Scholarships and Part-Time Work for Students in Denmark

Fee figures: catalogue of 6 October 2026.

Denmark has two very different money systems for students. Danish students, and EU students who qualify for equal status, receive a monthly state grant. Non-EU students pay tuition and can hope for a limited number of scholarships administered by their university. This guide explains both, and what you can earn alongside your studies.

Danish Government Scholarships

Each year Danish institutions receive a limited number of government scholarships for highly qualified full-degree students from outside the EU, the EEA and Switzerland. According to Study in Denmark, the Ministry of Higher Education and Science's portal:

you must be a non-EU, non-EEA, non-Swiss citizen, enrolled in a full degree programme and holding a time-limited residence permit for education;
students at artistic institutions, and students entitled to the SU grant, are not eligible;
a scholarship can be a full or partial tuition fee waiver, a grant towards living costs, or both;
the institutions select the students themselves, so you ask the institution, not the ministry.

Each institution decides which programmes and levels its scholarships go to, and at bachelor's level they are rare. Check the scholarship page of every university on your list before you count on one.

A bachelor's example: SDU Vejle

The University of Southern Denmark (SDU) offers a very limited number of scholarships for non-EU applicants to four bachelor's programmes in Vejle: Artificial Intelligence, Computer Science, Interactive Technology Engineering and Software Engineering. The scholarship is a full or partial tuition fee waiver for the standard length of the programme, typically three years. There is no separate application: eligible applicants are considered automatically, on their uniTEST score and an online interview held in early June. To keep the waiver you must make satisfactory progress, as a guideline 30 ECTS credits per semester. It does not cover living costs, and SDU warns that the list of programmes may change from year to year.

Who pays no tuition

Students from the EU, the EEA and Switzerland study for free. Some non-EU citizens do too, for example holders of a permanent residence permit. The full list is in how much it costs to study in Denmark.

The SU grant for EU students

SU is the Danish state's monthly education grant. Foreign citizens can receive it only with equal status to Danes. For EU and EEA citizens the usual route is work: SU asks for at least 10 to 12 hours of work every week throughout your studies, checks the hours against employers' reports, and asks for the money back if the conditions stop being met. Another route is five years of continuous residence in Denmark.

Non-EU students on a residence permit for study may not receive SU or other public benefits; doing so can cost them the permit.

Working while you study

EU, EEA and Swiss citizens can work without a permit and without a limit on hours.
Non-EU students on a state-approved programme may work 90 hours a month from September to May and full time in June, July and August. Working more is illegal and can cost you the permit. Students on programmes that are not state-approved, who applied from 2 May 2025, have no right to work. See student visa for Denmark.

At 90 hours a month a job helps with rent, but it cannot pay a non-EU tuition fee.

Pay and tax

Denmark has no statutory minimum wage. Pay is set by collective agreements or agreed individually, and the agreements can set a minimum wage for the sector. Unions publish annual wage statistics you can use to check an offer.

Before you start working, get a CPR number and a tax card from the Danish Tax Agency (Skattestyrelsen). Your employer withholds income tax according to your tax card, plus a labour market contribution of 8% of your gross pay. You set your expected income in your preliminary income assessment online, which decides how much tax is withheld.

Where to find work

Your institution's career centre, for student jobs and internships linked to your field.
Workindenmark, a public job portal for international job seekers, where all listed jobs are in English.

Danish widens the choice of jobs considerably, so a Danish course in your first year pays off.

Where to look next

Official sources

Study in Denmark: scholarships
SDU: bachelor scholarships and grants
SIRI: residence permit for higher education: work rules and benefits
Life in Denmark: pay
Danish Tax Agency: first steps

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