How to Get Into a University in Bulgaria as an International Student

Fee figures: catalogue of 6 October 2026.

Bulgaria has no national application portal and no single admission score. You apply to each university, and each one runs its own competition for its places. How you apply, and how much you pay, depends mostly on your citizenship.

Two routes: EU citizens and everyone else

Citizens of the EU, the EEA and Switzerland are admitted on the same terms as Bulgarians. They sit the same entrance exams or compete with the same grades, and they pay the same fees.
Citizens of other countries are admitted as foreign students under Article 95(8) of the Higher Education Act. They apply to the university and pay the fees for foreign students. Those fees are much higher, and the government sets them for every state university each year.

There is a third, smaller route for people of Bulgarian origin living abroad, who are admitted under separate government decrees (Nos. 103 and 228). If you have Bulgarian roots, ask the university about it.

What universities there are

Our catalogue lists 1,529 full-time bachelor's and integrated master's programmes at 73 institutions and campuses, both state and private. Most universities are in Sofia, with large centres also in Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas and Veliko Tarnovo. Medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and law are integrated master's programmes that you enter straight from school.

The first choice: Bulgarian or English

Most programmes are taught in Bulgarian. Our catalogue lists 149 programmes taught in English, and a few in French, German and other languages.

If you are a non-EU student who wants to study in Bulgarian, you usually start with a preparatory year of Bulgarian. At Sofia University, for example, foreign students from outside the EU may enrol on a programme taught in Bulgarian after successfully completing a course at its Department for Language Teaching. The full-time preparatory course costs €3,500 in 2026/27.

How students are selected

Admission rules are set by each university, within the number of state-funded places the Council of Ministers approves every year. According to Eurydice, universities may:

run their own entrance exams, or accept the results of another university's exam;
admit applicants on their state matriculation (matura) results without an exam, if the academic council decides so;
combine exam results with secondary-school grades.

Universities must publish their admission terms before 31 March each year, so the rules for autumn 2027 will be out by 31 March 2027. English-taught programmes for foreign students often have their own calendar.

Bulgaria publishes no national cutoff scores, so our Bulgaria pages show no entry scores.

Medicine and dentistry in English

Medicine taught in English is the best-known route for international students. The medical universities in Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna and Pleven, and some other universities, run English-taught programmes with their own entrance exams, usually in biology and chemistry, and sometimes English. For example, the Medical University of Sofia held a remote exam in English, biology and chemistry in September 2026, with documents due between 27 July and 31 August. The Medical University of Pleven admits to English-taught medicine in February. Dates change every year, so read the university's admissions page early. For the wider picture, see studying medicine in English in Europe.

Your school diploma

If your secondary education is from outside Bulgaria, you need a certificate from NACID, the National Centre for Information and Documentation, recognising your diploma and converting your grades to the Bulgarian scale. Universities ask for it together with the legalised original and a Bulgarian translation. Start early: NACID decides within one month of receiving complete documents. See document recognition for Bulgaria.

For English-taught programmes, universities set their own language requirements. Some run their own English test, others accept a certificate. See IELTS and TOEFL for European universities.

Step by step

Shortlist programmes and read each university's admission rules, published by 31 March.
Apply to NACID for recognition of your school diploma, with a legalised original and translation.
Apply to the university by its deadline and pay the application or exam fee.
Sit the entrance exam, if there is one, and check the ranking lists.
Enrol and pay the first fee. Non-EU students then follow the visa steps below.

Non-EU students: visa D and residence permit

After admission, the university sends your file to the Ministry of Education, which issues a certificate through the national Visa D system. You take it to a Bulgarian embassy or consulate to apply for a long-stay visa D, then apply for a residence permit in Bulgaria. See student visa for Bulgaria.

Where to look next

Official sources

Always check current information on the official website of the university before you apply.