Scholarships for talented students from abroad. Apply now to get a scholarship for your studies in Slovakia!

This scholarship programme is designed for international students who plan to pursue higher education in Slovakia in the academic year 2024/2025. The scholarship is exclusively designated for full-time bachelor's  and full-time combined bachelor's and master's studies at a Slovak  higher education instution. It is not applicable to master's studies.

Applicants may choose from any public or private higher education institution, as well as any full-time study programme. To view the list of English-language study programmes offered in Slovakia, please visit the following website: https://www.portalvs.sk/en/studijne-odbory?from=menu1

For more information about studying in Slovakia, please check out the following resources: https://www.studyinslovakia.saia.sk/or the website of any higher education institution in Slovakia you are interested in.

We strongly advise individuals to start communication with a preferred higher education institution in time. In many times such timely communication can help with some questions and save individual's time as well as beware of potential misunderstandings.

Important information regarding the tuition fee, health insurance, VISA and migration:

Scholarship recipients accepted into this scholarship scheme and enrolled and entered to a full-time study programme to a public higher education institution will have their tuition fees waived in accordance with Section 92, Para 11 of Act No. 131/2002 Coll. on Higher Education. 

According to Act No. 580/2004 Coll. on Health Insurance in the Slovak Republic, a person who does not have a permanent residence in the territory of the Slovak Republic, is also publicly health-insured if he/she is not health-insured in another European Union member state or in a contracting state of the European Economic Area Agreement or in the Swiss Confederation, and is a scholarship holder under a program approved by the Government of the Slovak Republic. More information available here: https://www.minedu.sk/list-of-programs-public-health-insurance-in-slovak-republic/ 

We recommend visiting the following website for further information:  https://www.mzv.sk/en/web/en.

In case you need any help or support regarding the migration inquiry as well as any inquiries related to your stay in Slovakia such as Legal Advice, administration processes, health insurance, cooperation with higher education institutions, Slovak language courses, other courses, integration, Cooperation with Migrant Communities, common Q&A and many others, do not hesitate to contact the International Organization for Migration.

This organization will be happy to help.

Contacts:

www.mic.iom.sk/en/

mic@iom.int

Visa check at mic.iom.sk/visacheck/en/home/

0850 211 478 (from Slovakia)

+421 2 5263 0023 (from abroad)

We strongly advise individuals to personally verify all the necessary requirements related to a potential study-related stay in Slovakia and act in time.

100 applicants will be awarded the scholarship. The Ministry may adjust the number of allocated scholarships as needed.  Applicants will be categorized into five groups based on their geographical location. The five categories are:

• Europe
• USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Oceania
• South America
• Central America and Africa
• Asia

Full country list for each category may be found at this link.

Each category will have 10 available slots, totaling to 50 slots for all five categories combined. This approach will ensure a more diverse group of successful applicants. The remaining 50 slots will be filled without regard to category. The selection criteria are outlined in a section below. The Ministry may adjust the number of allocated scholarships as needed. For this reason, the abovementioned numbers of slots may vary proportionately.

The scholarship programme grants up to €12,000 to the top 100 successful applicants. (The Ministry may adjust the number of allocated scholarships as needed.) The scholarship is paid out monthly over the first three academic years of the bachelor’s degree programme or joint bachelor’s and master’s degree study programme in Slovakia, with a payment of €400 per month.  The academic year in Slovakia starts on September 1st and ends on August 31st of the following year. The scholarship is provided for a duration of ten months each year, from September through June.

After the application deadline, the Ministry or higher education institutions start to thoroughly verify and approve each application, as well as check whether all the criteria were met. Then the list of successful applicants is released. The higher education institutions and applicants are informed about the procedure. The administrative work related to the Contract between the Ministry and higher education institutions begins. After the Contract is signed, the funds are transferred from the Ministry to the higher education institutions. The higher education institutions then start paying the scholarship to the individual scholarship holders, in accordance with their internal processes and capabilities. The funds will be sent to the holders as soon as higher education institutions verify and process the data necessary for the correct administration of the scholarship. The higher education institution pays the scholarship to the scholarship holder if he/she fulfils his/her study obligations in accordance with the internal regulations of the university and Section 71 of the Higher Education Act. It means that only a person who is enrolled and entered to his/her study, participating in the course of study, and fulfilling the study obligations required by his/her higher education institution (e.g. physical attendance at classes, etc.) may receive the scholarship. For all months in which the holders are eligible (from September of the 2024/2025 academic year), the funds will be paid, even back in the first batch of your scholarship if delay occurs.

To be eligible for the scholarship, applicants must meet the following requirements:

• citizenship of a country other than Slovakia, which must be confirmed by an acceptable form of identification (generally a passport; those from countries within the European Union, EEA and Switzerland can use a national ID card). Dual citizenship than includes Slovak and another citizenship is allowed,
• no permanent or temporary residence in Slovakia since January 1st, 2019 until the date of submitting the scholarship application (demonstrated by the applicant's solemn declaration, template is available for download during the application process), with the exception of temporary residence for attending a Slovak language or study preparation course (which must be confirmed by the applicant's university), or with the exception of temporary residence for participating in an activity or programme under the Erasmus+ programme or the European Solidarity Corps  programme (which must be confirmed by a Certificate of Participation), or other academic mobility,
• no prior study at a high school or higher education institution in Slovakia, except for academic mobilities. Studies outside of Slovakia are not a contradicting factor for applying for this scholarship,
• completed secondary education (may be completed in the academic year 2023/2024),
• admission to a Slovak higher education institution for a bachelor’s degree programme or joint bachelor’s and master’s deegre study programme, with studies taking place within the Slovak Republic (at the time of applying for this scholarship an application to a Slovak higher education institution will suffice),
• enrolment into the first year of  a bachelor’s degree programme or in a joint bachelor’s and master’s degree study programme starting in the autumn of 2024,
• full time, in-person study programme,
• no specific language requirements for the programme of study,
• no upper age limit, applicants under the age of 18 will need a hand-signed approval from their legal guardian (template will be available for download).

