Bulgarian University Ranking System (BURS) releases its 2025 national ranking, highlighting a stronger link between higher education and favorable labour market outcomes.
The ranking shows that 85% of employed graduates who completed master’s programs after secondary education in the past five years are working in roles that require a higher education degree. Among those who pursued master’s programs after earning a higher education degree, 70% hold similar positions. By contrast, 51% of graduates with bachelor’s degrees only occupy such roles. Additionally, master’s graduates tend to earn higher incomes, enjoy greater social security coverage, and experience lower unemployment rates compared to their bachelor’s-degree peers.
On average, 61% of Bulgarian citizens who graduated from Bulgarian higher education institutions in the past five years work in positions requiring higher education degree or exercising professions by vocation—a level unchanged from last year, compared to 46% in 2014. Unemployment in this group remains slightly above 2%, while for graduates of master’s programs after secondary education it is just around 1%. The share of graduates who are not socially insured in Bulgaria remains at last year’s record low level of 14%, down from over 25% in 2014. The average taxable income of graduates continues to rise, reaching 2,771 BGN, compared to 2,523 BGN last year and just 980 BGN in 2015—nearly a threefold increase over the past decade.
Despite these positive trends, the new edition of the National Ranking System again shows significant differences in income levels, unemployment, and the applicability of acquired education, depending on the completed professional field, as well as the specific higher education institution—even within the same professional field.
The lowest unemployment rates (below 1%) are observed among graduates in professional fields “Military Science”, “Medicine”, “Pharmacy”, “Metallurgy”, and “Dental Medicine”, while the highest rate is among graduates in “Social Activities” (3.88%).
The highest applicability of higher education (over 90%) is observed among graduates in “Military Science”, “Medicine”, “Theory and Management of Education”, and “Dental Medicine”, while the lowest is in “Tourism” (25%).
The highest share of graduates socially insured in Bulgaria (over 94%) is observed “Theory and Management of Education”, “Metallurgy”, “Pharmacy”, and “Military Science”, while the lowest (below 75%) is found in “Transport, Navigation and Aviation” and “Fine Arts”.
Graduates with the highest taxable income are those from “Military Science” and “Informatics and Computer Sciences” (over 4,700 BGN), followed by graduates in “National Security”, “Communication and Computer Equipment”, “Mathematics”, “Metallurgy”, “Public Health”, “Minerals Prospecting, Extraction and Processing”, “Energetics”, “Medicine”, and “Electrical, Electronics and Automation” (between 3,300 and 3,800 BGN).
At the institutional level, the highest taxable income is earned by graduates of master’s programs in “Administration and Management” at the American University in Bulgaria (10,108 BGN), and in “Informatics and Computer Sciences” at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” (8,568 BGN) and New Bulgarian University (7,919 BGN).
Among bachelor’s graduates, the highest income is earned by graduates in “Informatics and Computer Sciences” at Sofia University (7,107 BGN).
For another consecutive year, first-year students with the highest average secondary education diploma GPAs are enrolled in “Medicine” (5.73), “Pharmacy” (5.70), “Dental Medicine” (5.63), “Informatics and Computer Sciences” (5.62), and “Mathematics” (5.60). The lowest secondary education diploma GPAs are among first-year students in “Materials and Science of Materials” (4.45), “Metallurgy” (4.47) and “Livestock Breeding” (4.49). The national average secondary education diploma GPAs of first-year students remains at last year’s level of 5.14—the highest recorded since data on this indicator began to be collected in 2013.
The four professional fields with the largest number of students in 2025 are “Economics” (26,996), “Pedagogy” (16,713), “Medicine” (13,485) and “Administration and Management” (11,773). The field with the fewest students again is “Arts Theory” – 53 students.
The higher education institution with the largest number of current students is Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” with 19,799 students, followed by the University of National and World Economy with 17,092, and Plovdiv University “Paisii Hilendarski” with 16,285.
In 12 higher education institutions, the number of enrolled students is below 1,000, including one institution with fewer than 100 students. Half of all students in Bulgaria are enrolled in the eight largest universities; the other half study in the remaining 43 accredited institutions.
