Empty Seats on Campus: Portugal’s Freshman Numbers Slide Amid Housing Crunch

The autumn ritual of welcoming caloiros will feel different this year. Portuguese campuses are opening their gates to 45,290 first-year students—about 5,000 fewer than last September—even though classrooms and laboratories are ready for thousands more. Behind the numbers lies a collision of housing prices, tougher exam rules and an ageing population that is thinning the pool of 18-year-olds. For families and policy-makers alike, the question is no longer whether there is space at university, but whether young people can afford, or are willing, to take it.

Fewer Students, Plenty of Empty Desks

The Directorate-General for Higher Education confirmed that universities and politécnicos offered 55,292 seats across three application rounds yet filled barely 82 % of them. The shortfall was clear from the outset: the first phase attracted the smallest cohort since 2016, and the final phase added only 801 newcomers despite more than 6,700 vacancies still on the table. While the university sector reached a robust 92.8 % occupancy, the polytechnic network stalled at 67.7 %, leaving almost one in three places untaken.

What Is Keeping Applicants Away?

Rectors list several culprits, but the one most parents mention is the spiralling cost of accommodation. A single room in Lisbon averages €500 a month, Porto hovers near €400, and public dorms cover barely 15 % of displaced students. Add higher food and transport bills, and a degree far from home quickly eclipses many family budgets. The return of mandatory national exams—and the requirement to sit two entrance papers—also discouraged pupils who finished secondary school under pandemic-disrupted learning. Demography compounds the issue: Portugal now has fewer teenagers than a decade ago, so every barrier hits harder.

Interior Polytechnics Feel the Chill First

Inland campuses endure the steepest declines. The politécnicos of Tomar, Bragança, Guarda and Beja all reported occupancy below 40 %, renewing fears of a talent drain toward the coast. Faculty leaders warn that shrinking intakes could trigger a vicious circle of reduced funding, fewer course options and even less appeal to future students. By contrast, metropolitan universities such as Coimbra, NOVA de Lisboa, Lisboa and Porto filled over 95 % of their slots, confirming the deepening geographical divide.

Room to Grow—If There Is a Room to Rent

The government has earmarked money for 90 new residences and 11,000 additional beds by 2026, along with rent supplements that can cover up to half the monthly charge for non-grant holders or the full amount for scholarship recipients, within set limits. Student unions welcome the effort yet stress that building projects take time, and private landlords show little sign of easing prices in the interim. Until the accommodation gap narrows, many families will continue to view a gap year, local vocational training or immediate employment as safer financial bets.

A Patchwork of Campus Solutions

Institutions are not waiting idly. Several politécnicos have doubled down on international recruitment, promoting Portuguese-language degrees in Brazil and Angola or offering courses in English to woo Indian and North-African applicants. Others are redesigning curricula around digital skills, renewable energy and health sciences—fields with strong job prospects that may entice hesitant school-leavers. Universities, meanwhile, back the Ministry’s plan to let polytechnics grant doctorates, arguing that a clear research track could boost regional reputation and draw fresh talent inland.

Why It Matters for Portugal’s Future Workforce

A decade ago, Portugal won praise in Brussels for lifting higher-education participation above 50 %. Today’s reversal arrives just as the country aims to scale up AI hubs in Porto, green hydrogen projects in Sines and aerospace clusters in Évora. Economists warn that an enduring shortage of graduates could slow productivity gains and widen the gulf between coastal tech centres and interior districts. In other words, the stakes extend far beyond lecture halls: the ability to house and support students will influence where companies invest and where young families decide to build their lives.

For now, thousands of desks will stay empty while demand for skilled workers keeps climbing—a reminder that access to higher education is measured not only in available spots, but in the real-world cost of filling them.