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Everything you need to know about education in Croatia: how to apply for a bachelor's and master's degree and what opportunities there are after studying.
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Studying in Croatia is a perfect option for those who are looking for higher education with flexible entry requirements and affordable costs. As a bonus, you will live in a mild climate and get a chance to be a part of a modern, actively developing education system.
In the article we will take a closer look at the process of applying to a university in Croatia, career opportunities in the country, as well as the immigration process after studying.
| Study level | Length | Minimal annual price | Average annual price |
| Professional bachelor’s | 3 years | 1,130 USD | 5,085 USD |
| Bachelor’s | 3-4 years | 904 USD | 5,650 USD |
| Master’s | 1-2 years | 1,356 USD | 6,780 USD |
| PhD | 3 years | 904 USD | 1,130 USD |
| Expenses | Average cost |
| Rent | 384-791 USD/month |
| Utilities | 181 USD/month |
| Public transport | 51 USD/month |
| Mobile internet | 26 USD/month |
| Consulate fee | 79 USD |
| Registration fee | 68-339 USD |
| Exams | 23 USD |
You can apply for a university in Croatia after completing secondary school.
To study in Croatian, you will have to submit documents through a unified online system[9]. You can select up to 10 study programs and apply for them. To study in English, the application must be submitted directly to the university.
You can find a suitable program on the website of the Ministry of Education.
Requirements normally include:
Some universities hold their own entrance exams for the foreign students as the equivalent of State Matura in Croatian or English depending on the language of the future study program.
All documents must be translated into Croatian or English and notarized. They also need to be affixed with an apostille.
Some universities may require you to pay a registration fee of approximately 68-113 USD.
This is an approximate list of requirements for admission to a Croatian university. Each university can set their own admission conditions. It is better to contact the admissions office directly and find out the requirements for foreigners.
Another important condition is the recognition of a high school diploma. There’s a special agency that carries out this process. The procedure is free, but the agency only accepts original documents sent by mail.
After the recognition procedure you will receive a certificate that your level of education corresponds to a Croatian secondary school and you can continue your studies at a bachelor's level. During admission to master's and PhD programs, recognition procedure is carried out by the universities you’ve applied for.
It is not necessary to take IELTS or TOEFL when entering a Croatian university. Students confirm their language skills by taking a unified exam or university entrance tests.
If you want to improve your knowledge of Croatian before starting your studies, you can consider language courses offered by universities.
You can find out more about opportunities to study Croatian on the University of Zagreb website.
Typically, applications for admission are accepted through February to March. The deadline is May to June, but in some universities admission is allowed until the end of September[10].
Study begins in September-October.
Croatia has a binary system of higher education[11]. This means that future students can choose between two types of education:
Vocational education is offered in polytechnics (veleučilišta) and colleges (visoke škole).
Technically, vocational schools have 2 levels of education: bachelor's and master's degrees.
A bachelor's degree can be completed in 2 to 2.5 years or in 3 to 4 years.
Master's degree can be completed in 1 to 2 years.
Upon completion of studies, students receive a professional bachelor's degree (stručni/a prvostupnik / prvostupnica) or a specialist’s degree (stručni/a specijalist / specijalistica).
After graduation from a vocational school, students typically start working full-time. They cannot enroll to study master's or PhD degrees at "classical" universities.
Requirements:
Croatia participates in the Bologna Process, therefore higher education in the country is divided into three levels: bachelor's, master's and PhD studies.
It takes 3 to 4 years to complete a bachelor's degree program in Croatia. During this time a student has to gain 180-240 credits.
Upon completing the studies, the university awards the student a bachelor's degree (sveučilišni / a prvostupnik / prvostupnica) and a specialization. For example, engineering graduates receive the title of inženjer or inženjerka in the relevant field[12].
Some degrees in Croatia can only be obtained through integrated programs. These, for example, include medicine and law, and sometimes physics, geography and even theology[13]. Such programs are a combination of bachelor's and master's degrees. This program usually takes 5 to 6 years, with a minimum of 360 credits to cover. Upon completion, students receive a master's degree (magistar / magistra) or a Doctor of Medicine (doktor / doktorica medicine) in medical fields. Such programs are offered by the University of Zagreb, the University of Split and the University of Rijeka.
Leading universities in Croatia not only actively support student exchange programs, but specialize in them. Sometimes it’s easier to find information about exchange programs than about bachelor’s and master’s degrees on the websites of Croatian universities. All major universities in the country participate in ERASMUS+ and CEEPUS agreements. Students can study at a Croatian university for a semester or a year as a part of a mobility program.
