Our University regards not only access to higher education for economically disadvantaged students, but also their successful continuation and completion of their studies, as one of its institutional priorities. Within the framework of our publicly available “Bottom Financial Quintile Admission Target”, students who fall within the bottom 20% of the national household income distribution are monitored not only in terms of application and admission, but also throughout their studies and with respect to their graduation outcomes. The KTÜ 2024–2028 Strategic Plan (https://www.ktu.edu.tr/dosyalar/tr_JQFYj.pdf) includes a measurable institutional target aimed at reducing the number of students who leave the University without graduating. The University aims to reduce the number of students leaving before graduation, excluding graduates, from a baseline of 2,368 to 1,700 in 2025 and to 700 by 2028. Within the scope of this target, strategies include examining the reasons why students leave the University, increasing scholarships and similar forms of support, and strengthening students’ academic and social integration. In addition, the Strategic Plan explicitly identifies students experiencing poverty as one of the disadvantaged groups and sets a target of 52 activities in 2025 to facilitate their learning and support their integration into university life. The University’s 2025 institutional performance evaluation reported a 100% achievement rate for this indicator. In 2025, our University also continued to implement measures aimed at reducing the risk of students discontinuing their education for financial reasons by providing financial support such as meal scholarships to students in need.

Evidence: (https://www.ktu.edu.tr/dosyalar/yonetim_FtBOr.pdf, https://www.ktu.edu.tr/dosyalar/yonetim_AtTKN.pdf).