Thousands of international students flock to Iraq under new reforms
Shafaq News – Baghdad
More than 5,000 foreign students are studying in Iraqi universities and colleges across undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral programs, the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research announced on Saturday.
Speaking at the 2025 Iraq Higher Education Conference in Baghdad, Minister Naim al-Aboudi highlighted recent achievements, particularly the adoption of the Bologna Process, a European higher education reform framework, to attract international students.
Al-Aboudi also announced the establishment of ten new colleges specializing in artificial intelligence, describing them as “incubators for creativity and digital development that keep pace with major global transformations.”
Before 2003, the minister added, foreign student admissions to Iraqi institutions were limited to a few nationalities, whereas today they include students from 47 countries.
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