YÖK's artificial intelligence move: 81 new programs opened, quotas quadrupled

The Council of Higher Education (YÖK) has increased the total number of programs at 171 universities to 785 by opening 81 new programs in the fields of artificial intelligence and informatics over the last three years. Within the scope of the 2026-YKS, associate degree quotas in this field were increased from 1610 to 6 thousand 828, increasing by more than four times.

The education capacity in many fields, primarily artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, has been increased nearly sevenfold. While undergraduate program quotas were raised from 2 thousand 355 to 4 thousand 420, 182 new graduate programs under 33 different titles were also launched. New departments, including interdisciplinary programs such as 'history and artificial intelligence' and 'philosophy and artificial intelligence', will accept students for the first time.

On the other hand, the Artificial Intelligence and Data School, established in collaboration with Marmara, ODTÜ, İTÜ, and Boğaziçi universities and one of the world's largest free online educational platforms, produced approximately 30 thousand certified graduates in its first year. YÖK President Erol Özvar stated that they will resolutely continue these transformation efforts to train the qualified human resources that will enhance global competitiveness.