Haliç University lacks the long history of Istanbul’s most renowned establishments. It was established in 1998, which is relatively new for a university, and its beginnings are peculiar enough to make anyone think twice. The Foundation for Children with Leukemia, which is not the type of founding organization you would expect behind a full-fledged university with engineering departments and a medical faculty, founded the institution. Haliç is not diminished by her past. If anything, it gives the establishment a purpose that some more established, bureaucratic establishments appear to have lost over time.
Mecidiyeköy, Şişhane, Şişli Bomonti, Fulya, and Okmeydanı are some of Istanbul’s most complex neighborhoods where the campus, or rather campuses, are dispersed. Instead of feeling like you’re in a closed-off academic bubble, you get a sense of the city itself when you stroll between them. Studying in Istanbul entails absorbing history whether you intend to or not because of the way it permeates daily life. Just outside is the cacophony of the city. The light on the Golden Horn in the late afternoon, the ferries traversing the Bosphorus, the tea shops. The university is located inside this actual location rather than outside of it.
From architecture and fine arts to medicine and biomedical engineering, Haliç offers eight academic faculties and three vocational schools. The fact that all engineering programs are taught in English is important for both international students and Turkish graduates hoping to find employment overseas. Currently, there are about 16,200 students enrolled, with over 840 academicians providing support. The university itself claims an 8:4 student-to-instructor ratio, which, if true, is worth taking seriously. Those aren’t huge numbers by international standards, and there is a case to be made that the relatively contained scale allows for better attention per student.
In terms of graduate results, it’s still unclear how Haliç stacks up against Turkey’s more established and well-funded state universities. A portion of the story is revealed by rankings. The university is ranked between 1001 and 1500 worldwide in Times Higher Education’s Impact Rankings, with higher rankings in particular categories like clean energy and gender equality (top 200 and top 300, respectively). Although those figures aren’t particularly noteworthy, they do point to a university that is at least considering metrics other than academic ones. Even if it doesn’t resolve the question of overall quality, that counts for something.
It is easier to evaluate the aspect of student life. More than thirty clubs, frequent cultural events, music and drama programs, a working infirmary with a hospital partnership close by—these are actual facilities rather than fictions fit for a brochure. There is a truly international atmosphere on the ground because students from 98 different countries attend. Rarely does that kind of diversity occur by coincidence. Infrastructure for recruitment, international student support networks, and a campus culture that encourages outsiders to stay are all necessary.
Atmosphere is more difficult to measure. Some universities seem to be coasting on decades of reputation and operating on inertia. Haliç seems to work with a little more urgency because he is younger and still developing something. The data does not yet fully resolve whether that energy results in improved research output or better career outcomes for graduates. There are currently 26,000 graduates worldwide, including in Turkey. That is the actual measurement, and it continues to build up.
Spending time learning about this university gives me the impression that Haliç is truly in the middle of its journey; it has moved past its precarious beginnings but is still not at the stage where its identity is completely established. That is not a red flag for a particular type of student, especially one who is drawn to Istanbul and receptive to a university that is still in its infancy. In fact, it could be the attraction.
