2020 Cyprus Country Report
The 2020 Cyprus Country Report features in-depth articles on the economy, foreign direct investment, international trade and headquartering as well as detailed sector profiles and insights from Cyprus’ 100 most influential political, economic and business leaders shaping the future of their country and its industries.
The 2020 Cyprus Country Report features in-depth articles on the economy, foreign direct investment, international trade and headquartering as well as detailed sector profiles and insights from Cyprus’ 100 most influential political, economic and business leaders shaping the future of their country and its industries.
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Education<br />
Sector Profile<br />
<strong>Cyprus</strong>’ public and private universities, all<br />
part of the Erasmus programme, have rapidly<br />
expanded their offering and continue to forge<br />
new links and collaborative agreements with renowned<br />
universities abroad. Distance learning<br />
is another growth area, with UNIC a pioneer in<br />
this field. Its medical schools offer busy working<br />
doctors worldwide the opportunity to take master’s<br />
degrees online in family medicine and in<br />
public health.<br />
MEDICAL SCHOOLS<br />
Medical schools are a relatively new and growing<br />
aspect of the <strong>Cyprus</strong> educational sphere. In the<br />
last decade, <strong>Cyprus</strong> has gone from no medical<br />
schools to three programmes offered by Cypriot<br />
universities. These are proving popular with both<br />
local and international students, as academic<br />
standards in <strong>Cyprus</strong> rival those of well-established<br />
British and American medical schools and<br />
students graduate with qualifications recognised<br />
across the EU and beyond.<br />
UNIC, which established the island’s first<br />
medical school in 2011, did so in partnership<br />
with London University and its prestigious teaching<br />
hospital, St George’s. It offers a four-year<br />
programme for graduate-level entry students,<br />
knowing this would appeal particularly to students<br />
from the US, which is the world’s biggest<br />
exporter of medical students, but also to regional<br />
markets such as Israel and Lebanon which have<br />
decent numbers of graduate-entry students.<br />
UNIC has since launched a second medical<br />
school, with a six-year programme for high<br />
school leavers. The approximately 650 students at<br />
UNIC’s two medical schools come from almost<br />
60 countries, proving its international appeal.<br />
Following suit, EUC established a medical<br />
school four years ago with a six-year course that<br />
has attracted students from Israel, Germany,<br />
Iran, Austria, Greece and <strong>Cyprus</strong>, among others.<br />
In 2017, it also launched a dentistry school. The<br />
mostly state-funded UCY established its medical<br />
school six years ago and graduated its first students<br />
in 2019. It also offers parallel courses in<br />
English to cater to 100 students a year.<br />
<strong>Cyprus</strong>’ main competition for medical students<br />
comes from eastern and central European<br />
countries where tuition fees and living costs are<br />
often lower, and some of the universities have<br />
hundreds of years of heritage. However, many<br />
of these universities sign up overseas students<br />
knowing that after four years they cannot provide<br />
enough clinical training slots for all students to<br />
complete their courses. Whereas, according to<br />
UCY all the medical schools in <strong>Cyprus</strong> operate<br />
on the basis of having clinical training spots for<br />
all students right from the beginning.<br />
INVESTING IN EDUCATION<br />
The location of <strong>Cyprus</strong> as the EU’s easternmost<br />
outpost and bridge to Asia and Africa also gives<br />
<strong>Cyprus</strong> a natural advantage in attracting overseas<br />
students and investment from foreign universities.<br />
For example, keen to recruit more students from<br />
Russia, the Middle East and China, the aforementioned<br />
British UCLan chose <strong>Cyprus</strong> as the site for<br />
its very first overseas campus almost a decade ago,<br />
built near Larnaca at a cost of €53 million. The potential<br />
for further growth and foreign investment<br />
is reflected in the building boom of the last few<br />
years of universities expanding and creating new<br />
departments, building new luxury and high-tech<br />
accommodation to house increasing numbers<br />
of students with facilities unlike anything seen<br />
in Europe so far, featuring rooftop pools, restaurants,<br />
gyms and private gardens. For example, the<br />
UNIC residences are the result of a €60 million investment<br />
constituting the largest university infrastructure<br />
investment to date in <strong>Cyprus</strong> – and once<br />
completed claims to be one of the most functional<br />
student hubs in Europe.<br />
However, in order to maintain the momentum<br />
of attracting foreign students <strong>Cyprus</strong> must<br />
improve its cumbersome visa application for<br />
non-EU nationals. Otherwise, the universities<br />
have few complaints and value the government’s<br />
assistance in forging new academic and research<br />
links and organising visits from international accreditation<br />
agencies.<br />
The global market for anglophone higher education<br />
geared at internationally mobile students is<br />
estimated to be up to €50 billion, and it is growing<br />
at 5% per year. <strong>Cyprus</strong> is well placed to capitalise<br />
on this provided it continues to develop its educational<br />
offering. Part of this effort is the government’s<br />
dedication to support this sector along with<br />
its investment promotion agency, Invest <strong>Cyprus</strong>,<br />
who in cooperation with the Ministry of Education<br />
and Cypriot universities launched a new campaign<br />
in 2019 branded ‘Study in <strong>Cyprus</strong>’. The campaign<br />
is a concerted effort to promote <strong>Cyprus</strong> as an educational<br />
centre of excellence and provide information<br />
on studying, living and working in <strong>Cyprus</strong>.<br />
<strong>Cyprus</strong> has always valued, and continues to<br />
invest in, education and today the innovative drive<br />
of <strong>Cyprus</strong>’ universities is enriching the island’s<br />
human capital and enhancing its attraction as an<br />
international centre for business and education.<br />
With expanding global links, spin-off projects and<br />
business ventures in multiple sectors, these institutions<br />
are bringing together a multinational and<br />
multidisciplinary community that is supporting<br />
the development of <strong>Cyprus</strong> into a veritable knowledge<br />
hub. n<br />
Discover more at www.cyprusprofile.com<br />
I see more<br />
programmes<br />
transitioning<br />
into online<br />
delivery<br />
methods.<br />
Several education institutions,<br />
including universities, have<br />
increased their online offerings<br />
opening new possibilities to<br />
attract a global audience. The<br />
online approach also provides<br />
solutions to individuals<br />
who lack the time to attend<br />
face-to-face classes or who<br />
cannot combine education<br />
with working hours. For<br />
certain, the use of technology<br />
in education will continue<br />
to play an important role for<br />
local education institutions.<br />
Marios Siathas<br />
CEO<br />
European Institute of<br />
Management & Finance<br />
PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES<br />
The University of <strong>Cyprus</strong><br />
The Open University<br />
of <strong>Cyprus</strong><br />
The <strong>Cyprus</strong> University<br />
of Technology<br />
PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES<br />
European University - <strong>Cyprus</strong><br />
Frederick University - <strong>Cyprus</strong><br />
Neapolis University - <strong>Cyprus</strong><br />
University of Nicosia - <strong>Cyprus</strong><br />
University of Central<br />
Lancashire - <strong>Cyprus</strong><br />
78 <strong>Country</strong> <strong>Report</strong> CYPRUS <strong>2020</strong>