SUNY Dual Diploma Program with Turkey Enrolls Nearly 2,000 Students in First Five Years

Albany – Interim SUNY Chancellor Dr. John B. Clark today announced that SUNY’s 23 dual diplomas programs with partner universities in the country of Turkey have admitted 450 new students this fall, the highest number of students to enroll in the SUNY-Turkey dual diplomas programs in a single semester since their inception in 2003. With approximately 1,700 students enrolled this fall and 260 already graduated from the programs, SUNY’s academic partnership with Turkey continues to be the largest of its kind in the America.

“As of summer 2008, 260 SUNY students have graduated with dual diplomas from SUNY and Turkish universities and these programs, overall, have attracted nearly 2,000 students in their first five years,” said Interim Chancellor Clark. “This program is by far one of the most successful of its kind in the nation and is an important facet of U.S - Turkish relations. We are very proud of the academic performance of the Dual Diploma Program students.  The students in these programs perform exceptionally well on our campuses and at the partner Turkish universities, graduating with honors from both institutions.”

“The program is considered a model for academic partnerships across the globe,” said Robert Gosende, SUNY’s Associate Vice Chancellor for International Programs. “Though we are still in the early years of the program’s establishment, Turkey has quickly moved from 12^th to third on the list of sending countries for SUNY international undergraduate student enrollment and when operating at full intake, Turkey will move to second among sending countries for SUNY. Dual Diploma Program expansion continues between SUNY and Turkish campuses as the success of our students becomes better known.”

Placement numbers this year have increased by 20 students over last year; a statistic SUNY attributes the appeal of the programs and the ongoing efforts of its Ankara office, the promotional efforts of the participating SUNY campuses and Turkish university partners, and the success of the programs both academically and administratively. As evidence of the growing popularity these programs have in Turkey, the Turkish language Web site, which the Ankara staff developed this past year, received 40,000 hits in June – a number that jumped to 110,000 in July.     

Placement for the Dual Diploma program is made through the Turkish national university entrance exam, which is offered once annually and determines an aspiring student's future in a single day. Of the more than 1.5 million Turkish students to take this year’s exam, all of those admitted to SUNY scored in the Top 20^th percentile, and 89 percent scored in the Top 10^th percentile. 

Many of the graduates, depending on their major, have proceeded to graduate school, mainly in the U.S., Canada and Europe, including SUNY’s own fast-track MBA program at Binghamton University as well as programs at MIT, Northeastern, and the London School of Economics. The others have obtained jobs in Turkey and the U.S., at companies such as Goldman Sachs, KPMG, Bear Stearns, Proctor and Gamble, Microsoft, and Ralph Lauren. The students are actively recruited at job fairs held in the fall semester, receiving employment or internships offers contingent on completing their degrees.
 

Participating SUNY campuses are: Binghamton University, the University at Buffalo, the Fashion Institute of Technology, the SUNY Colleges at Brockport, Fredonia, Geneseo, Cortland, New Paltz, Maritime College, and Empire State College. Participating Turkish universities are: Anadolu University in Eskisehir, Istanbul Technical University, Isik University and Bogazici University in Istanbul, Bilkent University, Middle East Technical University and Hacettepe University in Ankara, Izmir Economics University and Ege University in Izmir.

Last year, SUNY's Office of International Programs received the prestigious Andrew Heiskell Award from the Institute of International Education in New York City in recognition of these innovative academic partnerships. 
 

About the State University of New York
The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive university system in the United States, educating more than 427,000 students in 7,669 degree and certificate programs on 64 campuses. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunity across the globe, visit our Office of International Programs online.

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