Cyprus is seeking to turn its rapidly expanding higher education sector into a stronger international academic and research hub, with new English-language degrees, artificial intelligence tools to anticipate labour-market needs and greater use of microcredentials among the government’s priorities through 2029.
Education, Sport and Youth Minister Athena Michaelidou said Cyprus higher education has become one of the most dynamic sectors of the economy, with student numbers almost doubling over the past decade and international students now accounting for more than half of the student population.
Speaking in an interview with Economy Today, Michaelidou outlined a strategy focused on internationalisation, closer links between universities and employers, research and innovation, and more flexible forms of education designed to respond to changing skills requirements.
Cyprus among EU leaders for university education
Cyprus consistently ranks among the top three EU countries for the proportion of people aged 25 to 34 with a tertiary education qualification, Michaelidou said.
According to Eurostat figures cited by the minister, 60.1% of people in this age group held a tertiary qualification in 2024, compared with an EU average of 44.1%. Cyprus ranked behind only Ireland and Luxembourg.
Michaelidou attributed the figures to two decades of expansion in the sector.
The student population at higher education institutions reached 58,941 in the 2023-24 academic year, almost double the level recorded in 2013-14. Student enrolment increased by 42% between 2015 and 2023, while the number of graduates rose by 125% over the past decade.
She linked much of that expansion to the development of private universities and tertiary education institutions since 2007-08.
International students now account for more than 56% of the student population, while most programmes are taught in English.
Michaelidou said 57% of academic staff hold doctorates, while the employment rate among recent graduates reached 83.8% in 2024, around 10 percentage points higher than in 2015.
Higher education’s growing economic role
The minister described Cyprus higher education as both an increasingly important part of the economy and a potential driver of future growth.
Cyprus currently has 13 universities and more than 40 other tertiary education institutions offering undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral programmes.
Their expansion, she said, has generated investment and employment while increasing the number of both Cypriot and international students studying on the island.
Universities have also invested in facilities, academic quality and new programmes while increasing their focus on digital and transferable skills, interdisciplinary study, practical training and cooperation with businesses.
The government, meanwhile, has updated the legal framework governing research units and institutionalised Centres of Excellence at public universities.
A legal framework has also been promoted to allow Cyprus’s public universities to establish spin-off companies, intended to help transform university research and knowledge into commercial innovation.
Five English-language degrees approved
One of the government’s key internationalisation measures is allowing public universities to offer undergraduate degrees in English.
Michaelidou said the change should increase universities’ ability to attract students from abroad while creating opportunities for further international academic and research partnerships.
The Council of Ministers has already approved five programmes that will be offered in English by the University of Cyprus.
The broader ambition is to use Cyprus higher education as a bridge between human capital, the economy, research and the country’s international presence, helping establish the island as a regional centre for education and research.
AI system to predict future skills demand
A central challenge, however, is ensuring that rapid university expansion translates into skills that employers actually need.
Michaelidou acknowledged that skills mismatches remain an issue and said strengthening the relationship between higher education and the labour market is a strategic priority.
The Department of Higher Education is conducting two national surveys, CYGraduates and CYEmployers, to collect information on graduates’ transition into employment, employers’ skills requirements and difficulties companies face when recruiting suitable staff.
Higher education institutions receive individual reports from CYGraduates, allowing them to compare outcomes for their graduates against national averages.
The department is also developing CySkills under the Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy’s AI in Government programme.
The project will create a Skills Intelligence System using artificial intelligence to analyse large volumes of information from sources including administrative records, national and European surveys, job advertisements and online data.
The aim is to identify current labour-market requirements and anticipate future demand for particular skills, qualifications and occupations.
Michaelidou stressed that universities should not simply follow immediate labour-market demands. Instead, she said they should have reliable information early enough to make evidence-based decisions about existing and new degree programmes.
Microcredentials form part of 2027-29 strategy
Reducing the skills gap forms one of three central pillars in the ministry’s strategy for Cyprus higher education between 2027 and 2029.
Alongside the new skills intelligence system, the government plans to promote microcredentials and flexible forms of lifelong learning.
These are intended to allow graduates to develop specialised and transferable skills that can be adapted more quickly to changing workplace requirements.
The first strategic pillar focuses more broadly on modernising and improving the quality of higher education. Measures include evidence-based policymaking, changes to legislation governing private universities, modernisation of teaching and learning methods, digital reform and strengthening the social dimension of tertiary education.
Research and innovation will also be promoted through research units, Centres of Excellence and university spin-offs.
International students at heart of expansion plans
The third pillar is focused on establishing Cyprus as an international and regional centre for higher education and research.
The government plans to increase the overseas visibility of Cypriot institutions through participation in international education exhibitions, agreements on the mutual recognition of qualifications and memoranda of understanding on higher education and research with EU and non-EU countries.
Other measures under consideration include incentives and scholarships to attract international students, greater mobility for students and academics, and the promotion of joint university programmes and research projects.
Michaelidou said the ultimate objective is a modern, competitive and outward-looking higher education system aligned with European and international quality standards.
The government wants Cyprus to become an established destination not only for international students, but also for highly qualified academics and researchers.
“The international dimension remains one of the government’s most important strategic objectives,” she said, with the aim of establishing Cyprus as a recognised regional and international centre for quality higher education, research and innovation.
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