Scholarships and Part-Time Work for Students in Slovakia

Fee figures: catalogue of 6 October 2026.

In Slovakia the biggest saving is not a scholarship but the law: full-time study in Slovak at a public university is free for everyone, whatever their citizenship. On top of that there are two ministry scholarships open to international bachelor's students, and some help from universities. This guide follows the 2026/27 rules.

Free study instead of a scholarship

Programmes in Slovak at public universities charge no tuition for the standard length of the programme, for Slovak, EU and non-EU students alike.
Programmes taught only in English may be charged, but several universities have decided not to. Our catalogue lists 64 programmes taught in English, each with its fee.

The fees are in how much it costs to study in Slovakia.

Government scholarships of the Slovak Republic

This is the Ministry of Education's long-running programme, part of Slovak development aid. It is open only to citizens of the countries on the ministry's list, which for 2026/27 included, among others, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Serbia, North Macedonia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Vietnam, Mongolia and several countries of Central Asia and the Middle East.

For bachelor's and master's study the ministry's financial terms for 2026/27 were:

a monthly scholarship of €700;
a one-off €100 at the start and €200 on completion;
a language and preparatory year before the degree, also paid at €700 a month.

Applications go through vladnestipendia.sk. For 2026/27 the deadline was 25 May 2026; the call for 2027/28 had not been published when we checked. Under the Higher Education Act, a student holding a scholarship from a government-approved programme pays tuition only if the university's rules say so for that programme.

Talent scholarships for foreign students

The ministry also runs a scheme for talented students, funded from EU funds and the state budget. For 2026/27 the foreign group offered:

€500 a month, from September to June, so up to €5,000 a year and €15,000 over a three-year bachelor's programme;
170 scholarships for first-year bachelor's and long-cycle students;
only at public or state universities, and only in programmes on the ministry's list of priority fields, which can be taught in a foreign language;
for applicants who finished secondary school outside Slovakia and are foreign citizens or Slovaks living abroad.

Applicants are ranked only by a test: the SAT, with at least 1,100 points, or the SCIO tests in mathematics and general study skills, with an average percentile of at least 63. School grades and the IB play no part. Applications for 2026/27 went through scholarships.portalvs.sk, with a deadline extended to 8 September 2026. Universities may waive the tuition fee of scholarship holders in foreign-language programmes, but they decide case by case. Whether the scheme will run again for 2027/28 was not announced when we checked.

Scholarships from universities

Social scholarships are paid from the state budget, but only to students with permanent residence in Slovakia or international protection. Most international students do not qualify.
Motivation scholarships reward excellent results or achievements in study, research, art or sport. Universities award them to at most a tenth of their students, under their own scholarship rules, and the law sets no residence condition.
Universities may also pay scholarships from their own funds, and companies can fund corporate scholarships.

Few universities publish scholarships aimed at international bachelor's students, so read the scholarship rules (štipendijný poriadok) of your university and ask its international office.

Working while you study

EU, EEA and Swiss citizens can work in Slovakia without a permit.

Students from outside the EU with temporary residence for study can work up to 80 hours a month across all employers, without a work permit, under the Employment Services Act. More hours need a permit.

Many student jobs use a special student work agreement (dohoda o brigádnickej práci študentov). Under the Labour Code it is open to full-time students under 26 and allows 20 hours a week on average. It has its own social insurance rules; Sociálna poisťovňa, the social insurance agency, explains them.

Pay, tax and insurance

The national minimum wage in 2026 is €915 a month. Your employer withholds income tax and contributions from your pay. Students from outside the EU must keep the health insurance required for their residence permit; see student visa for Slovakia.

Part-time work at around the minimum wage helps with living costs, but it will not cover the fees for medicine in English.

Where to find work

University career and counselling centres, such as UNIPOC at Šafárik University in Košice, which organises a career day with employers.
The public employment service (ÚPSVaR) and the Slovak EURES pages, which list vacancies.
Without Slovak the choice of jobs is much smaller, so a language course is worth considering.

Where to look next

Official sources

Ministry of Education: Government scholarships of the Slovak Republic: deadline, countries and financial terms for 2026/27
Talent scholarships for foreign students: Ministry of Education
Act 300/2025 on higher education: tuition § 96, scholarships §§ 109–116 (Slov-Lex, in Slovak)
Act 5/2004 on employment services: work without a permit, § 23a (Slov-Lex, in Slovak)
Ministry of Labour: minimum wage for 2026 (in Slovak)

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