Students from as many as 23 countries around the world are currently studying at Algebra, which is the result of systematic efforts to make our program, and studies in Croatia in general, more attractive to international students. As of this year, the System Engineering undergraduate program is conducted in English, and students can expect exciting news such as an innovative mentoring program for personal development and an interdisciplinary innovation program that will encourage the development of students’ entrepreneurial skills and their projects.
At the beginning of this new academic year, which featured introductory lectures for all students at Algebra University College, Algebra is proud to announce that – despite the still ongoing pandemic marked by difficulties in travel, poor transport connections, as well as making the difficult decision to study far away from home – there are currently 50 undergraduate students studying Applied Computing, Multimedia Computing, Digital Marketing and Visual Communications Design from a total of 23 countries. Currently, students everywhere from Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, France, Germany, Morocco, India, Iran, Italy, Korea, Kosovo, Nepal, Nigeria, Northern Macedonia, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine and the United States are all enrolled at Algebra University College.
At the beginning of the year, fifty students from abroad also arrived for their graduate studies or to do a part of their studies at Algebra while involved in various international cooperation projects with other universities and polytechnics. This is precisely why such a large number of foreign students in undergraduate programs is clear evidence of the continuation of Algebra’s efforts towards greater internationalization and a result of large and fruitful efforts and activities on this front. Algebra University College places a strong focus on attracting international students, with the goal of making Croatia a much more attractive country to study and work in. Statistics to date show that just slightly over 3,000 foreign students choose Croatia as their place of study, which puts Croatia significantly behind other educational destinations in Europe.
Overall, Algebra University College has enrolled more than 410 new students this year, an increase of 11 percent as opposed to the previous academic year. Most new students are enrolled in the undergraduate program of Digital Marketing, which has taken on as many as 40 percent more freshmen than last year. Additionally, the total number of enrolled students makes it currently the most sought-after study program at Algebra, followed immediately by Software Engineering. Other study programs, such as System Engineering and 3D Modeling, also achieved a relative growth of 57 and 23 percent, respectively. Currently, more than 1,500 students are enrolled in undergraduate and graduate study programs.
“This academic year, we have noticed several interesting and significant trends for us when looking at enrollment and candidate interest. Apart from the fact that a strong emphasis on the internationalization of studies is producing results, which we are extremely glad about as it demonstrated the direction in which we believe that Croatian higher education should go in terms of strategy, there is a noticeable number of candidates who want to change their careers in their early thirties, who have decided to venture into the digital world by enrolling in undergraduate and graduate study programs at Algebra. There is also a significant number of student transfers from other higher education institutions who continue their studies in Algebra, which confirms the relevance and quality of our programs, as well as their practical value for students in the labor market,” Mislav Balković, Asst. Prof. and Dean of Algebra University College points out.
Apart from the fact that certain undergraduate study programs have been upgraded in many ways, the real news is that this year we will launch the first undergraduate study program conducted entirely in English. In this respect, the English-language System Engineering undergraduate program joins a number of graduate programs that have been conducted in English for several years. On the one hand, this will help us attract and include foreign students, and on the other hand, it will allow us to prepare domestic students for working in an international context, in professions for which a good command of the English language is an essential prerequisite of success.
Starting this year, undergraduate students will have at their disposal a mentoring program with workshops and individual counseling in various areas of personal development. The goal of this mentoring program is to further enable all Algebra students to adapt more easily when taking as great a leap as starting higher education, but also to provide them with additional content that can help them in their personal and professional development.
In order to further encourage the development of creativity, innovation and entrepreneurial skills of our students, as of this year students of all graduate programs will have an interdisciplinary program available to help them develop their own projects. For a full year and a half, teams of students developing their own projects will have a team of 11 top mentors at their disposal, and they will have the opportunity to present their projects to private investors, companies and banks, all thanks to Algebra LAB, an extensive and ever-developing network of promising connections for new projects.
