Best Universities in Istanbul: Private Universities Compared - LATEST 2026

The universities listed below are all private and all in Istanbul. Each has a dormitory, and you can apply to every one of them through StudyLeo. Size and age are the easiest ways to tell them apart when you start a shortlist.

Student numbers vary widely. Istanbul Aydin University is the largest, with 50,000 students, followed by Istanbul Medipol University with 46,488 and Istanbul Gelisim University with 39,052. At the small end, Sabancı University has 5,168 students and Istanbul Gedik University 6,254.

Most of the others fall in between. Uskudar University has 24,000 students, Bahçeşehir University 20,347 and Istanbul Topkapi University 20,000. Istanbul Yeni Yuzyil University has 18,347, Haliç University 17,000 and İstanbul Esenyurt University 15,500. Istinye University has 14,744 and Altinbas University 13,800.

Age is the other difference. Sabancı University, founded in 1994, is the oldest on the list. Haliç University and Bahçeşehir University both opened in 1998. Others followed later, among them Istanbul Aydin University in 2007, Altinbas University in 2008 and Istanbul Medipol University in 2009. The newest are İstanbul Esenyurt University (2013), Biruni University (2014) and Istinye University (2015).

Admission to a bachelor's program at these universities usually starts with a high school diploma and proof of English or Turkish, depending on the language of teaching. Programs and fees differ from one university to the next, so compare the program pages of your shortlist before you apply.