Slight drop in number of tertiary-level graduates in 2022 – NSO

Tertiary-level graduates totalled 5,472 during 2022 – a decrease of 2.2% over the previous year, the NSO said Friday.

The largest share of tertiary graduates, 58.5%, attained a qualification at ISCED Level 6 (Bachelor’s or equivalent). This was followed by 33.1% of total tertiary graduates who attained a qualification at ISCED Level 7 (Master’s or equivalent).

More than half of tertiary graduates (55.6%) were females. Females surpassed males in all levels of tertiary education except for ISCED 8 (PhD equivalent). The majority of tertiary-level graduates was made up of persons aged between 20 and 29 years (72%).

During 2022, 74.4% of graduates attained a qualification from a full-time programme. Foreign graduates totalled 1,359, equivalent to 24.8% of total tertiary-level graduates, increasing by 10.6 percentage points over the previous year. EU citizens (other than Maltese) comprised the largest proportion of all foreign tertiary graduates (57.8%).

The Business, administration and law field of study was the most popular field among tertiary graduates in 2022, accounting for more than one third of the total at 34.6%. This was followed by graduates in the Health and welfare field of study at 19.6%. Agriculture, forestry, fisheries and veterinary was the least popular field of study among tertiary graduates, amounting to 0.3%.

In 2022, 15.4% of graduates attained a qualification in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem). Of these, 597 were males while 247 were females. Female Stem graduates have increased by 2.9% over the previous year, while male STEM graduates have decreased by 1.8%.