FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions and Answers
Turkey’s higher education system has expanded rapidly over the past two decades, becoming a regional academic hub for students from Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. At the core of this system are university faculties, the academic units responsible for teaching, research, and professional formation. Understanding how faculties are structured, differentiated, and evaluated is essential for informed academic and career planning.
Main Faculty Categories
Engineering and Natural Sciences
Medicine and Health Sciences
Economics, Administrative, and Social Sciences
Arts, Design, Architecture
Education and Humanities
Each faculty oversees departments, curriculum development, academic staff, laboratories, and industry engagement. For example, institutions like Bahçeşehir University, İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University, Özyeğin University are known for strong faculty-level governance and interdisciplinary integration.
Language of Instruction and Academic Accessibility
Faculty language policy is a decisive factor. Many Turkish universities offer:
Turkish-medium faculties
English-medium faculties
Bilingual academic tracks
English-taught faculties are especially common in engineering, business, health sciences, international studies. Universities such as Yeditepe University, İstanbul Bilgi University, Kadir Has University have expanded English-medium faculty offerings to support internationalization and global academic mobility.
Faculty Resources and Learning Environments
High-quality faculties are defined not only by curriculum but also by infrastructure and academic support systems. Institutions like Acıbadem Mehmet Ali Aydınlar University, Bezm-i Âlem Vakıf University demonstrate how specialized faculties, particularly in health sciences, integrate education with professional practice environments.
Geographic Distribution and Faculty Specialization
While Istanbul and Ankara host the largest concentration of universities, faculty specialization is geographically diverse.
Istanbul: Multidisciplinary faculties and international programs (İstanbul Aydın University, İstanbul Gelişim University)
Ankara: Policy, science, and technology-oriented faculties (TOBB Economy and Technology University, Ankara Medipol University)
Izmir, Antalya, Konya: Emerging regional faculty hubs with applied focus (İzmir Economy University, Antalya Bilim University, KTO Karatay University)
This distribution allows students to align academic focus with lifestyle, cost considerations, and regional industry presence.
Choosing the Right Faculty: Strategic Considerations
Students should evaluate faculties beyond university brand recognition. Critical factors include:
Faculty accreditation and recognition
Curriculum depth and progression
Teaching methodology and assessment style
Practical exposure and institutional partnerships
A faculty aligned with a student’s academic strengths and career direction consistently yields better outcomes than a generalized university choice.
Common Mistakes Students Make
Many applicants underestimate the importance of faculty-level analysis.
Common errors include:
Selecting universities without reviewing faculty curricula
Ignoring language of instruction implications
Overlooking applied training components
Applying independently without professional guidance
University faculties in Turkey represent structured, diverse, and strategically designed academic environments. Faculty-level evaluation, rather than surface-level university selection offers clearer insight into academic quality, learning outcomes, and career relevance. As Turkish higher education continues to internationalize, informed faculty selection will remain central to student success and institutional credibility.
