| | | | | |
education| n.a. | ... | 40 | 1.2 | 169 | 2.9 | 259 | 2.1
Law | 307 | ... | 441 | 13.2 | 157 | 2.7 | 142 | 1.1
| | |-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------
TOTAL | | | 3,350 | 100.0 | 5,789 | 99.9*|12,409 | 99.9*
-----------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------
n.a.--not available.
... not applicable.
* Columns do not add to 100 because of rounding.
Source: Adapted from _Statistical Yearbook, 1971_, Sofia, 1971, p. 247.

The essential task of higher education was enunciated by Premier Vulko
Chervenkov in 1954: "Higher schools must train not only qualified
specialists but also able, and conscious participants in the political
direction and building of socialism in our country." In 1949
correspondence courses were initiated for manual workers and civil
servants. Courses generally ranged from five to six years. Certain
workers were allowed to attend shorter courses given by the various
institutions while they continued to work. Although they were required
to pass examinations, they did not have to attend classes regularly.

Between 1948 and 1952 the curriculum became more and more patterned
after the curriculum of the Soviet Union. In 1948 Marxist-Leninist
studies were introduced; in 1949 political economy and the history of
the Communist Party of the Soviet Union became obligatory for all
university students. By 1950 the party newspaper, _Rabotnichesko Delo_,
reported that 150 Soviet texts were being utilized in institutions of
higher education. By 1952 students were obliged to study both
dialectical and historical materialism, the rudiments of
Marxism-Leninism, and the history of the BKP. Study of these subjects
was generally mandatory for three years.

In mid 1973 there were two major forms of higher educational
institutions: teacher training institutions and university level
institutions. In the latter category are universities, technical
institutes, agricultural institutes, medical schools, art academies, and
higher schools of economics. In 1972 there were twenty-two university
level institutions, sixteen of which were in Sofia. The remainder were
located in the provincial cities of Plovdiv, Varna, Svishtov, and Ruse.
The courses of study range from four to six years; five years is the
average period. In 1970 in proportion to the total population