University of Medicine, Magway was reputed to have the most economically, culturally and ethnically diverse student population as the Union University, , among all Burmese universities of medicine. But, when educational reforms are started under the New Regime, the numbers of fresher candidates is reduced to 99 (2012 December) and those fresher students are from Magway Region, Shan State(East), Rakhine State, Bago Region (West). The fresher students from Lower Myanmar are relocated to University of Medicine 2, Yangon, and those from Kachin State, Chin State and Sagaing Region are to University of Medicine Mandalay. University of Medicine, Magway, is one of five schools in
Yangon universities in the country, highlighting the extreme shallowness of talent pool in the country. The wealthy bypass the state education system altogether, sending their children to private English language instruction schools such as YIEC or more widely known as ISM, or abroad (typically Singapore or Australia) for university education. In 2014, international schools in Yangon cost at least US$8,000 a year. There are over 20 universities and colleges in the city. While Yangon University remains the best known (its main campus is a part of popular Burmese culture e.g. literature, music, film, etc.), the nation's oldest university is now mostly