Turkey's YÖK adds 16 AI and tech university programmes

The Higher Education Council (YÖK) announced that 16 new bachelor's and associate degree programmes will be offered for the 2026‑2027 academic year. The programmes target emerging fields such as artificial‑intelligence engineering, cyber security, data science, aerospace, automation, digital‑transformation electronics, climate‑control technology and others. They are intended to align Turkish higher education with global technological change and to supply qualified personnel for sectors like defence, aerospace, software and data analytics.

YÖK President Erol Özvar noted that around 70 new programmes have been launched in the past three years and that AI‑related programmes now number 785 across 171 Turkish universities, reflecting a push to expand the country’s technology‑producing capacity.

The new offerings will include both undergraduate (7) and associate (9) degree tracks, and students will benefit from industry‑linked labs, internships and sector‑based projects aimed at early exposure to the labour market.