National initiative Study in Latvia launched a new website www.studyinlatvia.lv. The goal of this initiative is to attract foreign students to the Latvian higher education institutions and promote Latvia as an attractive study destination.
Considering habits of the Z generation
New website is launched, considering its main audience’s – the foreign students – Z generation ways of perceiving information as well as internet usage habits – to inform about studies and life in Latvia in interactive way. The website is convenient for mobile use, which is preferred format to scroll the websites among youth.
It also contains a data base of study programmes in the EU languages and profiles of the higher education institutions. In addition, there is a step by step explanation how to apply for studies and explained admission process. Furthermore, users in a friendly way can familiarize with scholarships, student experience stories and testimonials.
In interactive way about Latvia and education
In the entry “About Latvia” potential students can briefly familiarize with the Latvian culture, economy, nature, and characteristics of local people. The new website also contains a map of Latvia with student cities and their description.
There is practical and useful information about transport, cost of living, insurance, work opportunities and leisure time opportunities. In an interactive international student calendar, there are most important dates marked for students and Latvia.
The new website contains information about higher education in Latvia – number of higher education institutions, number of foreign students and their countries of origin, described Latvian education system and grading guidelines. For the first time there is presented achievements of Latvian higher education institutions in most popular world university rankings.
State Education Development Agency with the initiative Study in Latvia cooperates and promotes on the new website higher education institutions, which have undersigned with the Ministry of Education and Science of Latvia an Agreement on good practice of attracting international students, thus ensuring in its work the quality to the foreign students.
About foreign students and Study in Latvia
In recent years there is an increase in the number of the foreign students in Latvia. Data of the Central Statistical bureau demonstrates that at the beginning of academic year 2020/2021 there were more than 10 000 foreign students in Latvia from various countries, comprising 13% of the total number of students, which results that every 10th student in Latvia is from abroad.
Attendance track of the Study in Latvia website increases each year. In 2019 the old version of the website was attended by 38 000 attendees, in 2020 – 50 000 and by the 31st August 2021 – already 45 000 attendees.
In 2019 the Study in Latvia initiative was moved from the Academic Information Centre under the State Education Development Agency. Launch of the new website is part of a wider re-start of the initiative, which started with the International Student Barometer survey, renewal of the visual identity as well as shift of the communication strategy in social media. It is envisaged further to work more closely with the higher education institutions, work in the Study of Latvia target countries as well as work on other directions in close cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Science.