Portugal beats records of students in higher education

The number of students enrolled in higher education hit a record number for the 2022/2023 school year at 446 028 students – a rise of 12 811 compared to last year, which represents 3% growth. 

This result has strengthened the conviction that Portugal is on the right track to achieve the long-term qualification targets, set for 2030: an average rate of higher education attendees aged 20 of 60%, as well as 50% of graduates aged between 30 and 34. 

The number of students enrolled in higher education has been increasing successively since it hit a minimum number of 358 450 in 2015/16, having grown 24% since.

The data disclosed by the Directorate-General for Education and Science (DGEEC) for the 2022/2023 school year show that:

• 446 028 students enrolled in higher education institutions, 359 397 in public schooling and 86 631 in private schools

• In public higher education institutions, 223 564 students were enrolled in universities and 135 833 in polytechnic schools

• 75% of students were enrolled in initial training courses, 21 263 in vocational technical courses, 277 206 in undergraduate degrees, and 37 201 in integrated master’s degrees

• There is a growth in the 2nd and 3rd cycles with 82 610 enrolled in master’s degrees and 25 202 in PhDs

• The "Corporate Science, Administration and Law", "Engineering, Transformative Industries and Construction", and "Health and Social Protection" fields are the ones most sought after, respectively with 98 723 (22%), 88 550 (20%) and 68 941 (16%) students 

• Of the more than 446 thousand enrolled, 155 082 were enrolling in their first year for the first time

• Of those enrolled for the first time in their first year, the data show there are more women than men enrolled in almost all the education and training fields. This presence is more significant in "Education", "Arts and Humanities", "Social Science, Journalism, and Information", "Corporate Science, Administration, and Law", "Natural Science, Mathematics, and Statistics", "Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries, and Veterinary Science", and "Health and Social Protection"

• The male students are more represented in the fields of "Information and Communication Technologies", "Engineering, Transformative Industries, and Construction", and "Services";

• 74 597 of the students enrolled are foreigners who picked Portugal for their higher education, whether full course or as a transfer student, and represent 17% of the total number enrolled

• 17 822 students were enrolled in higher education institutions under international mobility programmes (e.g. Erasmus), which confirms the trend of growth seen in the post-pandemic years 

• In the case of students enrolled to attend a full course in Portugal, these mostly come from Brazil (17 028), Guinea-Bissau (6910), Cape Verde (6449), Angola (5292), and France (3406)

The full data can be consulted on https://www.dgeec.mec.pt/np4/EstatVagasInsc/