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

Fee figures: catalogue of 6 October 2026.

Serbia has no single national application portal and no common admission score. Every faculty or school publishes its own annual call (konkurs), sets its entrance exam and ranks applicants itself. This guide explains how that works for a foreign applicant and what to do first.

How the system works

According to Eurydice, entry to a first-cycle (bachelor's) programme requires a completed four-year secondary school and a passed entrance exam. Institutions design their own exams. For some programmes, mainly in the arts and sport, an aptitude test is added or used instead. Candidates are then ranked on their secondary-school results together with the entrance exam.

The Law on Higher Education adds three points that matter to foreigners:

a foreign citizen may enrol under the same conditions as a Serbian citizen as regards previous education;
a person may enrol only if they understand the language in which the programme is taught;
the call for a new school year must be announced well ahead of the start of the year, and it states the number of places, the admission conditions, the ranking criteria and the tuition.

Because every faculty publishes its own rules, the same applicant can face a different exam, a different deadline and a different price at two faculties of the same university.

What there is to choose from

Our catalogue lists 837 bachelor's and integrated programmes at 130 institutions, state and private, in cities across the country, with big university centres in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Niš and Kragujevac. Medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and veterinary medicine are integrated programmes that you enter straight from school. Everything in the catalogue is full-time.

Serbian or English

Serbian is the main language of instruction, and Serbian-taught programmes require Serbian. Study in Serbia, the government information portal, notes that year-long and semester-long preparatory Serbian courses exist to help with entrance exams held in Serbian. The University of Belgrade Faculty of Economics, for example, asks all foreign candidates for evidence of Serbian at level B2.

If you do not speak Serbian, look at the English-taught options. Our catalogue lists 67 bachelor's programmes taught in English. See bachelor's degrees in English in Serbia.

Rounds and timing

Eurydice and Study in Serbia agree on the usual pattern: a first round with entrance exams in early July and a second round in early September, only if places remain. Study in Serbia says applications often open in June. At the University of Niš, for instance, the second round for 2026 ran from 1 to 18 September.

Calls for autumn 2027 are not published yet, so read each faculty's website in spring. A foreign applicant should not wait for the second round: recognition of a foreign diploma can take weeks.

Step by step

Shortlist programmes in the catalogue or in the Study in Serbia database, and read the faculty's call and its rules for foreign applicants.
Start recognition of your secondary school diploma at the ENIC/NARIC Centre. Study in Serbia says it is needed to enrol on a bachelor's programme, and it should be completed before final enrolment. See document recognition for Serbia.
Apply to the faculty with the documents it lists. Typical items are the application form, a copy of your passport, transcripts and proof that you paid the application fee.
Sit the entrance exam and check the ranking list.
Enrol and pay tuition. Study in Serbia says you show proof of payment and your recognition certificate at enrolment.
If you need a visa, apply at a Serbian embassy or consulate with your conditional acceptance letter, then apply for a temporary residence permit after arrival. See student visa for Serbia.

Rules of the University of Belgrade as an example

The University of Belgrade's admission rules say a foreign citizen can enrol if their foreign school certificate is recognised, if they prove knowledge of Serbian or of the language of the programme, and if they are health insured. They also say a foreigner pays tuition for the whole period of study unless an international agreement says otherwise. Candidates can score up to 100 points: 16 to 40 for the secondary-school record and 0 to 60 for the entrance exam. Other universities have their own rules, so check each one.

Where to look next

Official sources

Eurydice: Serbia, bachelor: European Commission
Study in Serbia: requirements: Ministry of Education and Tempus Foundation
Study in Serbia: how to apply
University of Belgrade: rules on enrolment of students (in Serbian)
University of Belgrade Faculty of Economics: candidates with foreign secondary school degrees
University of Niš: enrolment (in Serbian)

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