Cultural Diversity at AUBG or a Simple Marketing Strategy?

77% — that is the percentage of Bulgarian students in AUBG's current largest student cohort. The remaining 23% are all international students. Members of the AUBG community are concerned that what was previously considered a “diverse atmosphere” has now become only a facade of AUBG’s marketing. 

 

While first-year students were excited to meet different cultures on campus, most of them labeled AUBG as a “Balkan University” or even a “Bulgarian University.” The Bulgarian community has increased exponentially in recent years, which leads to the question: What is AUBG doing to balance the numbers?”

 

“Of course, the strategy for growth is very important. We aim to shift the student mix to 45% international students and 55% Bulgarian students,” Kostadin Shopov, Director of Admissions, said. 

Shopov also mentioned that COVID has affected studying abroad worldwide, and AUBG is still “recovering” from that period. He also pointed out Bulgaria’s reputation as not prestigious enough for studying purposes. 

 

Additional obstacles mentioned were the lack of oftenly chosen majors such as Engineering/Medicine/Law at AUBG.

 

There have been improvements in recruiting international students. For the Fall Semester of 2024, 16 Georgian students were accepted, which is twice as many as the year before (2023). This rise in figures, however, is accompanied by the acceptance of more students in general, which means the Georgian student body has increased by only 2%. The same goes for Albanian students with a raise of 1%.

 

What should we expect in the future? 

According to the 5-year-plan of AUBG for 2028, the student body should increase by 50%. However,  the targeted student mix that does not include students from the Balkans and the U.S., is 5%.  The plan also lacks concrete marketing strategies suited for the different countries. 

 

These decisions do not go unnoticed by AUBG students. “There are surprisingly not that many black people. That was something I was kind of expecting, but not on such a small scale,” said Arthur Nhapulo, a first-year student from Mozambique.

 

His statement was supported by Leul Kassa Teshome, a sophomore from Ethiopia, who shared that he would be more than glad to attend a club fair and promote AUBG in his home country. “There are at least 25 people who are willing to pay the full tuition fee price and come to Bulgaria if only they knew about the university,” said Leul.

To gain international prominence, members of the Admissions Office will visit more than 10 university fairs in different countries in the following year. Professor Senem Konedareva, who teaches Bulgarian and Cultural Studies at AUBG, suggested that more research should be done on the Turkish market.

 

“From my years of teaching in Turkey, I think students there have limited options for pursuing higher education and AUBG can be a great opportunity on both sides,” Konedareva stated.

 

There are no limitless resources, and, with its current budget, AUBG can recruit only 20% of students from the Western Balkans and a small percentage of Americans. 

 

“If we want to fulfill AUBG's mission to educate ethical and responsible leaders of the region, AUBG needs to open more to international students,” Konedareva said. 

Even as a newly established university, back in 1991, AUBG managed to maintain a balanced number of international and Bulgarian students. In 2024, however, the diverse atmosphere has changed and the number of Bulgarian students has grown drastically.

 

Can the effects of the rapid expansion be overturned? 

Currently, there is no answer. The only sure thing is that the university will continue to grow and the consequences will affect the cultural diversity one way or another.

 

Edited by Spasiela Gizdova and Niya Manditsch