Amman — Figures and decisions affecting Jordan’s higher education sector from 2025 through October 2026 point to shifts in university admission policies, the distribution of financial support to students, and the regulation of academic programs, as efforts continue to address stagnant and oversaturated majors and improve the quality of university graduates.
While policies have moved to reduce admissions in certain majors, others have seen increases in student numbers. At the same time, allocations to the University Student Support Fund were raised from JD30 million to JD40 million, while the number of students eligible for scholarships and loans was expanded.
The indicators point to three parallel tracks in the higher education sector: regulating admissions to stagnant and oversaturated majors, expanding study opportunities in medical fields, and increasing financial support directed to students.
The Education Council at the Ministry of Education and Human Resources approved the admission of 38,131 students into regular bachelor’s programs at public universities for the 2025-2026 academic year, compared with 38,260 students in 2024-2025, a decline of 129 places, or around 0.34%.
At the intermediate diploma level, the approved number of admissions stood at 7,990 students for the 2025-2026 academic year, while 1,286 students were admitted to majors covered by direct admission.
The admission figures were determined based on the capacity of academic programs, recommendations from university boards of trustees, and special accreditation standards, in addition to a decision to reduce admissions to stagnant and oversaturated majors by 60%.
Comparisons
A comparison between the two academic years shows that total regular bachelor’s admissions remained broadly similar, indicating that the main change was not in the overall volume of admissions but rather in how students were distributed among majors and programs under the approved policies.
However, comparing overall admission numbers alone is insufficient to assess the effectiveness of the policy. Such an assessment requires identifying the majors in which admissions were reduced, the number of students admitted to each, and the extent to which these changes affect graduate numbers and their subsequent employment prospects.
The ministry’s Education Council has continued implementing its policy of reducing admissions to stagnant and oversaturated majors, with the reduction rate rising to 60% for the 2025-2026 academic year, compared with 50% in previous years.
These measures are part of an effort to curb the accumulation of graduates in fields where the number of job seekers exceeds available opportunities, while encouraging universities to restructure their programs and update their curricula.
In March 2026, Minister of Education and Human Resources Azmi Mahafzah called on presidents of public universities to prepare financial plans for 2026-2029, alongside government measures aimed at easing the financial burden on universities. These measures included exempting universities from outstanding dues owed to the Higher Education Institutions Accreditation and Quality Assurance Commission, provided they take practical steps to address stagnant and oversaturated majors.
The proposals included gradually halting admissions to majors where demand has declined or which have proven poorly aligned with labor market needs, restructuring those programs and updating their curricula, and transforming some of them into specialized or applied academic tracks.
Student Support
In this area, the government raised allocations to the University Student Support Fund to JD40 million in August 2026 after allocating an additional JD10 million. This compared with JD30 million the previous year and JD20 million two years earlier, meaning allocations doubled over two years, rising from JD20 million to JD40 million.
According to data from the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development, the number of students nominated to receive domestic scholarships and loans for the 2025-2026 academic year increased from 53,132 to 60,341, before an additional 4,500 students were nominated to replace applicants who did not complete the procedures required to obtain their loans.
This brought the total number of nominated students to 64,841, while the proportion of students receiving scholarships and loans rose from 78% to 84% of all eligible applicants.
The new mechanism combines an equal basic allocation for each district with distribution of the remaining funds according to demand and population density. Each district is also allocated an annual basic quota of 550 partial scholarships and loans.
Meanwhile, fund data show that since its establishment in 2004 through the end of 2025, the fund has provided support to more than 747,000 students at a total cost of approximately JD687.5 million. The assistance included 36,356 full scholarships, 272,121 partial scholarships, and 438,953 loans.
