Over the years, Turkey has been gaining attention as a tourist destination and a rising center of academic excellence. Although most Turkish universities are relatively young, they have been quickly gaining traction as they earn their respective ranks in international assessments. Most of these institutions also participate in international student exchanges, such as the Erasmus+ program.

There are universities in Turkey whose mode of instruction is solely English or English and Turkey. These make it convenient for many international students to transition into life in a foreign country. It also allows them to explore the culture while studying. In this article, we will be looking at the best English-taught universities in Turkey!

Top English-taught Universities in Turkey for International Students

1. Boğaziçi University

Boğaziçi University began as Robert College in 1863 in Istanbul, Turkey. It is the oldest American college to be founded outside the United States. Since its establishment, the primary language of instruction has been English. However, students may still get the opportunity to learn other tongues as they also teach Turkish, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Ancient and Modern Greek, Armenian, Korean, and Japanese, among others.

Boğaziçi University is an excellent English-taught university in Turkey that offers more than 130 undergraduate, master’s, and Ph.D. programs through its faculties, schools, and institutions. It welcomes thousands of students annually and around 400 international students from agreements with other universities.

Many undergraduate programs and courses are being offered at Boğaziçi University, including Turkish language, literature, and history; Western languages and literature; molecular biology and genetics; chemistry; mathematics; computer education; and engineering. You may also pursue graduate studies in geodesy, geophysics, environmental sciences, engineering, social sciences, and humanities. These programs may or may not have thesis requirements.

2. Middle East Technical University

Middle East Technical University is another excellent institution in Turkey whose primary language of instruction is English. It is a state university in Ankara, Turkey, founded in 1956. Middle East Technical University is highly competitive and accepts only the best performers in the National University Examination.

Annually, thousands of students enroll in the institution, and international students may also join exchange student programs to get the chance to study at Middle East Technical University for a semester or year. This institution offers undergraduate, master’s, and doctorate programs. They follow a two-semester academic year and offer summer school and international summer school for international students.

One may pursue many top-tier programs at Middle East Technical University, such as their engineering programs, which are accredited by the United States Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology. All undergraduate engineering programs are accredited by the said agency. Besides engineering, they also offer architecture, arts, applied sciences, economic and administrative sciences, education, social sciences, informatics, marine sciences, and mathematics programs. They have international joint degree programs.

3. Koç University

Koç University is a non-profit, English-taught, and a private university in Istanbul, Turkey. It is a young institution founded in 1993 and supported by the Vehbi Koç Foundation. It is regarded as among Turkey’s best educational institutions, especially in medicine, engineering, science, social sciences, and administrative sciences.

Like Boğaziçi University and Middle East Technical University, Koç University also teaches in English. Indeed, all its undergraduate and graduate programs are delivered in the said language. They also take pride in their stellar faculty who had experience teaching in Ivy League and top universities in Europe and Asia.

Koç University offers 22 undergraduate programs in the sciences, administrative sciences, economics, engineering, social sciences, humanities, law, medicine, and nursing. Besides these, students may also have opportunities to take up double major, minor, certificate, and track programs. Graduate students may take up a thesis or non-thesis master’s and Ph.D. programs in business, social sciences and humanities, sciences and engineering, and health sciences.

4. Istanbul Bilgi University

Istanbul Bilgi University, one of Turkey’s first foundation universities, is a private institution established in 1996. It abides by its motto ‘non scholae, sed vitae discimus’ or learning not for school but for life as it molds its thousands of students towards their life paths. The institution currently has three campuses in Kuştepe, Dolapdere, and Santralistanbul.

Turkey’s top university’s mode of instruction is also in English. Hence, students need to present proof of English proficiency; otherwise, they will have to enroll in the English Preparatory Program before their academic studies. Istanbul Bilgi University also has its Global Talent Management Center, through which students get to learn about opportunities around the world, such as Erasmus+ and bilateral programs.

Bilgi University offers associate degree, undergraduate, master’s, and doctorate programs. Undergraduate programs include advertising, architecture, aviation management, business administration, engineering, and digital game design. They also have undergraduate honors programs like economics and finance. For their master’s degrees, they have online programs such as e-MBA and Human Resources Management. As for doctorate programs, you can get a Ph.D. in business administration, communication, economics, political science, private law, or public law from Istanbul Bilgi University.

5. TOBB University of Economics and Technology

TOBB University of Economics and Technology is another non-profit private university and one of the best English-taught institutions in Turkey. It is in Ankara, Turkey, and was established in 2003, making it much younger than the other universities. They also have a campus in Uzbekistan, which only began accepting students in 2020.

The university’s language of instruction is Turkish and English. This allows their students to be exposed to both languages. Students take an English proficiency exam and must take the English preparatory class, with the exemption of select programs.

TOBB University of Economics and Technology’s various departments and faculties offer a wide range of undergraduate and graduate courses. Students may take up programs in engineering, medicine, economics, administrative sciences, law, architecture and design, science and literature, foreign languages, social sciences, health sciences,

 

We hope that this article on the Best English-taught Schools in Turkey was helpful. To know more information on studying abroad, check out the Available Programs for International Students.

About the Author: Hyun Lee

Hyun is the founder at Global Scholarships. He has received a full-tuition scholarship at Birmingham-Southern College as well as $1,000 Burger King Scholarship for his undergraduate degree and has been offered a fully funded scholarship consisting of tuition, living stipend, and health insurance for computer science Ph.D. program at North Carolina State University. Read more about his scholarship journey here.

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