The St. Kliment Ohridski University in Bitola is opening a second enrolment round on 9 September, with 1,288 places available. Of these, 523 are for full-time state-funded students, 424 for students paying a study contribution and 341 for candidates opting for part-time study.

The figure is worth a second look. This is not an extra quota opened because of demand - these are places the first enrolment round failed to fill.

Where the empty places are

The Technical Faculty has the most free places - 269 across all programmes. The exceptions are mechatronics and environmental and occupational safety engineering, which already drew visible interest in the first round.

The other units in Bitola: the Faculty of Information and Communication Technologies with 174 places, the Faculty of Education with 190, the Faculty of Biotechnical Sciences with 66, and the Veterinary Faculty with the fewest - 15 in total. The Higher Medical School in Bitola still has 88 places left.

A second enrolment round on 9, 10 and 11 September will also be held at UKLO units outside Bitola: the Faculty of Security in Skopje with 66 free places, the Faculty of Law in Kičevo with 59, the Faculty of Technology and Technical Sciences in Veles with 92, the Faculty of Economics in Prilep with 121 and the Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality in Ohrid with 148.

Is this good news or bad news?

For an eighteen-year-old who still has not made up their mind - excellent. Three days left and a real choice between a dozen faculties across five cities.

For the university - a harder question. The empty places at the Technical Faculty are not a statistical accident: they sit exactly where the programmes have no clear link to a job after graduation. Mechatronics fills up, general engineering does not. Students read the job market better than we care to admit.

Regional universities announcing a second enrolment round with a thousand and a half free places is not news for a single September day. It is an indicator that repeats every year, while education policy treats it as a logistical matter rather than a question about the future of entire cities.