University Admission Lists to Be Published on July 18

The Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia held a meeting of the republic's admission committee led by Minister Zhanna Andreasyan. Participants included Deputy Minister Artur Martirosyan, university rectors, and representatives from the Measurement and Testing Center.

According to a statement from the Ministry, the admission committee, after confirming the agenda, discussed and approved the results of the primary admission phase for the 2023-2024 academic year for state and private universities, covering bachelor’s and continuous and integrated educational programs. The Measurement and Testing Center will publish the results of the entrance examinations on July 18.

Armen Pashayan, the director of the Measurement and Testing Center, presented the preliminary results of the primary admission phase. As is known, candidates for the 2023/2024 academic year had the opportunity to take the unified entrance examinations twice, according to the procedure established by the RA Government's decree 597-N. Accordingly, the first round of unified examinations took place in January, and the second round of examinations was conducted from June 1 to July 10. Candidates were allowed to take a maximum of two unified exams.

Pashayan informed that out of the 2,128 free places allocated to universities, 1,778 have been filled, while from the 15,984 paid places, 7,220 have been filled. “The examination process went quite smoothly. This is evidenced by the low number of appeals; we had only 252 appeals based on the results of the first and second phases, of which more than 180 concerned procedural and technical issues. In 15 cases, a change in the assessment occurred due to the decision of the admission committee. Regarding organizing the examination process in two phases, I would like to note that many candidates took the exam for only one subject in the second phase, maintaining their assessment,” Pashayan stated.

Addressing the redistribution of reserve and vacant places, the meeting participants decided to expand discussions after the summary of the additional phase of unified examination results. Other issues related to the entrance examinations were also discussed during the session.

The Minister of Education and Science proposed to review the overall approach to allocating places to universities, granting them greater freedom in utilizing paid places. According to Andreasyan, the state should only oversee places funded from budgetary resources, allowing universities operational independence within the scope of academic freedom.

In a meeting with university rectors, Andreasyan also referenced the newly forming Committee of Higher Education and Science and the Academic City project. The discussion also touched upon the merger process of state universities and research organizations, emphasizing the importance of involving sector representatives in developing the concept.

“We want to have a participatory process as much as possible, making decisions based on discussions and professional proposals. We want to initiate a process that will allow participation from the very beginning at the level of conceptual proposals. Our request is simple – to ensure a process as participatory as possible, which serves our common interests. We need changes, and for these changes to be thoughtful and qualitative, it is essential to provide professional discussions,” Andreasyan noted, adding that the ministry has already published an invitation for submitting conceptual proposals.

According to the Minister, the conceptual proposals regarding the process of merging state universities and research organizations will be accepted until February 15, 2024. During this period, universities and research organizations are expected to engage in professional discussions, after which a proposal about the merged universities will be presented to the ministry, including the list of merging organizations, their structure, management system, educational programs provided, and research directions.

To support the process, the ministry will organize professional discussions, workshops, and expert support, including, if necessary, involving international experts.

It is expected that from 2027, state funding and support will be provided only to merged universities and the scientific organizations associated with them. According to the minister, the university merger process is closely related to the Academic City project. “We plan to present the concept of the Academic City for public discussion in the near future, where, of course, we still have a lot of work to do,” the Minister of Education and Science stated, urging sector representatives to actively participate in public discussions regarding the concept of the Academic City.