Why do girls enter higher education more often than boys?

In Uzbekistan, the number of students in the higher education system has increased sharply, and a new record has been set, especially for the number of girls. According to the National Statistics Committee, 381.7 thousand applicants were admitted to higher educational institutions in the country in the 2024/2025 academic year. This indicator increased by almost 2.2 times compared to the 2020/2021 academic year.

Interestingly, the majority of newly admitted students are girls. A total of 196.7 thousand girls and 185 thousand young men have started their higher education. This means that girls have taken the lead in education in recent years.

Among the regions with the largest number of students, the absolute leader is the city of Tashkent - 155.2 thousand students. It is followed by Bukhara region (31.5 thousand), Tashkent region (22.7 thousand), and Samarkand region (21.2 thousand).

Growth was also observed in other regions: Kashkadarya - 28.8 thousand, Fergana - 20.7 thousand, Surkhandarya - 16.8 thousand, Namangan - 16.1 thousand, Khorezm - 16.8 thousand, Karakalpakstan - 18.6 thousand students were admitted. The lowest indicator is in the Syrdarya region - 5.3 thousand.