Greek student population gets cut by half as long-study breaks abolished

More than 300,000 inactive university students have been removed from the rolls in Greece, reducing the country’s official student population by nearly half.

The move was announced by authorities at the beginning of the year and ends a decades-long practice, formally abolished in recent legislation, that allowed extended enrollment to accommodate lifelong learning or long breaks for work, as reported by the Greek City Times. 

The Education Ministry said 308,605 students admitted to state-run universities’ four-year degree programs before 2017 have been struck from the records.

“Student status is not valid for life in any modern European university,” an AP article cites Education Minister Sofia Zacharaki as saying. “We want degrees with value, which reflect effort, skills and passion.” 

Ministry officials noted that roughly 35,000 people successfully applied for reenrollment in 2025. 

Critics of the conservative government’s reform, mainly from the academic community, argue that the second-chance program failed to address the scale of disruption caused by Greece’s financial crisis in the previous decade. The country’s active student population now stands at just over 350,000 across 25 public higher education institutions, according to 2024 data from the Hellenic Authority for Higher Education.

Undergraduate programs at state universities are normally government-funded. Until recently, only public universities offering state-recognized degrees operated in Greece, though recognized private universities are gradually being introduced. Education Ministry officials said dormant students—those who had interrupted their studies—did not create a direct financial burden but caused administrative challenges.

“With updated student lists, universities gain the ability to plan more precisely,” Deputy Education Minister Nikos Papaioannou said. “That is a prerequisite for improving academic quality, daily operations and the criteria used to evaluate Greek universities in international rankings.”

By Nazrin Sadigova