Country guide

Study in Croatia: universities, tuition fees and admission

Our catalogue has 56 universities and colleges in Croatia offering 648 undergraduate programmes in 33 cities. 571 of the programmes are at public institutions and 77 at private ones.

Universities

56

Programmes

648

Cities

33

EU fee / year, public

Free

Non-EU fee / year, public

€1,116

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

How admission works

You apply through Postani student (postani-student.hr), the national application system run by the Central Applications Office of the Agency for Science and Higher Education (AZVO); you list programmes in order of priority. Candidates are ranked by points from secondary-school grades, the Croatian State Matura exams (EU applicants can have their own school-leaving exam counted instead where the programme allows) and any extra tests set by the institution; places are fixed in advance, with a separate quota for non-EU citizens, and foreign school certificates must be recognised by AZVO within the same procedure. In 2026 applications opened on 1 February and the main (summer) round closed on 15 July with the final ranking lists, followed by an autumn round for remaining places until mid-September; applicants with foreign certificates had to send their documents by 1 July (22 May if they finished school earlier). The dates for the autumn 2027 intake are published on studij.hr and are expected to follow the same pattern.

• Selection: grade limit (numerus clausus)
• Main exam or platform: Državna matura

Tuition fees in Croatia

At public universities an EU student typically pays no tuition fee, and a student from outside the EU €1,116 a year. All amounts are per year in euros; fees charged per credit or per semester are converted to a full year (60 ECTS credits or two semesters).

Where the fee depends on family income, the typical figure is the full fee and the range starts at the lowest one.

Good to know about fees

• Hrvatska: At public universities and polytechnics, Croatian and other EU citizens studying full-time have their tuition paid in full by the state (Higher Education Act, NN 119/2022, art. 79); in later years the subsidy depends on the credits earned, and some programmes taught in a foreign language charge all students. Non-EU citizens pay a fee set by each institution, shown per programme where the institution publishes it. Private institutions set their own fees for everyone. Citizens of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland are not named in the law, so check with the institution whether the EU rule applies to them.

Language of instruction

Croatian: 615 programmes; English: 30 programmes; Italian: 2 programmes; German: 1 programme. See all English-taught programmes in Croatia.

Map of universities in Croatia

Each dot is a university or college: select it to open its page. The street map is optional and loads images from OpenStreetMap.

Where to study: cities

All 56 universities in Croatia by city

What you can study

• Languages and Literature 57
• Music and Musicology 54
• Computer Science 41
• Business Administration 25
• Tourism 20
• Journalism 16
• Nursing 16
• Mechanical Engineering 16
• History 15
• Agronomy 15
• Primary Education Teaching 14
• Naval and Maritime Engineering 14
• Logistics 13
• Sociology 11
• Industrial Electronics and Automation 11
• Electrical Engineering 11
• Mathematics 11
• Economics 10
• Fine Arts 10
• Early Childhood Education 10
• Medicine 9
• Psychology 8
• Physiotherapy 8
• Philosophy 8
• Civil Engineering 8
• Public Administration 8
• Design 7
• Audiovisual Communication 7
• Physics 7
• Pedagogy 7
• Food Science and Technology 7
• Hospitality and Gastronomy 6
• Sport Sciences 6
• Marketing 6
• Multimedia and Video Games 6
• Biology 6
• English Studies 6
• Performing Arts 6
• Art History 6
• Law 5
• Environmental Sciences 5
• Pharmacy 5
• Speech Therapy 5
• Archaeology 5
• Translation and Languages 5
• Environmental Engineering 5
• Dentistry 5
• Materials Engineering 5
• Finance and Accounting 4
• Chemistry 4
• Biomedical Laboratory Science 4
• Marine Sciences 4
• Conservation and Restoration 4
• Geography 4
• Aerospace Engineering 4
• Forestry 4
• International Relations 3
• Architecture 3
• Social Education 3
• Energy Engineering 3
• Geomatics and Surveying 3
• Medical Imaging and Radiotherapy 3
• Chemical Engineering 3
• Anthropology 3
• Fashion Design 3
• International Business 2
• Animal Science 2
• Social Work 2
• Biotechnology 2
• Geology 2
• Mining and Geological Engineering 2
• Veterinary Medicine 2
• Data Science 1
• Criminology 1
• Landscape Architecture 1
• Biochemistry 1
• Human Nutrition and Dietetics 1
• Optics and Optometry 1
• Telecommunications Engineering 1
• Occupational Therapy 1