Sparsely populated and the 18th largest territory in the world, Mongolia is a land of blue sky, vast steppe and nomads. These are the things that make Mongolia unique among other countries of the world; these are what come to the mind of people worldwide about Mongolia. Since the transition in the 1990s to a market, from a command, economy, Mongolia has become open to the world. There have been radical changes in all sectors of the country.

In recent years Mongolian universities have been attaching significant importance to advancing to the world university level, to develop internationally recognised higher education, launch academic program reform, ensure a quality guarantee, and create a favourable learning environment for students and researchers. Within the framework of this reform, Mongolian universities’ academic programs have been evaluated and accredited by national and international relevant authorities.

The Government of Mongolia aims to promote the higher education sector’s progress, including the development of research universities, within the strategy of developing Mongolian universities to reach high world ranks, facilitate at least two universities to be recognised and listed among the top 100 Asian universities by 2024. This national strategy was adopted, and joint projects in collaboration with foreign universities and international organisations have been implemented. The project on improving university governance, supported by the ADB, ‘1,000 engineers’ Mongolia-Japan intergovernmental project can be mentioned as an example of this in practice.

Universities and higher education institutions

As of 2017, there were 15 state owned, 75 private, three foreign universities and colleges with a total number of 155,000 students. In recent years the number of foreign students applying for admission to Mongolian universities has been increasing, According to 2017 statistics, 1,636 students from 31 countries were officially registered. We are planning to increase the number of foreign students and to promote student exchange programs.

In recent years the number of international publications by Mongolian researchers has been increasing. As reported by Clarivate Analytics, since 2017, the number of research articles registered in the Web of Science has increased from 323 to 329 in 2016. As of October 2018 the number reached 301. In line with multiplying number of articles, the number of cited articles has significantly increased since 2017 reaching 1,000 in 2018. The National University of Mongolia (NUM) is leading the number of Web Science registered articles, followed by the Health Science University, Science and Technology University, Earth Science University and Education University of Mongolia. In terms of research area articles in geology, environment physics, palaeontology and biology have been prevalent.

Opportunities to study in Mongolia

Today international students applying for admission to Mongolian universities mainly choose to major in history, archaeology, anthropology, Mongolian studies and Mongolian studies. Further, we will give priority to foreign students interested in the natural sciences. A foreign student studying in Mongolia spends an average 1,600 dollars for tuition fees and approximately 2,300 dollars on living expenses, very low expenses compared to other countries in the world. We consider this to be one of the key opportunities to attract international students. An undergraduate degree can be completed within 4-5 years, a graduate degree within two years, and a doctoral degree within three years. We also offer short-term three-month summer, and one-year language programs.

For more information on the Mongolian higher education sector, its development, current status and study opportunities, please visit and contact us at www.mecs.gov.mn or email: info@mecs.gov.mn