Cultural Diversity at AUBG or a Simple Marketing Strategy? Nov. 17, 2024 N 7 17 2024 7% — that is the percentage of Bulgarian students in AUBG’s current largest student cohort. The remaining 23% are all international students. Members of the AUBG community are concerned that what was previously considered a “diverse atmosphere” has now become only a facade of AUBG’s marketing. While fi rst-year students were excited to meet diff erent cultures on campus, most of them labeled AUBG as a “Balkan University” or even a “Bulgarian University.” The Bulgarian community has increased exponentially in recent years, which leads to the question: What is AUBG doing to balance the numbers?” “Of course, the strategy for growth is very important. We aim to shift the student mix to 45% international students and 55% Bulgarian students,” Kostadin Shopov, Director of Admissions, said. Shopov also mentioned that COVID has aff ected studying abroad worldwide, and UBG is still “recovering” from that eriod. He also pointed out Bulgaria’s putation as not prestigious enough for udying purposes. here have been improvements in cruiting international students. For e Fall Semester of 2024, 16 Georgian udents were accepted, which is twice as any as the year before (2023). This rise n fi gures, however, is accompanied by e acceptance of more students in genal, which means the Georgian student ody has increased by only 2%. The same oes for Albanian students with a raise of e e 1%. What should we expect in the future? According to the 5-year plan of AUBG for 2028, the student body should increase by 50%. However, the targeted student mix that does not include students from the Balkans and the U.S., is 5%. The plan also lacks concrete marketing strategies suited for the diff erent countries. These decisions do not go unnoticed by AUBG students. “There are surprisingly not that many black people. That was something I was kind of expecting, but not on such a small scale,” said Arthur Nhapulo, a fi rst-year student from Mozambique. His statement was supported by Leul Kassa Teshome, a sophomore from Ethiopia, who shared that he would be more than glad to attend a club fair and promote AUBG in his home country. “There are at least 25 people who are willing to pay the full tuition fee price and come to Bulgaria if only they knew about the university,” said Leul. To gain international prominence, members of the Admissions Offi ce will visit more than 10 university fairs in diff erent “If we want to fulfi ll AUBG’s mission to educate ethical and responsible leaders of the region, AUBG needs to open more to international students,” Konedareva said. Even as a newly established university, back in 1991, AUBG managed to maintain a balanced number of international and Bulgarian students. In 2024, however, the diverse atmosphere has changed and the number of Bulgarian students has grown drastically. Can the eff ects of the rapid expansion be overturned? Currently, there is no answer. The only sure thing is that the university will continue to grow and the consequences will aff ect the cultural diversity one way or another. Editors: Spasiela Gizdova and Niya Manditsch There are no limitless resources, and, with its current budget, AUBG can recruit only 20% of students from the Western Balkans and a small percentage of Americans. countries in the following year. Professor Senem Konedareva, who teaches Bulgarian and Cultural Studies at AUBG, suggested that more research should be done on the Turkish market. “From my years of teaching in Turkey, I think students there have limited options for pursuing higher education and AUBG can be a great opportunity on both sides,” Konedareva stated. B ily a na S pa sov a
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