The Council of Higher Education (YÖK) came to the fore with the removal of the thresholds in the university entrance exams in the past few days. It was noted that foundation universities that could not fill the quota were effective behind the decision to remove the threshold. YÖK's "University Monitoring and Evaluation General Report 2021" has been published. According to the data in the report, the average occupancy rate of the quotas of universities opened in 2020 is 89,76 percent, while this rate is 93,13 percent in state universities and 83,42 percent in foundation universities.
With the removal of the threshold scores applied in the exams applied for university entrance, the debates on quality in university education came to the fore. It was noted that the foundation universities that could not fill their quotas were behind the decision to remove the thresholds. “University Monitoring and Evaluation General Report 2021” prepared by YÖK has been published. While the report includes data on many subjects, the low quota occupancy rate of foundation universities and the rates in the academic studies were remarkable.
42 UNIVERSITIES CANNOT GIVE DOCTORAL GRADUATES, 23 OF THEM WERE FOUNDATION UNIVERSITIES
In the report published by YÖK, it was stated that 7,525 students graduated from doctorate in 2020, and it was noteworthy that 42 universities did not give doctorate graduates. It was noted that 23 of the 42 universities that could not give a doctorate degree were foundation universities and 19 were state universities. While 151 universities are evaluated in the data, there are schools that do not have a doctorate program among the schools that do not have a doctorate degree.
FOUNDATION UNIVERSITIES FAILED IN PUBLIC PERSONNEL SELECTION EXAMINATION SUCCESS
While providing data on the success of university students who took the Public Personnel Selection Examination (KPSS) held in 2020, it was noteworthy that the number of universities that did not have a department in the top 5 percent of KPSS was 90. While there are 93 state universities in the top 5 percent of the KPSS results, there are 10 foundation universities with programs that fall into the 5 percent slice. While state universities came to the fore with KPSS success, foundation universities failed.
FOUNDATION UNIVERSITIES LEFT BEHIND IN ALES EXAM RANKING OF SUCCESS
According to the results of the Academic Personnel and Graduate Education Entrance Exams (ALES) that is entered to start academic education, the report included data on the status of universities, and it was noted that the number of universities that did not have a program that entered the top 5 percent in the ALES exam applied in 2020 was 98. In the ALES exam, there are 57 universities that cannot enter the 5 percent among the foundation universities that have 17 programs that are in the top 5 percent. In state universities, 78 universities are in the top 5 percent of ALES.
FOUNDATION UNIVERSITIES HAVE THE LOWEST RATE IN QUOTA OCCUPANCY RATES
In the report, which stated that the quota opened in 2020 was 89,76 percent, it was noted that the number of universities in Turkey that filled 100 percent of their quotas was 15. It was underlined that there was a university that the occupancy rate is less than 50 percent. While the quota occupancy rates of state universities were announced as 93,13 percent, it was remarkable that the occupancy rate of foundation universities was 83,47 percent, where the allegations that they put pressure on removing the thresholds in the university exams because they could not fill their quotas fully. In the report, which includes the data on the schools with the lowest quota on a university basis, Alanya Hamdullah Emin Paşa University has the lowest occupancy rate with 34,48 percent, followed by the University of Turkish Aeronautical Association with an occupancy rate of 50,78 percent, and Istanbul Okan University with 53,99 percent, Antalya Akev University with 57 percent, and Istanbul Esenyurt University with an occupancy rate of 58,35 percent.
NOT ONE PUBLICATION PER ACADEMICIAN
The number of publications published in peer-reviewed journals in the report revealed the state of the academy. According to the report, the average number of publications in national peer-reviewed journals is 198. However, the average number of publications per instructor is only 0,20. The number of publications in international refereed journals is 401, and the average number of publications per instructor is 0,40. In the number of publications published in national peer-reviewed journals and published in international peer-reviewed journals, there was not even one publication per academician. While foundation universities lag behind state universities in terms of published publications, 7 academicians from foundation universities prepared 1 publication in publications published in national refereed journals.
NO INDUSTRIAL PROJECT IN 71 UNIVERSITIES
The report also included the number of industrial projects where projects to be used in industries that have an important place in the development of the country were created. In the report, according to the number of projects carried out by students in the fields of science, engineering and health and carried out in partnership with the industry, 5,689 projects were carried out in 2020, while no industrial projects were carried out in 71 universities.