Updated on 17.10.2022
On 22 September 2022, the Ministry of Education and Science (MoES), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of the Interior and 15 Latvian universities signed an agreement on good practice in attracting international students and providing high quality services. The universities received Study in Latvia Best Practice University certificates, which certify that they meet good governance and criteria set by ministries for responsibly attracting international students and providing quality studies.
With this Agreement, the higher education institutions have undertaken to comply with the criteria and principles of the Agreement fostering good practice in attracting international students and ensuring the delivery of a high-quality study process. Each higher education institution promises to observe good faith and ethical principles, providing only true information in marketing activities and advertising campaigns for international students. The public sector will take the necessary measures and steps to provide higher education, promote Latvia's foreign policy interests, consular services, and ensure set principles for migration, including entry into Latvia.
The agreement is concluded for a period of three years and the inter-institutional committee that decided to conclude the agreement with the universities will monitor the implementation of the principles and criteria set out in the document, reviewing it once a year. Universities that have not yet joined the initiative have the possibility to join it by meeting the criteria and submitting an application for the consideration.
11 public and 4 private universities have concluded the agreement:
- Baltic International Academy
- BA School of Business and Finance
- Turiba University
- University of Applied Sciences (RISEBA)
- Daugavpils University
- European Christian Academy
- Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies
- Latvian Academy of Culture
- Art Academy of Latvia
- Latvian Academy of Sports Education
- University of Latvia
- Liepaja University
- Stockholm School of Economics in Riga
- Riga Stradiņš University
- Riga Technical University
Latvian universities currently offer more than 100 study programmes in English. Foreign students account for almost 13% of the total student population in Latvia (about 77 376 students), according to the Central Statistical Office data for 2021.