site.btaRuse University Taraclia Branch to Open Academic Year with 175 First-Year Students

The branch of Ruse University in Taraclia, Moldova, will launch its academic year on September 1, admitting 175 first-year students, Rector Desislava Atanasova told BTA’s Martin Penev on Wednesday.

BTA notes that the branch of Ruse University in Taraclia was officially opened in May 2025, after the Moldovan authorities agreed in 2024 to transform the Grigoriy Tsamblak Taraclia State University into a division of Ruse University. This transition was officially registered under Moldovan law in April the same year.

“The first academic year at the Taraclia branch will begin on September 1 this year,” Atanasova said. Teaching will be provided by around 30 lecturers, who, until now, worked at the former Taraclia State University, mainly specialists in pedagogy, Bulgarian language, history, and music. Students from the newly introduced programmes will also be taught by staff from Ruse.

“The three newly launched programmes, Business and Management, Computer Science, and Agricultural and Automotive Engineering, attracted the most first-year enrolments, with 110 students in total,” Atanasova said.

Another 65 students are enrolled in traditional pedagogy programmes of the former Taraclia State University: Pedagogy of Music Teaching, Pedagogy of Bulgarian and Foreign Language Teaching (English and Romanian), Preschool and Primary School Pedagogy, and Pedagogy of Bulgarian Language and History Teaching.

Atanasova said that the building designated for academic activities is in good condition.

“Preparatory work is currently under way. The classrooms will be fitted with whiteboards, as there were hardly any before. Most rooms are already equipped with multimedia systems. Spaces are also being refurbished, because previously the largest groups had 10–15 students, while this year there will be 46 students in Agricultural and Automotive Engineering and 48 in Business and Management,” Atanasova explained.

She added that major repairs are due at the student dormitory. “We are initiating a public procurement process. The dormitory is in very poor condition. Part of its wing can be used at present, but the overall facilities fall well short of what we expect for our students,” Atanasova explained.

She said that most students are from the Taraclia region or neighbouring districts with large populations of Bulgarian descent. With the exception of 15, all students are admitted under Bulgarian Council of Ministers Regulation No. 103, which defines the terms and procedures for the admission of foreign nationals of Bulgarian origin who live abroad.

In her view, the biggest benefit of the Taraclia branch is for the Bulgarian community there.

“We hope young people in the region will come to see us as a European higher education institution that provides a recognized European diploma and quality training to support their future development. We are already seeing this with first-year enrolment,” Atanasova said.

She noted that the Taraclia branch strengthens Ruse University's reputation. Atanasova pointed out that faculty members from Ruse who travel to teach in Taraclia handle a substantial workload.

Atanasova further noted that despite the support of the Ministry of Education and Science, the branch is unlikely to be self-sustaining at first. “If enrolments hold up or even grow as they have started, the situation could be quite different in four years’ time,” Atanasova said.

The academic year at Ruse University proper will begin on September 15. The university has more than 6,000 students in total, and this year’s first-year cohort will exceed 1,300.