“The total number of applications and prospective students was actually higher - 992 in total - but from the university’s perspective, the quality of candidates and their compliance with admission requirements are what matter most,” explained Ingrid Pappel, TalTech’s Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs. 

According to Pappel, the university actively promotes its study opportunities in countries where it is particularly interested in attracting students. Among these countries, the strongest interest in studying at TalTech came from Romania, Latvia, Spain, and Germany.

“As a positive surprise, some of the countries showing the highest interest were those where TalTech does not conduct strategic marketing activities, such as Turkey, the Philippines, and Nepal,” Pappel noted.

The largest increase in interest came from Romania, where the number of qualified applications rose from 7 last year to 24 this year, and from Turkey, where the figure increased from 27 to 40 applicants. Pappel also highlighted the remarkable growth in interest from Nepal, where qualified applications increased from 2 last year to 14 this year.

She added that, compared to previous years, TalTech’s strategic marketing efforts have successfully generated significantly greater interest in Germany, Spain, France, and Latvia, as well as in the United States and Poland.

“Before COVID, TalTech was the most international university in Estonia, with international students accounting for as much as 12% of the student body. Today, that share is 8%. We aim to regain our position and increase the proportion of international students, which is why we have significantly intensified our marketing activities in our strategic target markets over the past three years,” said Kadri Kiigema-Voorel, Head of Strategic Marketing and the Head of Marketing Centre at TalTech.

“Estonia is a small country, and awareness of our existence is relatively limited. However, our international reputation is very strong - particularly as a country known for digital innovation and high-quality education. These are important supporting arguments when promoting TalTech internationally,” she added.

At the bachelor’s level, the most popular programme was Cyber Security Engineering, followed by Integrated Engineering and International Business Administration.

At the master’s level, the most popular programmes were Cyber Security and Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence.

At present, international admissions are mostly closed. However, applications for programmes offered by the School of Business and Governance remain open to citizens of Latvia, Lithuania, and Finland until 1 August. Citizens of these countries may also apply to the Entrepreneurial Management MBA programme until 28 August.