In the 2020–2021 academic year, 33.8 per cent of the youth aged 20–24 were pursuing higher education (in 2019, 38 per cent).

At the beginning of the 2020–2021 academic year, professionals with the highest qualification were prepared by 41 higher education institutions: 19 universities and 22 colleges; there were 104 thousand students in these schools, of whom 71.9 thousand – at universities (in 2019–2020, 73 thousand), 32.5 thousand – in colleges. Against the previous 2019–2020 academic year, the number of students in schools of higher education decreased by 1.1 thousand (1.5 per cent), in colleges – 0.5 thousand (1.5 per cent).

The number of students in non-state schools of higher education (7 universities and 10 colleges) amounted to 12 thousand, or almost 11.6 per cent of all students in higher education (in 2019–2020, 11.2 thousand, or 10.6 per cent).

In 2020, 24.8 thousand higher education professionals graduated from higher education institutions. In colleges, a professional bachelor’s degree was obtained by 7.5 thousand graduates; at universities, 9.3 thousand graduates obtained a bachelor’s, 6.5 thousand – master’s, 306 – PhD degrees; 742 graduates, upon the completion of non-degree programmes, acquired a professional qualification (409 completed residency, 333 – pedagogy studies).

In 2020, 59.6 per cent of residents of Lithuania aged 30–34 had higher education (in 2019, 57.8 per cent).

Growing number of foreign students

The number of foreign nationals studying the full study programme at the universities of Lithuania stood at 6.9 thousand, which is 9.6 per cent of all university students. In colleges, the number of foreign students stood at 634. One fifth (21.4 per cent) of foreigners studying at higher education institutions were citizens of the European countries, more than a third (34.2 per cent) came from Asian countries.

In 2019, 4.4 thousand students from Lithuania studied in the United Kingdom, 1.1 thousand – in Denmark, 619 – in Poland, 208 – in France.

In 2020, 10.8 thousand students were admitted to colleges, of whom 4.3 thousand (40 per cent) were state-funded students. The majority (91.6 per cent) of those admitted have graduated from general schools, 5.8 per cent – have already acquired a profession in vocational training institutions. Among those admitted, there were also those with higher education diplomas (0.1 per cent).

At the beginning of the 2020–2021 academic year, the number of students in colleges totalled 32.5 thousand (women – 56.7 per cent, men – 43.3 per cent). The number of the state-funded students stood at 15.1 thousand, or almost half (46.8 per cent) of all college students.

Business and administration is the most popular field of education – 35.6 per cent (11.5 thousand) of college students are studying in this field; the number of students in the field of healthcare – 6.1 thousand (18.8 per cent), engineering – 3.4 thousand (10.3 per cent).

Despite the annual decline in the number of college students in almost all fields of study, the number of students in information and communication technologies and healthcare has increased in recent years. Compared to the 2014–2015 academic year, the number of students in information and telecommunication technologies rose 2.5 times, in healthcare – increased by 16.6 per cent.

Total by field of education

17,301

20,270

16,246

19,187

15,226

18,712

14,497

18,434

14,055

18,397

Business and administration

4,599

7,704

4,283

7,004

4,418

6,725

4,725

6,743

5,074

6,470

Health

578

5,053

529

5,212

526

5,443

594

5,480

626

5,459

Engineering and engineering trades

5,888

396

5,246

323

4,624

252

3,801

194

3,209

149

Architecture and construction

1,711

453

1,738

401

1,517

301

1,361

252

1,360

259

Arts

681

1,130

647

1,045

623

1,001

615

958

543

1,036

Information and Communication Technologies

737

94

1,011

136

1,085

151

1,214

161

1,358

187

Welfare

104

1,211

105

1,121

97

1,151

109

1,183

109

1,313

Education

35

831

25

856

18

970

18

1,025

29

1,259

Law

487

679

505

617

545

662

550

677

468

660

Transport services

1,188

277

1,028

239

796

203

642

136

496

84

Manufacturing and processing

350

783

314

754

242

574

168

437

117

343

Agriculture

227

289

224

280

202

253

190

252

194

239

Languages

118

215

117

219

106

234

135

233

138

265

Personal services

153

735

113

602

108

444

109

333

87

277

Forestry

366

93

298

78

253

51

202

48

170

46

Journalism and information

17

145

18

126

20

122

32

128

47

163

Veterinary

25

147

25

152

27

160

22

182

24

184

Physical sciences

27

47

28

37

19

26

15

20

13

15

Social and behavioural sciences

26

16

13

8

11

9

6

13

10

14

Business and administration

1,188

277

1,028

239

796

203

642

136

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Lithuanian population is among the most educated people in Europe

Potential of the society development is best reflected by the share of young educated people. Lithuania may boast of its success in exceeding the target set out in the Europe 2020 strategy, stating that, by 2020, at least 40 per cent of persons aged 30–34 should complete higher education or equivalent studies. In 2020, Lithuania exceeded the above-mentioned target – persons of the said age accounted for 59.6 per cent, and this share in the last decade shows an overall further increasing trend and is one of the highest in the European Union.

The number of students at universities has been gradually decreasing each year. Against the 2009–2010 academic year, it decreased twice. At the beginning of the 2020–2021 academic year, 71.9 thousand students studied at our universities, or by 1.1 thousand (1.5 per cent) less than in the 2019–2020 academic year. 42.2 thousand (58.7 per cent) students studied under the bachelor’s study programmes.

In 2020, 17 thousand professionals with the highest qualification were prepared by our universities. A professional bachelor’s degree was obtained by 19.3 thousand graduates; 6.5 thousand graduates obtained master’s, 306 – PhD degrees. 742 graduates, upon the completion of non-degree programmes, acquired a professional qualification (409 completed residency programmes, 333 – pedagogical studies).

Furthermore, 39 graduates completed doctorate studies in research institutes and obtained PhD degrees.

Specialists in the field of business and administration (2.8 thousand, or 17.3 per cent of all university graduates), engineering (1.9 thousand), health sciences (2.2 thousand), social sciences (1.6 thousand) accounted for the major share of all students prepared by universities.

The number of foreign students who studied in our country’s universities under the whole study programme amounted to 6.9 thousand. One fifth (21.6 per cent) of foreigners studying at universities were citizens of the European Union, 51.8 per cent – other European countries, 36.4 per cent – Asian countries, 9.7 per cent – African countries.