:

• Graduates of medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and law programmes must take the central placement exam and meet the success ranking requirement.
• For other programmes, it will not be required to take the central placement exam.

3. Programmes That Do Not Require Ranking:

• No restrictive regulations will be applied for these programmes and equivalence applications will be examined individually.

These regulations aim to make the recognition process for students studying abroad more transparent and systematic. These steps of YÖK play an important role in maintaining higher education standards in Turkey and ensuring international recognition.

Autor: Emre Kurt