- Higher Education Council chief says 180-credit model would speed students’ entry into working life, as the government pushes to encourage marriage and childbirth
ANKARA 8 NOVEMBER 2026 (Agencies) – Turkey is preparing to shorten undergraduate degrees from four years to three, citing falling fertility and later marriage, Council of Higher Education President Erol Özvar said on Saturday.
Özvar told CNN Türk’s weekend programme, as reported by the Gazete Oksijen news website, that universities had been preparing for the change for a year. The council, known as YÖK, oversees Turkey’s universities. The model Özvar described would allow undergraduate degrees to be completed with 180 credits over three years, drawing on examples from Europe. “Fertility rates have fallen. Marriage is being delayed,” he said.
Özvar argued that lengthy education delays young people’s entry into working life. Turkey requires 12 years of schooling, followed by four years for most undergraduate degrees, and military service, internships and job searches can delay men’s entry into the workforce until they are 26 or 27, he said.
He also called for fewer courses and changes to what universities teach, saying programmes should give students more practical experience and develop their skills in artificial intelligence and digital technology. Universities should pay more attention to graduates’ employment prospects, he argued, adding that programmes whose graduates struggle to find jobs are being closed while new programmes are being introduced.
The proposal is at the preparatory stage, and Özvar did not give an implementation date in the remarks carried by Turkish media. His comments connect the proposed education changes with the government’s effort to encourage marriage and childbirth.
Turkey’s fertility rate fell to 1.42 children per woman in 2025, according to official figures released in May. The rate, which measures the average number of children a woman is expected to bear during her reproductive years, has been below the population replacement level of about 2.1 children per woman since 2017. The average age at first birth was 27.5 in 2025. President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an has repeatedly urged families to have at least three children, and his government has designated 2026 to 2035 the “Decade of Family and Population”, with encouraging marriage and raising fertility among its priorities.