11% More First-Year Students Enrol at RSU in 2022 than Last Year

More than 2,400 first-year students, out of whom 422 are international students, mostly from Sweden and Germany, joined Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU) this autumn. The new academic year started on Monday, 29 August. This summer, 13% more local applicants expressed an interest in studying in an undergraduate programme at RSU than last year, with the number of applicants per scholarship reaching 20-30 in several programmes. Overall, 11% more first-year students are starting their undergraduate studies at RSU this year in comparison with last year.

The most popular study programmes are similar to previous years, with most applications received to the Medicine (1252), Nursing (477), Physiotherapy (469), Psychology (400) and Nutrition (383) programmes. However, thanks to the state scholarship places in the social sciences study programmes, which were allocated for the first time this year in RSU’s history, there was a greater interest from applicants in the communication, political science, economics and law study direction. For example, 433 applications were received for the Multimedia Communication undergraduate programme, while 244 applications were received for the International Business and Start-up Entrepreneurship programme, which is significantly more than in previous years.

‘This summer's admissions, both in terms of the number of applications and the students’ knowledge, gives us a great satisfaction and a sense of job well done. The fact that 11% more first-year students have been admitted at a time when other universities are reporting a drop in the number of applicants is a remarkable achievement. RSU's determined path towards becoming one of the top five hundred universities in the world is attracting the best students in Latvia, which can be seen in the newly admitted students’ centralised exam results. On average, they are around 72%, and up to 98% in the healthcare direction,’ says RSU Rector Prof. Aigars Pētersons.

From the master's study programmes, Art Therapy has remained unrivalled in its popularity, followed by Health Management, which is a joint study programme with RISEBA, the one-and-a-half-year professional master's programme Management of International Marketing and Business, Law, and Public Health.

Meanwhile, admissions to the doctoral study programmes have not yet closed. Currently, the abstracts of planned doctoral theses are in the process of being reviewed and defended in six doctoral study programmes at RSU: Business Management and Economics, Communication Culture and Multimedia, Political Science, Sociology, Law, and Health Care.

Traditionally, Medicine and Dentistry have been the most popular programmes among international students, while other students have also enrolled in the study programmes International Governance and Diplomacy, International Business and Start-up Entrepreneurship and Russia and Eurasia Studies that are implemented in English.

38 Erasmus+ students will join the 422 newly admitted international students in the autumn semester. Several students from Ukraine will also start their studies at RSU this year, for whom the University is offering a tuition fee discount and other forms of support.