The delay in announcing results had drawn criticism... YKS results are out but the controversy continues: Students revolt
Following the announcement of the YKS placement results, state university quotas reached 99 percent occupancy, while a quarter of undergraduate programs at foundation universities remained vacant. Many students expressed their reactions on social media after the placement results were announced. Students stated that despite achieving high rankings, they were not placed in any department.
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According to data announced by the President of the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) Erol Özvar, only 3 thousand 22 quotas remained vacant in undergraduate programs at state universities. All associate degree programs were filled.
While all programs with success ranking thresholds, such as Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, and Law, were filled, the occupancy rate in engineering programs exceeded 97 percent, and in teaching programs, it surpassed 95 percent.
While state universities experienced record occupancy, the situation at foundation universities was the exact opposite. 27 thousand 131 quotas in undergraduate programs and 17 thousand 281 quotas in associate degree programs remained vacant. Thus, the occupancy rate of foundation universities fell from 91 percent last year to 76 percent.
Education Expert Salim Ünsal assessed the situation, stating, "Both the slight increase in quotas and high tuition fees were the main reasons for this collapse."
CANDIDATES REACTED ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Following the announcement of the results, many candidates expressed their views on the social media platform X. Some candidates reacted by stating that they were not placed in any program, while others noted that they were directed to the lower ranks of their preference lists because the rankings were higher than expected.
QUOTA DECREASE CHANGED RANKINGS
Education Expert Salim Ünsal emphasized that this year, there was a decrease in quotas of up to 18 percent in state universities, particularly in departments such as law, dentistry, business administration, and international relations.
Ünsal said, "When quotas decreased, ranking deviations peaked. The congestion in health sciences, law, business, and engineering programs negatively affected the candidates' chances of being placed in the places they expected. There is no error involved. The problem stemmed from the candidates' inability to correctly predict the changing rankings and not making a sufficient number of preferences."
MORE THAN 5 THOUSAND VACANT QUOTAS IN TRNC UNIVERSITIES
Remarkable vacancies also occurred in universities in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). According to the announced data, 7 thousand 968 of the 12 thousand 537 undergraduate quotas were filled, while 4 thousand 569 remained vacant. In associate degree programs, 881 of the 4 thousand 480 quotas were not preferred. Thus, a total of 5 thousand 430 quotas remained vacant. The occupancy rate of TRNC universities remained at 68.1 percent.