1488 future students will start their studies at Kauno kolegija Higher Education Institution (HEI) this year. 1327 of them will study at the faculties of Business, Technologies, Medicine and Arts and Education in Kaunas, 161 at the Alytus Faculty of Kauno kolegija HEI.

This is the largest number of future students among all higher education institutions in Kaunas. It is also noticeable that Kauno kolegija HEI continues to be the leader not only in Kaunas but also in Lithuania in terms of the number of incoming freshmen. This year, this higher education institution is the third in terms of the number of students admitted to study – it is surpassed only by Vilnius University and Vilnius kolegija Higher Education Institution.

More than half of those enrolled will study at state-funded study places

Jolanta Bareikienė, Vice Director for Studies, notes that this year’s discussions and changes regarding the minimum competitive score, the mandatory state matriculation exam in mathematics for admission to non-state-funded places, the requirement for graduates to pass 3 state matriculation assessment subjects brought uncertainty, so the results of admissions were awaited with anticipation.

‘There are a little bit fewer people enrolling in Kauno kolegija HEI, but the changes are not drastic. Since we adhered to the minimum competitive score of 3.2 for both state-funded and non-state-funded places, this had an impact on the decrease in the number of applicants. For some students, the score is not achievable, and some higher education institutions lowered the score more, so less ambitious graduates chose those institutions. We hope that more motivated graduates choose to study at Kauno kolegija HEI,’ says J. Bareikienė, Vice Director for Studies.

In Kauno kolegija HEI, the highest competitive scores were for the state-funded places in the study programmes in the field of medical studies: Oral Hygiene, Dental Technology, Cosmetology and Physiotherapy study programmes. More than 62 per cent of those enrolled will study at state-funded places.

The focus on quality allowed to establish Kauno kolegija HEI among the leaders

Dr Inga Stravinskienė, Vice Director for Organisational Development shares that despite the even stronger competitive situation among higher education institutions due to the minimum competitive score, Kauno kolegija HEI was able to receive the largest number of students among Kaunas higher education institutions.

‘It is important to mention that we made a number of qualitative decisions regarding the optimisation of the study programme package, which changed the situation of admission results. For those who wish to study, we offer a truly wide range of study programmes, ever-expanding opportunities to get involved in scientific applied research and art activities, international opportunities to study in a wide geographic area, to do internships in advanced foreign higher education institutions, and in the case of some study programmes, also in business and other organisations,’ shares. Dr I. Stravinskienė.

The Vice Director for Organisational Development notes that, based on the results of surveys of students, their decision to choose Kauno kolegija HEI was also influenced by good feedback from employers and graduates about the studies and their quality: ‘This is the result of the reliable quality of studies at Kauno kolegija HEI developed over many years.’

The package of study programmes at the Alytus Faculty has been updated

In order to strengthen higher education studies in Lithuania, Alytus kolegija Higher Education Institution became part of the Kauno kolegija HEI as Alytus Faculty. 

Although there are fewer people accepted to study at the Alytus Faculty this year, the Director of the Kauno kolegija HEI, Dr Andrius Brusokas points out that in the former Alytus kolegija HEI, the competitive score was not followed, so there was a gap to enter the studies even for persons with extremely low grades.

‘One of the important changes this year is the raising of the quality threshold and the set minimum competitive score, which undoubtedly also affected the acceptance. In our institution, we principally focus on ensuring the quality of studies, which is proven by the results of the rankings – Kauno kolegija HEI has been ranked 1–2 among Lithuanian higher education institutions for many years,’ says the Director of Kauno kolegija HEI.

The Director of the Kauno kolegija HEI adds that due to the long state registration processes, those applying for new study programmes in Alytus could choose it almost a month later than all those participating in the general admission, but even under such unequal conditions a positive result was achieved.

The Kauno kolegija HEI community is happy that the new programmes proved to be attractive to applicants and attracted interest – 38 people chose the new study programmes.

‘The innovations have attracted the interest of the Alytus region. After listening to the needs of the communities, this year we initiated Pre-School and Pre-Primary Education, Social work studies. The general trend is as follows: in Alytus, the greatest interest of applicants was in those studies whose essential purpose is caring for people, those who chose General Practice Nursing, Pre-School and Pre-Primary Education received the most invitations to study,’ shares Dr A. Brusokas.

In addition to new study programmes, this year the admissions at the Alytus Faculty of Kauno kolegija HEI were also carried out for previously realised studies in informatics, engineering, health, technology, business and public management sciences.

A scientific applied research centre establishment is in the near future

In Kauno kolegija HEI Alytus Faculty, it is planned to implement a community college concept that has not yet been tested in Lithuania. The faculty will provide services to the surrounding community of the Alytus region, and its activities will be based on the principles of lifelong learning: higher education studies will be conducted, formal and informal education activities for students will be implemented in the STEAM open-access centre, research works and projects will be carried out, and qualification and retraining services will be provided.

He notes that this reorganisation creates value for the region – it is believed that the culture of community and quality fostered at Kauno kolegija HEI for many years will give a new boost to Alytus County, students, and lecturers. The funds allocated for the state reform will make it possible to make a complex contribution to the development of scientific applied research, the consolidation of study programmes and other solutions that are important in solving the general problems of the education system.

‘In our case, state investments for the consolidation will be concentrated in the coming years for the Foodtech and Health Innovation Hub. The centre will focus on food and healthy lifestyle research and innovation development. We intend to focus on finding solutions for IT and robotics in the fields of medicine and food science, we will develop health-friendly food products,’ says the Director of Kauno kolegija HEI.