Master’s degrees offer significantly better employment prospects than undergraduate degrees, enhancing job opportunities in the labor market, according to the new edition of the Bulgarian University Ranking System (BURS). The 2024 national rankings reveal that over 85% of graduates from master’s programs after high school and nearly 70% of those who complete master’s programs following a prior degree work in positions requiring a higher education diploma. In contrast, only 51% of bachelor’s degree holders are employed in similar roles. Overall, graduates of master’s programs tend to earn higher incomes, enjoy higher employment rates, and experience lower unemployment compared to individuals with bachelor’s degrees.
For the first time, the latest edition of the ranking system includes specific data on the employment outcomes of graduates with various higher education degrees. This information provides valuable insights for prospective students, including those looking to apply for master’s programs after earning their undergraduate degrees.
Another new addition to the ranking system is the inclusion of indicators that measure the proportion of first-generation university students. Nearly 37% of students surveyed for the BURS report coming from families where neither parent has a higher education degree, and less than 2% indicate that their parents have only completed primary education or less.
The highest percentage of first-generation students, whose parents have only attained a secondary education, can be found in the fields of “Materials and Material Science” (65%), “Social Work” (61%), and “Pedagogy” (57%). Following closely is “Exploration, Extraction, and Processing of Mineral Resources,” with 56%, which also has the highest proportion of students from families whose parents have only a primary education—almost 13%. In contrast, the lowest percentages of first-generation students are found in “Dentistry” and “Biotechnology” (13%), “Mathematics” (15%), “Medicine,” and “Theater and Film Arts” (17%).
The 2024 edition of the Bulgarian University Ranking System highlights ongoing improvements in graduate employment in the labor market and an increase in the number of international students in Bulgaria.
The unemployment rate for Bulgarian citizens who earned their degrees in the country over the past five years stands at just over 2%, with an even lower rate of around 1% for graduates of master’s programs after secondary education. The percentage of graduates who are not working in Bulgaria remains at last year’s record low of 14%, a significant drop from over 25% in 2014. Meanwhile, the proportion of employed graduates in positions that require a higher education degree has risen to 61%, up from 59% last year and 46% in 2014. Additionally, the average taxable income for graduates has increased to 2,523 leva, compared to 2,200 leva last year and just 980 leva in 2015.
However, despite these positive trends, the new national ranking system continues to reveal significant disparities in average income levels, unemployment rates, and the relevance of acquired degrees among graduates, depending on their field of study and the specific higher education institution they attended—even within the same professional field.
The lowest unemployment rates (below 1%) are observed among graduates of the professional fields “Military Science,” “Medicine,” “Mathematics,” “Pharmacy,” “Dentistry,” “Metallurgy,” and “Theory and Management of Education,” while the highest is seen among graduates in “Social Work” (3.8%).
The highest degree of application of acquired higher education (over 90%) is found among graduates of “Military Science,” “Medicine,” “Dentistry,” and “Theory and Management of Education,” with the lowest application among graduates in “Tourism” (26%).
More than 94% of graduates who studied in the fields of “Theory and Management of Education,” “Pharmacy,” and “Forestry” are employed in Bulgaria, while the lowest proportion is found among graduates of “Transport Navigation and Aviation” and “Visual Arts” (below 72%).
Graduates in “Military Science” and “Informatics and Computer Science” earn the highest average taxable income (over 4,500 leva), followed by those who graduated in “Mathematics,” “Metallurgy,” “Communication and Computer Engineering,” “National Security,” “Exploration, Extraction, and Processing of Mineral Resources,” “Energy,” “Public Health,” and “Electrical Engineering, Electronics, and Automation” (between 3,000 and 4,000 leva). At the university level, the highest average taxable income is earned by graduates of master’s programs in “Administration and Management” at the American University (9,697 leva) and “Informatics and Computer Science” at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” (7,869 leva) and New Bulgarian University (7,200 leva). Among bachelor’s program graduates, the highest taxable income is earned by those who graduated in “Informatics and Computer Science” at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” (6,738 leva).
Students in their first year studying in the fields of “Medicine” (5.73), “Pharmacy” and “Dentistry” (5.69), and “Mathematics” (5.59) have the highest average scores from their secondary school diplomas. The lowest average score from completed secondary education is among first-year students in the field of “Materials and Materials Science” (4.42). The average score from the secondary school diplomas for students admitted to first-year programs in the country as a whole is 5.14, compared to 5.08 last year. This is the highest recorded level since data has been maintained on this indicator in the ranking system since 2013.
