Istanbul Arel University — Admissions, Programs and Tuition

Istanbul Arel University is a private university in Istanbul with one of the largest catalogues in our directory: 126 programs across four levels — associate, bachelor's, master's and doctoral.

That catalogue is both broad and deep on the health side, a combination many similarly sized private universities do not have. It records twenty-three engineering programs, two in medicine, two in dentistry and three in nursing and care. Both the technical route and the health route are open inside one institution.

One number decides how that reads for you: of the 126 programs, 116 are taught in Turkish and only 10 in English. Arel is a Turkish-medium university, not a bilingual one. If Turkish is part of your plan, this is the widest choice you can take away from this page; if it is not, those 10 programs are all that is available to you. Annual tuition runs from $2,600 to $13,500.

If you are prepared to do the Turkish preparatory year, Arel is one of the most option-rich universities in this directory. 126 programs means a high chance the exact field you want exists, and all four degree levels being present means further study does not require moving institutions.

The second advantage is for health-science applicants. Medicine, dentistry and nursing all sit within one institution, and the tuition ceiling is $13,500 a year — not a high figure for an Istanbul university with both a medical and a dental faculty. If quota closes one health route to you, the adjacent ones stay on the table without leaving the university.

The limitation deserves saying twice, because it is the single biggest reason applications to a university like this come to nothing: the English-medium program here is small. Ten programs out of 126. An applicant who arrives imagining a 126-program catalogue and only then discovers their field is Turkish-only has lost time.

The figure above is the university's own tuition — not our fee. Everything involved in getting you admitted here, from checking your documents to holding your acceptance letter, is done at no cost to you.

Bachelor's admission is assessed on your high-school record; Iran's national entrance exam plays no part. For the 116 Turkish-taught programs — effectively the whole catalogue — a Turkish preparatory year is the usual route, and it belongs in your calendar and your budget. The 10 English-taught programs require an English certificate or a pass in the university's own exam.

The specific conditions for this university's medicine and dentistry programs are confirmed with the university each year. For master's and doctoral study, the previous degree and its transcripts are the basis of assessment, with some fields also asking for a statement of purpose and references.

A standard file holds high-school transcripts and diploma with official translations, a copy of a valid passport, a passport photo and — depending on the program's language — a language certificate. Master's and doctoral applications add the previous degree and its transcripts.

Preparing and checking these documents is part of the same free service. In a catalogue this large, the first thing we do together is close the shortlist by language of instruction; after that, assembling the documents is straightforward.

Like every licensed university in Turkey, Istanbul Arel University operates under the oversight of YÖK, Turkey's Higher Education Council; issuing a bachelor's, master's or doctoral degree in Turkey — state or private — is not possible without YÖK's license. Homa Study verifies that license directly with YÖK before adding any university to its partner list, the same check behind every one of the 54 universities in our directory.

The second layer is Turkey's membership in the Bologna Process since 2001: this university's degrees, like those of every other licensed Turkish university, carry ECTS credits, a framework recognized across the European higher-education area. Detail on both layers of accreditation is in the [guide to recognized degrees](/guides/recognized-degrees) and in [how to verify a Turkish university's YÖK license](/blog/verify-university-yok-license-turkey).

Two programs in medicine appear in this university's published list, and their tuition sits at the upper end of the university's range; the exact figure is in the list on this page. Three programs in nursing and care are present in the same list.

We do not go further than that. Grade thresholds, accepted entrance exams, additional documents, the language the course is delivered in, and whether the current intake still has room are all things we ask the university directly each cycle. For a degree this long, deciding on last year's information is a real risk.

Two programs in dentistry are recorded in this university's list. As with medicine, their tuition falls in the upper part of the $2,600 to $13,500 range, and the precise figure is visible in the table on this page.

Admission conditions for dentistry — including the language of delivery and the state of the current quota — are things we confirm with the university before anything else. We do not describe clinical-year structure on this page, because we have not verified it with the university, and a generic description of it would not help you.

Istanbul is Turkey's largest city, a layered metropolis spread across two continents, and for many students the ferry crossing between Europe and Asia is part of the daily commute. It holds the country's largest concentration of universities, so student life turns up everywhere, from library cafes to cheap lunch spots in almost every district. Public transit is extensive — metro, tram, Marmaray rail under the Bosphorus, and city ferries all work with a single Istanbulkart — though rush-hour traffic tests everyone's patience. It is also Turkey's most expensive city, with rent taking the biggest share of a student budget, which is why shared flats and dormitories are common. Winters are mild and rainy, summers warm and humid.