Social Services in Turkey

In Turkey, "Social Services" is used for two different qualifications. The two-year associate programme Sosyal Hizmetler, run by vocational schools, trains assistant staff for care and welfare settings; for 2026/27 Medipol lists it at $3,250 a year. The four-year bachelor's Sosyal Hizmet, which some universities translate as Social Services and others as Social Work, trains professional social workers; 2026/27 fees on this page are $4,000 to $4,500 a year. Both are taught in Turkish.

The difference matters for your plans. The associate diploma is quicker and cheaper and leads to support roles under the supervision of professionals. The bachelor's includes long supervised field placements and leads to the professional title of social worker. If you want to run cases, write assessments and work independently, choose the four-year route; our Social Work guide covers that degree in depth.

A two-year Sosyal Hizmetler curriculum is short and practical. The outline below shows its usual shape; confirm the actual course list in the university's information package.

Because placements take place in Turkish-speaking institutions, the internship is where international students most often find that their Turkish is not yet good enough. Plan your preparatory year accordingly rather than trying to start both at once.

• a completed secondary-school certificate and transcript that meet the university's minimum grade;
• Turkish at the level the university asks for, or a place in its Turkish preparatory programme; Turkish is the language of both lectures and placements;
• a passport and translated documents, then the equivalence certificate (denklik) for your school diploma after admission;
• for bachelor's entry, the same documents; some universities also look at biology, psychology or social-science grades.

Diplomas obtained through distance education are a known risk: several universities do not accept them for international quotas, so confirm this before you apply if any of your school years were online.

Vocational schools of private universities use the same international application portal as their faculties.

1. Before applying. Decide between the two-year and four-year route, then check the Turkish requirement of each shortlisted programme.
2. Application. Submit passport, school certificate and transcript online and receive an acceptance letter from the university.
3. After acceptance. Pay the deposit, if the letter asks for one, and apply for a student visa; the consulate decides the visa.
4. First weeks in Turkey. Register, take the Turkish placement test, apply for denklik and for the residence permit, which the migration authority decides.

A frequent mistake is to pick the associate programme because it is shorter and later discover that employers abroad require a bachelor's in social work for the title you want. Check the rules of the country where you plan to work before you choose.

Sources: İstanbul Medipol University, Nişantaşı University, İstanbul Gelişim University, Üsküdar University. Nişantaşı's portal shows a list fee and a lower discounted fee; the table keeps the list fee.

Tuition does not include a Turkish preparatory year, housing, transport to placements, health insurance or the residence permit.

Associate graduates work as support staff in nursing homes and elderly-care centres, disability and rehabilitation centres, children's homes, municipal social-assistance offices and humanitarian organisations. Bachelor's graduates take on casework in hospitals, schools, family and child-protection services, migration and refugee programmes, and social-policy projects.

Many permanent public-sector posts in Turkey are filled through national civil-service recruitment, so international graduates more often find work with NGOs, international organisations and private care providers, or return home. Fluency in Turkish plus Arabic, Persian, Russian or another community language is a real advantage in migration-related work.