Editing Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (section)

== Admissions ==
The admission rate range is 40–50%, making this Iranian higher education organization an averagely selective institution.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.4icu.org/reviews/2244.htm|title=Ferdowsi University of Mashhad &#124; Ranking & Review|website=www.4icu.org}}</ref> However, considering the strong efforts to improve the higher institutions in religious cities after the Islamic Revolution (27% of the resources allocated to the university are reported to be funded through proprietary revenues other than the governmental budget),<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www8.irna.ir/fa/News/81721724/ |title=ایرنا - دانشگاه فردوسی دارای بیشترین تعداد دانشجوی خارجی در کشور است |access-date=2018-12-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170106173538/http://www8.irna.ir/fa/News/81721724/ |archive-date=2017-01-06 |url-status=dead }}</ref> undergraduate admission to Ferdowsi is limited to the top 10–20% of students who pass the national entrance examination administered yearly by the Ministry of Culture and Higher Education and could not be admitted in [[University of Tehran]], [[Sharif University of Technology]], [[Amirkabir University of Technology]], [[Iran University of Science and Technology]] and [[Shahid Beheshti University]] (mostly from the cities of Razavi Khorasan, and specially Mashhad). To attract top students, the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad has tried to use the scholarships so that after the increasing decline in admission rate in sciences (and especially physics),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mehrnews.com/news/2894547/رتبه-های-علمی-پایین-ورودی-رشته-فیزیک-برای-دانشگاه-ها-تهدید-است|title=رتبه های علمی پایین ورودی رشته فیزیک برای دانشگاه ها تهدید است|date=August 24, 2015|website=خبرگزاری مهر &#124; اخبار ایران و جهان &#124; Mehr News Agency}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://sci.um.ac.ir/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=121:2015-08-25-04-54-24&catid=83&Itemid=586&lang=fa|title=آغاز به کار کنفرانس ملی سالانه فیزیک ایران در دانشگاه فردوسی مشهد|website=sci.um.ac.ir}}</ref> which was considered a serious threat to the university, additional scholarships are to be dedicated to all disciplines.<ref>http://khabarche.ir/%D8%AE%D8%A8%D8%B1/2986252/%D8%B1%D8%AA%D8%A8%D9%87-%D9%87%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%85%DB%8C-%D9%BE%D8%A7%DB%8C%DB%8C%D9%86-%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%AF%DB%8C-%D8%B1%D8%B4%D8%AA%D9%87-%D9%81%DB%8C%D8%B2%DB%8C%DA%A9-%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%B4%DA%AF%D8%A7%D9%87-%D9%87%D8%A7-%D8%AA%D9%87%D8%AF%DB%8C%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA {{Dead link|date=September 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.irna.ir/fa/News/81731788/ |title=ایرنا - کنفرانس ملی فیزیک ایران در مشهد آغاز به کار کرد |access-date=2017-01-05 |archive-date=2017-01-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170106173539/http://www.irna.ir/fa/News/81731788/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

There are 12,645 undergraduate students, including 8,398 females (66.4%) and 4,247 males (33.6%) in the university.<ref>{{cite journal |pmc=4322181|year=2015|last1=Hedayati-Moghaddam |first1=M. R.|title=Sexual and Reproductive Behaviors among Undergraduate University Students in Mashhad, a City in Northeast of Iran|journal=Journal of Reproduction & Infertility |volume=16|issue=1|pages=43–48|last2=Eftekharzadeh-Mashhadi|first2=I|last3=Fathimoghadam|first3=F|last4=Pourafzali|first4=S. J.|pmid=25717435}}</ref>

=== Foreign students ===
The Ferdowsi University of Mashhad is regarded as the first institution in attracting foreign students, mainly from Afghanistan, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Bahrain, Central Asian republics,<ref name="ReferenceA" /> after the efforts made during the presidency of Ahmadinejad who declared Mashhad as "Iran's spiritual capital".<ref name="khorasannews.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.khorasannews.com/News.aspx?type=1&year=1388&month=8&day=9&id=281168|date=27 May 2015|website=www.khorasannews.com|language=fa|script-title=fa:مشهد، پايتخت معنوي ايران اعلام شد|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150527002512/http://www.khorasannews.com/News.aspx?type=1&year=1388&month=8&day=9&id=281168|archive-date=2015-05-27|access-date=2017-10-24}}</ref><ref name="Shahr.ir">{{cite news|url=http://shahr.ir/fa/news/3841/%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%85%E2%80%8C%DA%AF%D8%B0%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%8A-%D9%85%D8%B4%D9%87%D8%AF-%D8%A8%D9%87-%D8%B9%D9%86%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%BE%D8%A7%D9%8A%D8%AA%D8%AE%D8%AA-%D9%85%D8%B9%D9%86%D9%88%D9%8A|date=1 November 2009|access-date=26 October 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20131026085822/http://shahr.ir/fa/news/3841/%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%85%E2%80%8C%DA%AF%D8%B0%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%8A-%D9%85%D8%B4%D9%87%D8%AF-%D8%A8%D9%87-%D8%B9%D9%86%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%BE%D8%A7%D9%8A%D8%AA%D8%AE%D8%AA-%D9%85%D8%B9%D9%86%D9%88%D9%8A|archive-date=26 October 2013|publisher=Shahr.ir|language=fa|script-title=fa:نام‌گذاري مشهد به عنوان پايتخت معنوي|trans-title=Designation of Mashhad as the spiritual capital of Iran}}</ref> Currently, more than 1,300 foreign students  have enrolled in the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, which form one twentieth of the university students. According to the head of the University, more than half of the  foreign students studying at the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad are from Afghanistan and have were admitted at the university by using scholarships (106 students), through participating in the National entrance examination (199 students) and as independent students (204 people).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://snn.ir/fa/news/464262/%D8%AA%D8%AD%D8%B5%DB%8C%D9%84-%DB%B5%DB%B0%DB%B9-%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%B4%D8%AC%D9%88%DB%8C-%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%BA%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%B4%DA%AF%D8%A7%D9%87-%D9%81%D8%B1%D8%AF%D9%88%D8%B3%DB%8C-%D8%A8%DB%8C%D8%B4%D8%AA%D8%B1%DB%8C%D9%86-%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%B4%D8%AC%D9%88%DB%8C-%D8%AE%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%AC%DB%8C-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D8%A7%DB%8C%D9%86-%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%B4%DA%AF%D8%A7%D9%87|title=تحصیل ۵۰۹ دانشجوی افغانی در دانشگاه فردوسی/ بیشترین دانشجوی خارجی در این دانشگاه|website=snn.ir}}</ref>

According to a deputy president of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, most of the foreign students studying in Iran are from Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Pakistan, and Turkey. According to Iran's Minister of Science, Research, and Technology (in a speech at a graduation ceremony of a number of foreign students of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad), many efforts were underway to attract as many as 25,000 by 2015 during the presidency of Ahmadinejad: "The improvement of the quality of universities has paved the way for the enrollment of foreign students. Fourteen thousand foreign students from 92 countries are currently studying at Iran's universities. And if we include the 12,000 foreign students studying at Al-Mustafa (International) University, a total of 26,000 foreign students are studying at higher education institutions in the country".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://wenr.wes.org/2013/09/wenr-augustseptember-2013-middle-east|title=Regional News, August/September 2013, Mideast|date=September 1, 2013|website=WENR}}</ref>