See also: Exchange programsTo enroll in a bachelor's degree, you must have a secondary education certificate recognized by the Education Agency. You need to send the following documents there:
After the recognition procedure is finalized, your documents will be sent to the university of your choice along with the certificate of compliance with the Croatian level of education[14]. The recognition procedure is free.
The official language of teaching and study is Croatian. About 85 higher education programs in the country are available in English, with only 14 at the undergraduate level[6].
An average annual tuition fee of a bachelor's degree in Croatia for foreigners is as follows:
Check current tuition fees on the official websites of faculties and universities.
May be additionally required by some universities:
A diploma must be confirmed by an apostille. All documents must be translated into Croatian or English and notarized.
The second level of higher education in Croatia is a master's degree. Studies are completed in 1 to 2 years; during this time you need to gain 60 to 180 credits.
Master’s studies culminate with a final exam and a public defense of the dissertation. Upon completion of training, students are awarded a master's degree (magistar / magistra) or a specialist’s diploma (specijalist / specijalistica) in applied colleges.
The official language of instruction, as in undergraduate studies, is Croatian. However, there is a wider choice of programs in English for master’s students: the University of Zagreb has 16 programs in English[15], and the University of Dubrovnik has 5[16]. There are about 40 programs in the country.
Admission requirements for the master's programs usually include motivation letters and letters of recommendation. A previous bachelor's degree must also be recognized by the university.
Studying a master's degree in Croatia will cost 3000 to 6,780 USD per year on average, with the lowest price at 1,356 USD per year.
Some universities may require:
The third stage of academic education, according to the Bologna process, is PhD studies.
The training lasts for at least 3 years. During this time you need to get 180 credits.
PhD students devote most of their time to research and writing a dissertation. At the end of their studies, they publicly defend their work to a committee, and then are awarded a PhD degree (doktor / doktorica znanosti) in the relevant field.
There are even fewer English-speaking PhDs in Croatia than there are bachelor’s programs: only 2.
The cost of PhD studies in Croatia is 1,130 USD per year on average.
The university might also require:
Non-EU students must obtain a long-term visa D to study at a university in Croatia. For short courses or exchange programs up to 90 days, a short-term visa C is sufficient.
Documents required for visa D:
The fee for a long-term visa is 79 USD.
Upon arrival in Croatia, the student must go to the nearest police station and register their place of residence. There, you must also apply for a residence permit.
There are no substantial government scholarships for higher education programs in Croatia. However, students studying the Croatian language can apply for a government scholarship.
It can be provided for the following programs:
To take part in the competition, your Croatian teacher must write you a letter of recommendation, which can be attached to the application on the website. Deadline is March 31st.
Public universities in Croatia do not offer funding options for international students[7].
Some private universities offer funding programs for foreigners. For example, Zagreb School of Economics and Management offers a bachelor’s degree scholarship, which covers 20% to 50% of the tuition fee.
To compete for the scholarship, you need to fill in an online application and write an essay about your future plans. The essay should explain where you see yourself in the future and how the university will help you achieve your goals. Then, you will need to pass the entrance exam and wait for the commission’s decision on awarding the scholarship.
International students in Croatia can work without additional permits. All they have to do is contact the Student Center (Studentski centar) and let them know that they’re ready to start working.
It is Student Centers’ responsibility to provide job opportunities to both local and international students.
There are no strict restrictions regarding working hours for students in Croatia. But all the jobs offered by the Student Center are part-time jobs.
The average hourly pay is approximately 34 USD[17].
Since Croatia participates in the Bologna Process, its degrees are recognized by all participating countries. You can either continue your studies or get a job without having to go through the diploma recognition process.
In 2021, the average monthly salary in Croatia was 1,060 USD[18]. The youth unemployment rate in Croatia is 22%[19]. For comparison, the average in Europe is 6.2%[8], and in neighboring Serbia about 26%[20].
Finding a job in the country can be difficult, especially if you are not a citizen of the country and do not speak the local language. Among the professions in short supply in Croatia are electricians, IT and data specialists, logisticians and drivers[18].
When given such an opportunity, take a part-time job while studying. Establishing contact with the Student Center and meeting local employers can help you find a job after graduation.
You can work full-time in Croatia only if you have a work residence permit.
You can apply for it while still in the country, at the nearest police department[21]. Attached to the application must be an invitation from the employer, as well as an employment contract. The employer can also submit a permit application on your behalf.
After 5 years of residence in Croatia with a residence permit, foreigners can apply for full residency. After another 5 years, they can obtain Croatian citizenship by taking an exam testing the knowledge of Croatian language, history and culture of the country.
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