Student Housing in Montenegro: State Dormitories and Private Rent

Fee figures: catalogue of 6 October 2026.

Housing in Montenegro has two sides: state dormitories run for students, and the private rental market. The official information about dormitories is clear in some places and silent in others, especially for foreign students. This guide separates what we confirmed from what you must ask.

State dormitories

The Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation publishes a yearly competition for places in the dormitories for pupils and students. For 2025/26, the latest we found, the places were as follows:

Podgorica: 1,081 places in the main student dormitory and 400 in the new one;
Nikšić: 250 places in the student dormitory and 260 in the new one;
Kotor: 210 places;
Cetinje: 111 places;
Berane: 80 places;
Bar: 55 places.

Eurydice lists the same right in the law: a student is entitled to dormitory accommodation and meals, under rules the Ministry sets in a rulebook. The University of Donja Gorica adds that students of private and state faculties have equal rights to a dormitory place.

How places are allocated

Under the 2025/26 competition:

Who may apply. A student who studies away from their place of residence and has enrolled in the relevant semester.
How. Online, at upisi.edu.me. Applicants whose previous schooling was outside Montenegro, or whose data cannot be taken from public registers, also send printed documents to the dormitory by post or in person.
Ranking. By points. For first-year students, the points come from the average marks of the last two years of secondary school, the Luča diploma or equivalent, and the matura or professional exam. For later years, they come from the success index of the previous year.
Quota. Up to 7% of capacity is set aside for students with disabilities, Roma students, students without one or both parents, and recipients of social benefits.
Dates. For first-year students, the 2025/26 window was 4 to 10 September 2025. The 2026/27 dates are not confirmed in what we read, so check the Ministry and the dormitory sites.
On arrival. Students bring a placement referral, a medical certificate, a copy of the ID card and the signed accommodation and meals contract.

Foreign students. The competition asks for a certificate of residence and a certificate of citizenship or a biometric ID card, and it does not say how a foreign student with a visa or permit shows these. Whether foreign citizens can be ranked on the same list is therefore not confirmed. Write to the dormitory before you count on a place.

What it costs

The competition does not state the price of a place. The price of a dormitory place is set by the Ministry's rulebook on dormitory accommodation and meals, which we did not find in full. We also found no official rent figures for private flats. Our catalogue does not hold dormitory prices for Montenegro, so we show none. Ask the dormitory and the university for the current charge.

Private rent

Most international students will rent privately, at least for the first months. We cannot give official prices, and we do not repeat unofficial figures. Two rules from the Law on Foreigners matter for tenants:

you must report your address to the police within 24 hours of arrival, with the form the Ministry prescribes;
if you stay with a registered accommodation provider, it files the report for you within 12 hours.

For a residence permit you also have to show that you have secured accommodation, which usually means a rental contract. See student visas and residence in Montenegro.

Where to study, where to live

Programmes in our catalogue are spread over Podgorica, Nikšić, Cetinje, Bar, Bijelo Polje, Kotor, Herceg Novi, Berane, Budva and Tivat. The 2025/26 competition lists dormitories in six towns (Podgorica, Nikšić, Kotor, Cetinje, Berane and Bar), so check whether your faculty's town has one. Browse the Montenegro catalogue by town.

Where to look next

Official sources

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