The three professional fields with the largest number of students in 2024 are “Economics” with 25,383 students, “Pedagogy” (16,448), and “Medicine” (13,265). The fewest students are enrolled in the field of “Theory of the Arts” – 54.
The higher education institution with the highest number of students is Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” – 18,988, followed by Plovdiv University “Paisii Hilendarski” with 15,801 and the University of National and World Economy (UNWE) with 15,671 students. In 12 higher education institutions in the country, the number of enrolled students is below 1,000, including one institution where the number is below 100. The nine largest universities educate half of the students in the country. The other half are educated in the remaining 42 accredited higher education institutions.
Nearly 12% of students in the country study in private higher education institutions, with the highest percentage of students in private institutions found in the professional fields “Theatre and Film Arts” – 70%, “Visual Arts” – 45%, “Theory of the Arts” – 43%, and “Administration and Management” – 41%.
Over the past decade, the share of foreign students in Bulgaria has doubled – from about 4% in 2013 to nearly 9% of students in 2024. The proportion of foreign students is highest in the fields of “Medicine” (58%), “Dentistry” (47%), and “Veterinary Medicine” (31%). In another four professional fields, foreign students exceed 10% of the total number of students. These fields are “Pharmacy” (14%), “Transport, Navigation and Aviation” (13%), “Musical and Dance Arts” (12%), and “Tourism” (11%).
There are 103 joint programs offered by Bulgarian higher education institutions in partnership with foreign educational institutions. In such programs, 2.8% of students were enrolled in 2024.
In the overall standardized rankings by professional fields of the 2024 Ranking System, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” ranks first in 22 professional fields out of a total of 29 in which it participates. The Technical University of Sofia ranks first in 6 professional fields out of a total of 11 in its rankings. The Medical University of Sofia is first in all five fields in which it offers education. The University of Chemical Technology and Metalurgy has three first places. Plovdiv Agricultural University, Trakia University in Stara Zagora, and the University of Forestry in Sofia each have two first places. Another 11 higher education institutions lead in one ranking each. Additionally, 4 more higher education institutions are at the top of rankings for specific educational degrees. In 8 professional fields, the overall rankings are led by higher education institutions outside the capital, while in one professional field, it is led by a private higher education institution.
The ranking system compares the performance of 51 accredited higher education institutions offering education in Bulgaria across 52 professional fields based on dozens of indicators measuring various aspects of the educational process, research activities, the learning environment, social conditions, accessibility of education, prestige, and regional significance of the higher education institutions, as well as the employability of graduates in the labor market. To form the indicators in BURS for 2024, information from various sources was utilized, including from the higher education institutions, the National Agency for Evaluation and Accreditation, the National Center for Information and Documentation, the National Social Security Institute, the National Statistical Institute, international bibliographic databases Scopus and Web of Science, as well as from conducted sociological surveys among employers, students, lecturers, and administrative and managerial staff at the higher education institutions.
The aim of the Ranking System is to assist prospective students in their efforts to make informed choices and navigate the diverse educational opportunities offered by higher education institutions in Bulgaria. Through the interactive website of the Ranking System (https://rsvu.mon.bg), users can familiarize themselves with “predefined rankings” of higher education institutions by professional fields, as well as create their own “custom rankings” based on their individual interests and preferences, using the available indicators and functionalities within the system. The Ranking System also contains information about the most common professions among graduates of various professional fields in different higher education institutions in Bulgaria, as well as a list of the majors offered by each higher education institution.
Starting this year, an electronic version of the National Map of Higher Education in the Republic of Bulgaria (NMHE) is also published on the BURS web platform. Currently, the 2023 edition of the NMHE is available in the system. After the approval of the 2024 map edition by the Council of Ministers, its electronic version will also be published on the BURS platform.
The Ranking System is accessible online at: https://rsvu.mon.bg.
In 2024, the Bulgarian University Ranking System has been upgraded and updated by the OSI-S Consortium, which consists of the Open Society Institute – Sofia and Sirma Group, under a public procurement contract awarded by the Ministry of Education and Science.
