While most Croatian universities have seen a decline in interest and enrolment, the University of Zadar has managed to attract more students this year than last year. This confirms that Zadar is not only attractive as a place to study, but also as a place to live for young people.

In the first enrolment round for the academic year 2025/2026, a total of 709 students enrolled — an increase of 15 % compared to the previous year, when the number was 613.

Of the degree programmes with only one major, the largest number of students — both in absolute numbers and in the ratio between enrolments and available places — enrolled in the fields of culture and tourism, Management, Nursing, Early and pre-school education, Psychology, Nautical Studies and maritime engineering and Speech and language pathology.

The degree programmes with the lowest number of students were: Latin Language and Literature, Greek Language and Literature, Italian Language and Literature (translation programme), Russian Language and Literature and Applied Ecology in Agriculture.

There was an increase in all enrolment categories:

Degree programmes with two majors: 175 students (previous year: 172)

Single-subject full-time degree programmes: 429 students (previous year: 372)

Part-time degree programmes: 105 students (previous year: 69)

These figures include Croatian citizens, international students, Croatians living abroad and candidates who graduated before 2010.

However, it should be noted that not all available enrolment quotas have been used and it is expected that they will not be fully used in the autumn enrolment round either. This is in line with trends across Croatia, where the number of enrolled students continues to decline each year.

There are several reasons for this decline. The most important reason is the negative demographic trend, which is primarily due to a long-standing negative birth and mortality balance, as well as the outflow of young people, which is not compensated by immigration, as this mainly occurs in the lower-paid labour sectors.

These long-term negative demographic trends are reflected in the declining number of school-age children. At the same time, results in the national secondary school leaving examination (a prerequisite for admission to university) are increasingly poor. In addition, both in Croatia and across Europe, there has been a noticeable decline in interest in the humanities and in study programmes leading to careers in education and other professions that do not promise immediate financial gain.

In addition, some young people are choosing not to study at all, as they can find a relatively well-paid job with only secondary qualifications, given the current labour shortage.

Against the backdrop of this social imbalance and a dysfunctional value system, the University of Zadar has not seen a further decline in student numbers. On the contrary, a small but significant increase in enrolment reflects the recognised quality and competitiveness of the institution. Contributing factors include a rich selection of attractive single and double degree programmes, high quality teaching, individual approach and stimulating academic environment, active international cooperation (Erasmus+, EU-CONEXUS, bilateral exchanges) and various opportunities for professional practise, field work and scientific development.

This year also saw an important development with the launch of a Bachelor's degree programme in Speech and language pathology, and a new Bachelor's degree programme in Mechatronics and robotics will be introduced from the 2026/2027 academic year.

However, further initiatives are planned, the results of which are still uncertain, especially in view of the fact that this year the gap between those eligible to study and the available study places in Croatia reached 15,000!

All stakeholders in the science and higher education system must take this problem seriously and work towards optimal solutions— that take into account the development needs of existing higher education institutions and the regions in which they operate as generators of knowledge, ideas and innovation, while taking into account the need to reduce enrolment numbers and consider merging smaller higher education institutions.