site.btaBTA Director General: Sofia University Is Among Bulgarian Higher Education Institutions with Most International Students

According to reports from the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA), during the past academic year, the Sofia University was among the Bulgarian higher education institutions with the highest number of international students, alongside the four medical universities in Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, and Pleven. Sofia University enrolled 1,394 students from 62 countries across all 16 faculties, including 351 from EU member states, BTA Director General Kiril Valchev said at the opening ceremony of the 2025/2026 academic year at Sofia University on Wednesday.

During the 2024/2025 academic year, the total number of international students in Bulgarian universities was 16,995, including thousands from EU countries. The most international students in Bulgaria came from Greece – 3,277 students; the UK – 2,235; Ukraine – 2,151; Germany – 1,532; and Italy – 990, Valchev reported.

The BTA Director General addressed the students, saying that their choice of Sofia University is proof that they believe they can achieve success here, the same kind of success that young Bulgarians often seek abroad, overlooking the thousands of international students who come to Bulgaria believing in the value of a university education obtained here.

And Bulgaria, which has been part of Europe for 14 centuries, through its EU membership, offers students the same opportunities — including knowledge exchange through programs with universities worldwide, Valchev noted.

“But wherever a person goes,” he added, “they must remember the core message of the patron of Sofia University, St. Kliment of Ohrid, namely, to seek enlightenment and to learn what leads to true spiritual growth: to the human likeness of God through the spirit, not through material things.”

“And if you choose to do an internship at BTA, an opportunity provided under the agreement between Sofia University and the national news agency of Bulgaria, where one in five employees is a student, you will more easily be able to pass this enlightenment on to others,” Valchev added.

Among the guests of the academic community were National Assembly Chair Nataliya Kiselova, the chair of the parliamentary committee on education and science Prof. Andrey Chorbanov, the chair of the Higher Education and Science National Union Prof. Lilyana Valcheva, Bulgarian News Agency Director General Kiril Valchev, university rectors, former rectors of Sofia University, faculty members, and students.

Rector, Prof. Georgi Valchev, opened the academic year with a speech and introduced the deans of the faculties of Sofia University.

First-year students who were national competition and olympiad champions and recipients of national diplomas for academic excellence received their student record books from the Rector of Sofia University.