Scholarships and Student Jobs in Kosovo for International Students
Fee figures: catalogue of 6 October 2026.
Money support for foreign students in Kosovo is thin and badly documented. Public tuition is free on first registration of a semester, and the government schemes we found are mostly for Kosovo students. This guide lists what we could confirm and where the gaps are.
Government scholarships
The Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI) announced five schemes for 2025/26. Applications were open from 3 to 18 October 2025 and ran only through the e-Kosova platform:
| Scheme | Amount | Who it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities | €1,000 | first-year bachelor's students at public universities in Kosovo |
| STEM fields | €1,000 a year | girls and women in STEM programmes at public universities in Kosovo |
| Study abroad, bachelor's | up to €5,000 | Kosovo students at a university in the Times Higher Education top 100 |
| Study abroad, master's | up to €7,000 | students at a university in the Times Higher Education top 200 |
| Elite scholarship | amount not stated | bachelor's and master's students at public universities with an average of at least 9 (8 for the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities) |
The ministry's announcement does not say whether foreign citizens can apply, and the study-abroad schemes are for Kosovo students. The full conditions are in the call documents, so read them or ask MESTI before you count on any of these. Calls repeat each autumn, but amounts and rules can change.
University scholarships
RIT Kosovo offers full and partial scholarships, awarded in rounds. Its Finance Office says they are based on merit and need and are aimed at continuing students, and its FAQ says to ask your admissions advisor for the form after you receive your admission letter. Awards cover tuition only. Applicants admitted through RIT's alternative process, which replaces the SAT or TOEFL with an interview, are not eligible for merit-based scholarships. See bachelor's degrees in English in Kosovo.
For other universities, ask the international office whether scholarships exist for foreign students. We could not open the University of Prishtina's scholarship pages, so we cannot say what it offers.
Working while you study
The Law on Granting Permit for Work and Employment of Foreign Citizens (Law No. 03/L-136) is the law we found on foreign workers. It names a type F work permit for students: foreigners who study in Kosovo can work half-time during the academic year and full-time during breaks between academic years or semesters. The permit is issued by the labour and employment department of the ministry responsible for labour. The same law exempts university exchange students working during summer leave under relevant agreements.
We have not verified that this is the version of the law now in force, or how the permit works in practice today. Before you take any job:
- ask the Ministry of Internal Affairs whether your residence permit allows work;
- ask your university how it handles student employment;
- get the work permit before you start, not after.
For the wider picture, see working while studying in Europe.
Other funding
For general routes, see scholarships and financial aid in Europe, and check in each call whether it covers study in Kosovo.
Where to look next
Official sources
- MESTI: call for five scholarship schemes, academic year 2025/26
- Law No. 03/L-136 on Granting Permit for Work and Employment of Foreign Citizens
- RIT Kosovo: Finance Office
- RIT Kosovo: admissions FAQ
Always check current information on the official website of the university before you apply.