Private higher education institutions enroll 11% of students in the country. The highest shares of students in private institutions are in “Theatre and Cinema Arts” (68%), “Fine Arts” (43%), “Administration and Management” (39%), “Arts Theory” (36%), “Psychology” (36%), and “National Security” (32%).
Over the past decade, the share of foreign students in Bulgaria has more than doubled—from around 4% in 2013 to nearly 9% in 2025. The highest shares of foreign students are again in “Medicine” (59%), “Dental Medicine” (48%), and “Veterinary Medicine” (33%). In five more fields, foreign students exceed 10%: “Pharmacy” (16%), “Tourism” (14%), “Transport, Navigation and Aviation” (12%), “Music and Dance Arts” (12%), and “Theory and Management of Education” (11%).
There are 111 joint programs offered by Bulgarian higher education institutions in partnership with foreign institutions. Of these, 43 are active, meaning they have at least one current student. In 2025, active joint programs exist in 20 professional fields, enrolling 2.5% of all current students in the country.
A new feature of the 2025 edition of the National Ranking System is the inclusion of indicators measuring students’ assessments of lecture and seminars attendance, as well as their perception of whether these classes are mandatory. Survey results show that almost 70% of students “Strongly agree” or “Agree” that “Most of my colleagues attend practical exercises regularly”, while 50% say the same about lectures. Regarding whether attendance at seminars is mandatory, 72% respond positively, whereas only 40% consider lecture attendance to be mandatory.
There are significant differences among professional fields in students’ perceptions of how regularly their colleagues attend practical classes. Fields with the highest perceived attendance—over 90%—include “Pharmacy”, “Forestry”, “Dental Medicine”, “Veterinary Medicine”, “Biological Sciences”, and “Medicine”, with nearly all students in these fields perceiving practical classes as mandatory. By contrast, the lowest perceived attendance is in “Fine Arts”, “Philosophy”, “Sociology, Anthropology and Culture Studies”, “Music and Dance Arts”, “National Security”, and “Economics”, where around 50% give confirming responses.
Similar differences are observed regarding lecture attendance. Fields with the highest perceived attendance (over 80%) include “Military Studies” and “Religion and Theology”, while the lowest—below 30%—are in “Veterinary Medicine” and “Sports”. Motivations also vary: in “Military Science”, nearly 95% of students see lectures as mandatory, while in “Religion and Theology”, only about half do so.
In the overall predefined rankings of the 2025 edition, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” ranks first in 22 out of 29 professional fields in which it participates. Technical University – Sofia ranks first in 6 out of 11 fields. Medical University – Sofia leads in all 5 of its fields. The University of Chemical Technology and Metallurgy achieves 3 first places out of 6, while Agricultural University – Plovdiv and Trakia University – Stara Zagora each lead in two fields. Another 13 institutions top one ranking each.
The ranking system compares the performance of 51 accredited higher education institutions offering majors in 52 professional fields, based on dozens of indicators measuring different aspects of the teaching process, science and research, learning environment, social well-being and equity, prestige, regional significance, and labour market realization of graduates. The 2025 indicators are based on information from multiple sources, including HEIs, the National Evaluation and Accreditation Agency (NEAA), National Centre for Information and Documentation (NACID), National Social Security Institute(NSSI), National Statistical Institute (NSI), international bibliographic databases Scopus and Web of Science, and sociological surveys among employers, students, academic and administrative staff.
The aim of the Ranking System is to support prospective students in making informed choices and navigating the wide range of study opportunities offered by Bulgarian higher education institutions. Through the interactive BURS website (https://rsvu.mon.bg), users can view Predefined rankings by professional field or create their own Custom rankings.
The system also provides information on the most common professions of graduates from different professional fields and a list of available majors at each higher education institution.
Since 2024, the platform has also published the electronic edition of the National Map of Higher Education in Bulgaria. The 2024 edition is currently available, and upon approval of the 2025 edition by the Council of Ministers, it will also be published on the platform.
The Ranking System is available online at: https://rsvu.mon.bg
The 2025 edition of the Bulgarian University Ranking System was updated and the data revised under commission from the Ministry of Education and Science by the OSI-S Consortium, comprising the Open Society Institute – Sofia and Sirma Group.
