General information about the higher education system in the country
Higher education in Azerbaijan is typically divided into three cycles: bachelor's (undergraduate), master's (graduate), and doctoral (Ph.D.) programs. There are also specialized programs, including short-cycle higher education programs (associate degrees) and professional development courses. Currently there are 51 higher education institutions: 38 state, 11 private and 2 branches of Russian HEIs. 187 654 students (bachelor and master) were enrolled at higher education institutions in 2022 academic year (90% at public & 10% at private) including 6363 foreign students from 89 countries. Higher education institutions in Azerbaijan include universities, academies and specialized institutes. Baku, the capital city, is home to many of the universities, but there are also institutions located in other cities across the country.
Admission to higher education institutions is typically based on the results of the nationwide Unified State Examination, which assesses students in various subjects. Additionally, universities may conduct entrance exams for specific programs. Some universities also consider students' high school grades and extracurricular achievements during the admission process. Bachelor's programmes in Azerbaijan typically last for four years. Students earn a Bachelor of Arts (BA) or Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree upon completion. Master's programmes typically last for two years. Students earn a Master of Arts (MA) or Master of Science (MSc) degree upon completion. Doctoral programmes usually take three to four years to complete. Students earn a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) or equivalent degree.
The Ministry of Education and the State Examination Center in Azerbaijan are responsible for quality assurance in higher education. The Accreditation and Nostrification Office oversees the accreditation process for higher education institutions and programmes. Azerbaijani is the primary language of instruction in most programs, but there are also programs taught in English, Russian, and other languages. English-language programs are becoming increasingly popular to attract international students. Azerbaijan is involved in the Bologna Process to align its higher education system with European standards, and participates in many Erasmus+ projects in different types of actions. Various scholarships and financial aid p programmes are offered to support local and international students. Scholarships can be based on academic merit, financial need, or specific criteria set by the government or institutions.
Information on recent policy updates, major reforms and related news
On 28 July 2022, the President of Azerbaijan issued a decree on the improvement of the management of science and education. The Ministry of Education has been renamed to the Ministry of Education and Science and assigned a new broad task to design and implement the state policy in the field of science, as well as coordinate and manage scientific institutions and organizations. Two new Agencies subordinated to the Ministry have been created, namely the State Agency for "Science and Higher Education" and the State Agency for "Pre-school and general education".
Information about relevant projects and initiatives
N | Project name | Objectives | Length of project | Keywords | Links |
1 | DIRNA: Developing Research Capacity through Institutional Repositories Network in Azerbaijan | The DIRNA project aims at building capacity in the context of research output management, focusing on seven leading Azerbaijani HEIs, via establishing Open Access Institutional Repositories Network. | 2023-2025 | regional higher education, continued professional training, inclusive education, competitiveness, innovation, research & development, innovation in learning, teaching and assessment | |
2 | BeOpen: Advancing Open Science in Eastern Partnership Region | The project aims to strengthen effective, inclusive, and responsible digital transformation of education and science through the implementation of Open Science principles and values at national and institutional levels in Georgia and Azerbaijan. | 2023-2025 | competitiveness, innovation, research & development, open science, digital transformation of education and science, open science principles and values, capacity building |
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3 | ECAR: Establishment of Rectors Conference in Azerbaijan | The ultimate goal of this project is to endorse strong networking and cooperation among national universities and decision makers through the establishment of Rectors Conference. | 2022-2024 | governance, strategic planning and management of HEIs | |
4 | IQAinAR: Enhancement of internal quality assurance of education in teaching, learning and assessment in HEIs of Azerbaijan and Russia | This project aims at furthering quality culture development within HEI’s in Russia and Azerbaijan. This project will develop internal quality assurance indicators and assessment scale based on international (European Union) standards and practice. | 2021-2024 | quality assurance | |
5 | CRENG: Crisis and risks engineering for transport services | The project aims to improve the level of competences and skills in HEIs by developing new and innovative education programmes, as well as to improve the quality of higher education and enhance its relevance for the labour market and society. | 2018-2021 | curriculum development, quality assurance | |
6 | MAGNUS: Developing master programmes in mobile applications and game design at partner universities | The specific project objectives were to develop new interdisciplinary high-quality multi-track master programmes in mobile applications and game design in line with Bologna provisions and the EU best practices. | 2019-2022 | curriculum development, quality assurance | |
7 | EQAC: Establishment and development of quality assurance centers in Azerbaijani Universities | The overall aims of the project were to enhance the quality of higher education in Azerbaijan by developing a model of principles, priorities, guidelines and procedures to improve and assess the quality. | 2018-2022 | quality assurance, university governance | |
8 | Support to the Ministry of Education in further development of NQF Level 5 qualifications and strengthening the resilience of the education system in Azerbaijan | The overall objective to which this action contributes is the modernisation and quality of the education system, including vocational education and training, in a lifelong learning context.
Specific objectives (Outcomes) 1. To support relevant institutions in Azerbaijan to strengthen and further develop NQF Level 5 education and training as part of AzNQF. 2. To support relevant institutions in Azerbaijan to improve the integration of the education graduates into the labour market. 3. To strengthen the resilience of the education system in Azerbaijan through its operating model to better prepare for changing context. | 2023 - 2025 | NQF, higher education, institutional development, short-cycle education, teacher development | |
9 | Strengthening Institutional Capacities of the Agency for Quality Assurance in Education in Azerbaijan (Framework Contract) | The objectives of the project are to improve the capacities of TKTA (Education Quality Assurance Agency) to develop and introduce new mechanisms of accreditation of education institutions, and internal and external quality assurance processes at all educational levels, recognition of prior learning, as well as recognition of foreign qualifications system in accordance with advanced European experience. | 2022-2023 | ENQA, quality assurance, regulatory framework, capacity building | |
11 | ENGAGE: Enhancing sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem in higher education of Azerbaijan | The main scope of the activities to be undertaken during the project covers capacity-building initiatives in selected higher education institutions with the main goal to improve and harmonize understanding as well as practice of entrepreneurial mindset, innovative talent and high-impact expertise. | 2022-2024 | entrepreneurship, entrepreneur university |
Relevant links
- National Erasmus+ Office Azerbaijan
- Azerbaijan National Qualification Framework in 2018, #311 (Drafted with the help of the HERE experts)
- New Classification for Bachelor level based on ISCED classification in 2019, #45
- Admission of international and republic winners, in 2019, #229 (without entrance examination)
- Access between sub bachelor & bachelor levels, in 2019, #230 (without entrance examination)
- State Stipends were applied also to foreign students, in 2019, #375
- New specializations to the classification of master level (20 new specializations in 2020 & 2021 (12+8)
- Organization of secondary-specialized education in HEIs, in 2020, #158
- Classification of secondary-specialized education level, in 2020, #140 (142 study programs. Easy access from secondary-specialized education level to bachelor level)
- Accreditation of educational institutions, in 2020, #493 (European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance (ESG))