Greece as a global education hub

Does History repeat itself? 

A simple answer: Possibly!

But in the case of Greece and its efforts over the last few years to establish itself as a Higher Education global education hub, this may well prove true. 

Going back to historical times, ancient Greece was the education powerhouse of the known world. Sciences, Philosophy, Music, the Arts and other fields flourished around the 5th century BCE and constitute the building stones of Western civilization.

Conditions in traditionally established education destinations, related to high tuition fees, increased cost of living, as well as various legal obstacles, such as restrictions in student visas, have created a vacuum for numerous potential students. Adding to this, the significant number of Greeks studying abroad.

Therefore, it seems to be the right moment to pursue this goal.

Nowadays, massive developments are taking place in the 27 state universities and the private colleges of the country. 

Specifically, the current government is focused on improving the public higher education institutions through joint degrees with foreign universities, as well as increasing the English language degrees in Medicine and other fields.  

Due to the continuous expansion of the country’s private colleges, Greece currently leads the continent in Transnational education and ranks 6th globally.  Among them, Metropolitan College is Europe’s largest TNE institution, through its collaboration with 4 British universities. 

The government plans to allow the establishment and operation of private universities by bypassing the infamous article 16 of the constitution that did not allow this. This will further enhance the country’s bid towards attracting students.

Apart from the developments stated previously, there exist numerous conditions that will enhance Greece as a student destination. These range from being a safe country, a member of the EU, a year-round venue combining fair weather, historical monuments, tourist attractions and state-of-the-art infrastructure. One should also consider the attractive tuition fees and overall affordable cost of living, compared to most EU countries, which is of high importance for potential students. 

The outlook is bright and –all things being equal- history might eventually repeat itself.

Written by Robert Pefanis.

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