The Greek Cypriot Alithia newspaper wrote that there is twice the number of students studying at TRNC universities compared to the number of the students who are studying in South Cyprus universities.

The newspaper reported that 12 universities operate in the TRNC and when compared to the number of university students in South Cyprus, the number is “amazing”. It was stated that 81.000 university students are studying in the TRNC universities in the 2015-2016 academic year. 47,033 of these students are from Turkey, 21,982 of them from third world countries and 12,000 are Turkish Cypriots. The newspaper reported that the university student number in South Cyprus during the 2014-2015 academic year was 35,183 and 63% of them were Greek Cypriot students. Indicating that the number of EU citizen students studying in the South is 8,669 and the number of students from third world countries is 2,328, it was emphasized that the Greek Cypriot officials should take serious measures in order to increase the student numbers. The newspaper also reported that the diplomas of the universities in the TRNC are recognized in the EU and by many other universities in the world.