Özyeğin University offers excellent academic quality — the courses are well-structured and really do shape you into an educated person. The campus itself is beautiful, but somewhat isolated.
However, for the tuition fees paid, you would expect better support and flexibility in services provided. Unfortunately, over time many of these services became more limited and less accessible, which has added unnecessary stress to the student experience.
One of the biggest disappointments for me as a foreign student was the language barrier in supposedly English-taught programs. It is frustrating and discouraging to attend a class where the professor and majority of the students default to Turkish — leaving you at a clear disadvantage and often missing important details. This completely undermines the concept of an international program.
On top of that, the university frequently changes its rules in ways that complicate students’ situations year after year, making it harder to plan your academic path. Interacting with the administrative staff can also be very difficult and frustrating.
While campus life is active and the university organizes many events, they are mostly conducted in Turkish, which further limits participation for foreign students. I was also surprised at the lack of fluency in English among professors, students, and staff — which makes you question how a local and an international student are expected to compete on the same level when the learning experience is not equal.
In short, while the education is excellent, the university is not as international or inclusive as it promotes itself to be, and foreign students should be aware of these challenges before enrolling.