ABSTRACT
The history of Turkish higher education can be traced back to the eleventh century. 1 The Selchuk Turks, a branch of the Turkish stock older than the Ottomans, developed medreses, or mosque colleges, in the eleventh century to teach Islamic theology and canon law. Similar to the first universities established in Europe in the Middle Ages, medreses were based on theological foundations. As a result of the affiliation of the medreses with mosques, religion played an important role in determining the basic functions of Turkish higher education until medreses were completely abolished after Turkey became a secular republic in 1923. 2
