Türkiye will introduce 16 new higher education programs in the 2026-2027 academic year as part of efforts to align universities with the demands of a rapidly evolving job market shaped by artificial intelligence, digitalization and emerging technologies.

Council of Higher Education (YÖK) President Erol Özvar recently announced that the new offerings, comprising seven undergraduate and nine associate degree programs, will admit their first students in the upcoming academic year.

Expanding opportunities for prospective students, the new programs reflect the country's growing focus on artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, data science, aviation, automation and digital transformation.

The new programs also strengthen industry links by combining classroom learning with laboratory work, internships and hands-on practical training.

Expanding opportunities for prospective students, new degree programs have been added to the university preference guide, including interdisciplinary fields such as history and artificial intelligence, philosophy and artificial intelligence, biotechnology and genetics, digital game technologies, and mobile security technologies.

Shifting higher education away from purely theoretical instruction, the practical framework turns universities into skill-based platforms directly tied to employment. Ultimately, the initiative aims to cultivate a highly qualified workforce that will boost Türkiye's technology production capacity.

Özvar also announced that nearly 70 new academic programs have been launched over the past three years to address sector demands, green transformation, and digitalization across agriculture and healthcare, pointing out that AI-related degrees have now reached 785 across 171 universities.