Cyprus is becoming an international regional center of university education, Minister of Education, Prodromos Prodromou has said.

"What was a program vision a decade or two ago, is now becoming a reality and Cyprus is becoming an international regional center of university education", Prodromou said on Friday at a press conference, during which the Mapping of the Higher Education Field of Cyprus for the Academic Year 2019-20 was presented.

He said that "with a total of 53,262 students, 39,203 of whom attend our public and private universities and another 14,059 who attend higher education institutions, Cyprus is now a significant country on the map of university education".

The Minister added that there are currently 21,188 foreign students (54% of all students) while 18,694 of them (or 88% of the foreign students at universities) are Europeans.

"So, today, the number of foreign students exceeds the number of Cypriots (54% and 46% respectively)" he said.

First choice for undergraduate studies is Medical and Paramedical Sciences, followed by Economics, Management and Social Sciences, while first choice for postgraduate studies is Social Sciences, followed by Economics and Management.