The decline in the lira's value altered the course of education trends. Turkish students who want to study abroad started changing their preferences due to the rise of the dollar, euro and sterling. Until now, the U.S., U.K. and Canada were the most preferred destinations for Turks wishing to study abroad; however, now Eastern European countries, Baltic countries and Far Eastern countries have become the more popular choices. The General Coordinator of International Education Fairs of Turkey (IEFT) Deniz Akar stated that while the U.S., U.K., Canada and Australia used to be the first choices of both students and families, now Poland, Hungary, Estonia, Lithuania and Russia, Baltic countries and Asian countries such as China and South Korea have become more attractive. According to research conducted by HSBC, 83 percent of Turkish families would like their children to study abroad and there are currently more than 100,000 Turkish students studying abroad. While most students are interested in studying in the U.S., U.K. and Canada, due to economic reasons, interest in Sweden, the Netherlands, China, Malaysia, Hungary and Russia has risen even though there are only around a thousand students currently studying in countries such as Russia and China. The total annual education expenses of Turkish students are about $1.5 billion. Turkey is one of the countries with the highest number of students studying in the U.S. While the annual cost of education is around $40,000 in the U.S., it is around $8,000 in China. The total cost of tuition fees plus living expenses is 25,000 pounds in the U.K. The price drops to 7,000 euros in Eastern European countries. The lira has fluctuated since the beginning of the year against the dollar and euro. While the lira was being traded around 2.30 against the dollar last year, it was being traded around 2.90 yesterday and it even hit 3.06 this summer. The lira experienced similar losses against the euro during this period.
