Scholarships for Talented International Students
„Want to study abroad? Come to Slovakia – a safe country with great potential to make a career!“
The Ministry of Education, Research, Development and Youth of the Slovak Republic will soon launch the application process for a scholarship scheme for international students. The scholarship is intended for talented students from abroad who wish to pursue full-time studies at a higher education institution based in Slovakia, in bachelor’s degree programs, combined bachelor’s and master’s programs, or master’s degree programs that fall within the Smart Specialisation Strategy of the Slovak Republic (SK RIS3 2021+). The scholarship is open to applicants from all over the world. A successful applicant will be entitled to receive a scholarship up to €15,000. The scholarship is paid out monthly over the first three continuing academic years of the bachelor’s degree programme, combined bachelor’s and master’s degree study programme or two continuing academic years of master’s degree programme in Slovakia, with a payment of €500 per month.
Scholarship applications can be submitted until July 31, 2026 23:59 CEST via the website: https://scholarships.portalvs.sk. The selection criterion is the successful completion of the SAT test with a minimum score of 1100 points or the completion of the SCIO tests in mathematics and general study prerequisites with an average percentile of at least 63.
This scholarship scheme is co-financed by the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) and the state budget. The website through which to apply for the scholarship and where you can get more information on the scholarships for talented students from abroad: https://scholarships.portalvs.sk/.
Who can apply
Bachelor's level:
Applicants who have completed or plan to complete their secondary education at a school based outside the territory of the Slovak Republic and plan to enrol in a bachelor's degree programme (or a combined bachelor's and master's degree programme) at a public or state higher education institution in Slovakia may apply. The year of completion of secondary education is not taken into account – the applicant does not have to complete secondary school in the same year as submitting the application. Slovaks living abroad with Slovak citizenship may also apply if they submit a Certificate issued in accordance with § 7 of Act No. 474/2005 Coll. together with the application.
Master's level:
Three categories of applicants may apply for a scholarship at the master's level:
- applicants who have completed their bachelor's degree abroad and are entering the master's level at a public or state higher education institution in Slovakia for the first time;
- applicants who completed their bachelor's degree or the 3rd year of a combined bachelor's and master's degree programme and continuously progress to the master's level or to a higher year of the combined bachelor's and master's degree programme at a public or state higher education institution in Slovakia (without an interruption between the bachelor's and master's level), and who were not recipients of the scholarship for talented international students financed by the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP);
- applicants who, during the three years of their bachelor's studies or combined bachelor's and master's studies, were active and continuous recipients of the scholarship for talented international students financed by the RRP and continuously progress to the master's level or to the combined bachelor's and master's degree programme at one of the public or state higher education institutions in Slovakia.
Slovaks living abroad with Slovak citizenship may also apply at the master's level if they submit a Certificate issued in accordance with § 7 of Act No. 474/2005 Coll. together with the application.
Benefits of being a scholarship holder:
*Access to public health insurance upon request.
*Financial support through the scholarship to help you pursue your goals.
*The opportunity to participate in Erasmus+ or other academic mobility programs, if interested.
*Study programs available in Slovak and foreign languages, some of them tuition-free.
We kindly ask you to regularly monitor the scholarship scheme website, where updates regarding the conditions and the list of supported study programmes may be published.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at scholarships.esifminedu.sk.