The University's role as an exporter might not be immediately apparent, as in a sense the “exports” arrive in Latvia in the form of overseas students and do not leave in the traditional export direction until they have completed their studies. But in October 2017, the University received the Red Jackets' award for excellence in exports based on its increasingly succesful student enrolment over several years.
“Export of education is still a growing part of our work. Many American universities use the approach that they are creating branches overseas but we understand export mainly as an activity in which the students are coming in, but we must compete with countries with old-established countries where the teaching language is English, such as the United Kingdom and Australia. But if we want to keep our quality standards high we cannot afford to do ''educational business'' for anyone who wants it. That's why our goal is to have about 10 percent foreign students in the next few years. Our current level is 6 to 7 percent. We are focussing on markets such as India, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and medical studies are always popular among European students,” says the Rector.
The future will also see more emphasis placed on attracting post-graduate and doctoral students, which would also help the University develop its research credentials and ultimately the breadth and depth of its contacts around the academic world. As a consequence, an international environment will be created in Riga – perhaps reducing the feeling among Latvian students that they must study abroad in order to get exposure to a wide enough set of influences.
Export Markets
Albania, Algeria, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belarus, Cameroon, China, Croatia, Czech Republic , Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Mexico, Moldova, Morocco, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Somalia, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, USA, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uzbekistan
Māris Lazdiņš