Smart specialization was created in response to the R&D gap between the European Union and its trading partners. It includes national or regional innovation strategies that set priorities in order to achieve competitive advantage. Smart Specialization Strategy has a role in developing strengths of countries. As part of writing the paper, an empirical research was conducted. The aim of research was to examine how familiar current and former students are with the concept of smart specialization in their university education and to examine their views on segments of smart specialization in university education. The research was conducted in the form of a survey questionnaire, on 147 respondents, and this sample was obtained by spreading the survey electronically via the social network Facebook in numerous groups throughout the Republic of Croatia. Based on the results of the research, it was determined that the majority of respondents did not carry out any project or activity related to research and development or innovation during their studies. In addition, most respondents feel that their university does not sufficiently indicate that smart specialization is closely linked to innovation, technological development, quality of life, sustainable development, mobility and other elements. In the future, it is necessary to work on the introduction of smart specialization in the programs of numerous courses in order to point out the importance of smart specialization in university education.