Hungary - Country Commercial Guide
Education and Training

This is a best prospect industry sector for this country. Includes a market overview and trade data.

Last published date: 2022-03-25

Capital:  Budapest

Population:  9.7 million (July 2021 est.).

GDP (Purchasing Power Parity): $302.3 billion (2020 est., in 2017 dollars)

Currency:  Hungarian Forint (HUF)

Language:  Hungarian

 

UNESCO Student Mobility Number

Hungary has 13,038 students studying abroad according to UNESCO.

 

CIA World Factbook

24.97% of the Hungarian population is under 25 years old.

 

OVERVIEW

Education in Hungary follows a more traditional approach than in other European countries. One major difference is the increasing number of church-funded schools that incorporate religious elements into their curricula.

Hungarian education has many challenges to face in the coming years, according to the OECD.  Vocational qualifications are less common in Hungary, despite its large adult population with upper secondary qualifications, less than 25% of first-time upper secondary graduates earned a vocational qualification compared to 40% on average across OECD countries. Tertiary education among younger adults (between 25–34 years old) remains substantially lower in Hungary than the OECD average, which is at 31% compared to 44%. Tertiary admission is based on a combination of three factors: subject grade points from secondary schools, grade points from the final examinations and socio-economic status and/or personal achievements. In 2019, Hungary invested a total of USD 7,153 per student on primary to tertiary education compared to USD 10,454 on average across OECD countries. This represents 3.8% of the National GDP, compared to 4.9% on average across OECD countries.

 

SUB-SECTORS

Higher Education: According to the 2021 Open Door Report, the United States hosted 914,095 international students in its schools in the 2020/2021 school year, a decrease of 15%.  There were 653 international students from Hungary at U.S. higher education institutions in 2020/21 which is 9.8% less compared to the previous academic year.  In 2019, 727 students from Hungary studied in the United States, according to the Global Flow of Tertiary-Level Students research from UNESCO.

Hungarian tertiary education has been representing academic excellence for more than 650 years. 

There are 28 state-funded, 11 privately funded and 26 church-funded institutions for students to choose from.  As a result of Hungarian institutions’ internationalization process, students can find what best suits their interests - institutions offer more than 500 courses in English, German, French and other languages. Additionally, students have a wide range of study fields to choose from, including Agricultural Science; Computer Science and Information Technology; Legal Science; Economic Science; Medical and Health Science; Arts, Arts and Humanities, Arts Education; Engineering Science; Social Science; Teacher Training; Sport Science; Natural Science.

Higher education studies are offered at two types of institutions, egyetem (university) and főiskola (college), both offer courses in all three training cycles (i.e., Bachelor course, Master course and Doctoral course). In 2020, 79,000 people applied for full-time undergraduate and master’s degree programs in Hungary, 3,700 more than the previous year.  20% of the applicants applied for economics courses, 15% for technical fields, 10% for IT, and 9.8% for humanities. As in previous years, the proportion of first-year students in natural science courses was the highest, followed by arts and almost the same proportion in law and social sciences. However, it is becoming more and more challenging to get enrolled into art courses.

Education Technology: In Hungary, most universities use many platforms for distance learning. The most popular platform for distance learning is Microsoft Teams. In higher education, Google Slides, PowerPoint and Prezi are regularly used applications for presentations. Another application students use to study is Quizlet. Similarly, Zanza.tv is a very popular platform among students in secondary schools; it helps them prepare for their final exams in an interactive way.

Educational applications and digital solutions for learning are also becoming more popular. There are 57 EdTech startups in Hungary, for example there are e-book applications, English language learning apps, school management, and other online tutoring apps.  

 

OPPORTUNITIES

In the 2021/2022 school year, 12,275 Hungarian students chose to study abroad, but the United States was only the 6th most popular study abroad destinations for Hungarian students.

Hungarian Students Studying Abroad

*When the data was collected, ‘United States’ bar chart represented 688 Hungarian students.

(Source: https://www.educationfair.nl/market-reports/europe/hungary/)

Fulbright Hungary promotes education between Hungary and the U.S. by means of educational and cultural exchange.  The Fulbright Commission for Educational Exchange has been registered in Hungary as a non-profit public interest educational foundation. It is open to all the fields of arts and sciences. 

The program is financed mostly by the U.S. government, as well as the partner governments and by private contributions and in-kind support.  Fulbright offers scholarships on a broad scale. There are application opportunities for undergraduate students, graduate students, teachers, researchers and even for secondary educators and students as well.

Hungary is also part of the Erasmus+ Program. Erasmus+ Program is a long-standing exchange opportunity for students. The Erasmus+ program aims to help European students become active citizens, with the skills, knowledge, and experience to tackle the challenges facing our society, both now and in the years to come. In 2020 Hungary spent EUR 43 million on Erasmus+ Program.

The Campus Mundi program supports the development of the international competitiveness of Hungarian higher education in the period between 2016-2022 with HUF 9.2 billion.  The program supports student mobility and contributes to increasing the international role and recognition of higher education institutions.

 

DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGIES

In 2020, 87.5% of Hungarians were internet users, with social media usage being one of the most popular online activities. Key platforms are Facebook and Messenger, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.

The largest user group for social media are those under 24 years old. This age group also uses Facebook to the greatest extent, as the younger generation likes to have a separate community on social media. The most popular social media sites among the 18-24 age group are Instagram and TikTok.

Aside from social media, students also use the internet to aid in job searching. The three most popular job searching websites are Profession.hu, Jobline.hu and CV-Online.hu. LinkedIn also showed increasing popularity for searching jobs online in 2019 among the 25-34 age group.

In terms of accessing information online, Google was the most important search engine in Hungary as of November 2021 by market share.

Netflix and HBO GO are the most widely used streaming websites in Hungary. YouTube is also very popular among young people for streaming videos and sharing content online.

EDUCATIO is Hungary’s largest education expo. The aim of founding the EDUCATIO International Education Exhibition was to answer questions regarding higher education. Its goal is to connect participants of education (national and international institutions of higher education, course book publishers, language schools, and vocational training centers) with people who are interested in them (e.g., students, teachers, and parents). The best months of the year to recruit students at educational fairs are January through March and September through November.  

The Ministry of Innovation and Technology through the Education Office is an important source of information regarding educational opportunities for students and parents in Hungary. The Education Office supervises the operation of the national recruitment system that guarantees all opportunities and considers all applications. (https://www.felvi.hu/). Additionally, the HVG Job Fair is also an important source of information on educational opportunities.

 

EVENTS

 

RESOURCES

 

U.S. COMMERCIAL SERVICE CONTACT

Csilla Viragos, Commercial Specialist

U.S. Commercial Service – Budapest, Hungary

Phone: +36 1 475 4250

Email: Csilla.Viragos@trade.gov