The fulfilment of the conditions will be demonstrated by the applicant's solemn declarations (templates will be available for download, all must be hand-signed) or by meeting the conditions for starting studies at a higher education institution, which fact will be confirmed by the higher education institution (template will be available for download).

Please note that exceptions cannot be granted for these conditions.

The order of applicants in the respective category will be determined on the basis of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT test) score results. To be considered for the scholarship, a minimum SAT score of 1050 is required. Applicants with the SAT score result lower than 1050 will not be considered. SAT scores will be the only criterion for the selection of successful applicants. We will accept results of SAT tests taken in the period from January 1st, 2019, up to the deadline set for the applicant submission (June 30, 2024, 23:59 CET). The SAT test is a must for applying for this scholarship scheme and it has to be uploaded before the deadline.

Please note that the SAT test is an essential requirement for this scholarship application and cannot be substituted with any other alternative or waived.

What is the SAT test? 

The SAT test, short for Scholastic Aptitude Test, is an internationally recognized standardized test issued by the College Board that measures students' knowledge of math, reading, and writing, as well as their college readiness. The test is also available online. The test comprises of three sections: (1) the Reading Test, (2) the Writing and Language Test, and (3) the Math Test. The test is offered several times a year. March–June 2024 test dates: March 9th, May 4th, June 1st. For further information about fees, deadlines, and applications, please visit the official website.

The applicant must complete the online application along with the attachments and submit it no later than June 30, 2024 (23:59 CET). 

Please note that the application must be submitted exclusively electronically online at this website, and it is not possible to request the scholarship via email.

Do not forget that receiving a scholarship does not mean acceptance or enrolment at a higher education institution.

Thanks to everyone for the expressed interest in our scholarship programme.

The application deadline is June 30, 2024 (23:59 CET). A complete application must include all necessary attachments, SAT test results and solemn declarations.

The verification process of each applicant will be carried out by the Ministry of Education, Research, Development and Youth of the Slovak Republic or by the higher education institution to which the applicant has applied and enrolled.  To become a scholarship holder, the applicant must be officially enrolled in the first year of a study programme starting in the autumn of 2024!

Your success depends on You! More atributes need to be fulfilled: timely registration, timely application, all the criteria met, SAT test score results, as well as timely enrolling and entry to a Slovak higher education institution in the academic year 2024/2025 (time around September 2024).

Your overall rank among all accepted applicants is also important. The rank is determined based on the point ranking of each applicant.

After the Scholarship is awarded to a successful applicant, we would like to remind you of the following situations where you still may lose your scholarship entitlement:

1.  The entitlement to the scholarship ceases upon the applicant's termination of studies according to Section 66 (para 1) of the Higher Education Act, this does not apply if the applicant starts studying another study programme in full-time form exclusively at the same higher education institution (regardless of the faculty), during the study. However, the start of studies must be no later than the day following the end of the previous studies, so that the student status is not lost for even one day. At the same time, the continuity of studies must be respected when the change of studies is made, so that the student does not repeat a year, i.e. it is not possible to pay the Scholarship during two first years, nor is it possible to repeat the same year twice in subsequent years. If a student transfers to another study programme within the same higher education institution within the same academic year and the study does not start afresh but continues continuously within that academic year, the entitlement to the scholarship does not cease. 
2. It is not possible to transfer the scholarship between studies at different higher education institutions. 
3. The entitlement to the scholarship also ceases upon interruption of studies pursuant to Section 64 of the Higher Education Act, for the period of interruption of studies, and is automatically restored on the date of re-enrolment pursuant to Section 69 of the Higher Education Act, if the interruption of studies did not last individually or in total more than 180 days. During the period of interruption of studies, the scholarship will not be paid to you due to the loss of student status.
4. The entitlement to the scholarship also ceases if a scholarship holder does not fulfil his/her study obligations in accordance with the internal regulations of a higher education institution and Section 71 of the Higher Education Act. It means that only a person who is enrolled and entered to his/her study, participating in the course of study, and fulfilling the study obligations required by his/her higher education institution (e.g. physical attendance at classes, etc.) may receive the scholarship.

• Please note that this website is to be used only for submitting scholarship applications and cannot be used for study applications. The applicants will need to submit a separate application for the studies directly to a higher education institution of their choice. 
• Please note that this scholarship is tied to a specific study, and a change of a higher education institution will not be possible after the scholarship has been awarded. A change of the study programme within the same higher education institution is permitted only if the studies remain continuous and the applicant does not lose the status of a student. The studies must be continuous for the three years of bachelor’s degree studies, without re-enrolling into a new first year of a new study programme or without repeating any same year of study (as stated in the above stated section “How can I lose the scholarship entitlement?“). 
• Please note that being awarded this scholarship does not automatically imply or ensure admission or enrolment to a higher education institution and does not automatically make the applicant a student of a Slovak higher education institution (as stated in the above stated section “How to apply? “) . Applicants must fulfil all admission criteria set by the higher education institutions for admission and complete the enrolment process. 
• Applicants coming from non-EU countries, please note that the scholarship does not affect visa policies (with the exception of Slovak national visas) or procedures for incoming international students. The information on the process of obtaining a visa can be found on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic.
• The scholarship programme cannot be combined with the Scholarship of the Government of the Slovak Republic for full Bachelor degree programmes.