In this article, I want to share with you the best countries to study abroad for free because I get messages every single day from people asking if I don’t have a lot of money and how can I make studying abroad possible anyway? because one of the biggest misconception people have about studying abroad is that it’s super expensive and that you can only do it when you have like massive savings or rich parents or you get like five million scholarships but that’s not true because if you do the proper research you’ll realize there are tons of opportunities out there to study abroad for free, meaning that in certain countries you do not have to pay any tuition fees. I will also link down below all of the resources that I used personally so you guys can do more research for yourself.
when I did the research for this article I realized that many of the countries you can study abroad for free are actually in Europe I have not included any countries outside Europe in this article let me know down below in the comments and I can maybe do that, also on every country I will differentiate between EU students and Non-EU Students, so international students who don’t come from new countries. Free countries to study Abroad for EU students so with no tuition fees or a very small amount of fees are Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Norway, Poland, Slovenia Sweden, Czech Republic, and Spain.
1. Study Abroad in Germany :
The first country on this list is Germany to study abroad. Germany is an incredible option to study abroad, Germany does not charge any tuition fees for no students no matter if they are from the EU or from outside the EU. obviously, there are private universities in Germany just like there in any other country where you do have to pay tuition but there are tons and tons of incredible public universities as I found in my research there are more than 40 universities in Germany that are world leaders the only thing that you have to pay for German universities is like an administration fee which is usually you are like 200 to 300 euros per semester but with this, you also get a lot of benefits for example after you get free public transport obviously if you can speak German and you can involve your German program otherwise there are tons and tons of English programs available however I recommend you guys to focus and learn German
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As for a student who’s a which I researched you need if you are staying longer than 90 days you can get that at your German Embassy in your country and the student visa application cost 75 euros really important to even apply for German visa even if you don’t have like an offer from the university yet because it can take a few months for the VISA to be issued and usually the application period for German universities are quite late so it’s usually now around like July August September and University starting in October so it’s really important to start your research soon and to apply for University soon and also apply for a visa soon.
So the top destination to study in Germany and my personal opinions are Berlin and Dresden because also both cities are not super expensive for example like Munich or Hamburg they’re a lot more expensive so I researched and like the average cost per month of living as student Germany is around 800 euro for example in Dresden you could easily live with 600 euros whereas in Munich you would probably need around a 1000 euros per month and obviously in order to afford those living costs I researched and if you are an international student so from outside the EU you can work 120 full days per year or 240 half days per year, and if you are from the EU you can easily work up to 20 hours per week because you’re regarded as a regular student basically.
if you need more information on that there’s this really good service that’s called DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst) it’s the German academic exchange service and on that website there you can get information all about scholarships and their requirements.
2. Study Abroad in France :
The second country where you can study abroad in for free is France, basically, if you come from outside the EU you have to pay around 3000 euros per year for a bachelor’s degree and around 4000 euros per year for a master’s program and if you are from the EU it’s kind of similar to Germany where you have to pay like 200 euros per year for like a bachelor’s program and at 250 euros per year for a master’s program. the deadlines in France are between February and April so again you really have to look into the country you want to consider studying abroad in because the deadlines for applications are very different I also linked down below a resource where you can find what scholarships are available because since France is now charging for studying basically they also offer a lot more scholarships so that students still come to France obviously because they don’t want to lose the students that come to France.
you can get the so-called VLS-TS visa (a long-term visa that allows you to pursue studies in France for a period of four months to one year) which allows you to work up to 20 hours per week as well as to travel freely in the countries of the Schengen area so that’s really cool to travel throughout Europe if you don’t have a European passport obviously and to apply for that degree that you need to pay 100 euros and then when you come to France and to validate the visas and other six euros so it’s also not like super expensive and however for living costs France is a little bit more expensive than Germany especially if you want to live like a place like Paris and my research showed that you have to at least have like a 1000-1200 euros per month which I know like you could always save money but it’s always better to have a little bit more of you know budget so you don’t have like any money worries if you want to live outside Paris the average living cost is around 1000-1200 Euros per month.
3. Study Abroad in Norway :
The third country where you can study abroad for free is Norway, and that’s actually really cool because just as in Germany you don’t have to pay tuition fees no matter if you come from the EU or from outside the EU, so the semester student fee is really cheap it’s around 30 to 60 euros with just like so cheap which means like you pay a hundred euros per year to study there, however, the only kind of downside about Norway is that the cost of living in Norway and generally in the Nordic countries like Denmark Sweden, Finland is higher so, for example, the average living cost in Oslo can be a 1000 to 2000 euros per month. You would pay around 240 euros per on food and students who live alone would pay 700 euros for accommodation per month, and if you live like a private accommodation and for student halls you would pay at around 600 euro but then you have to think that you don’t have to pay any tuition fees and you are also as your student you are allowed to work part-time if you come from outside EU you have to get like their work permit where you can again work up to 20 hours for most courses in Norway you need to speak Norwegian however there are a few English courses but even if you choose an English course it’s always great to learn as language and also for you students in our Sweden and Iceland are also without any tuition fees however if you come from outside the EU you have to pay tuition fees for example in Sweden they can be up to 19,000 euros per year which is quite a lot fun fact you can study in Finland for free if you’re from outside the EU, if you can talk and study in Swedish or Finnish so much if you can talk in that language then you can say abroad in Finland for free. In the Nordic countries, you have to be aware of the weather which it can get really cold and also dark but if you like that kind of lifestyle then that could also be something for you.
4. Study Abroad in Poland :
Number four on our list is to study abroad and on a budget is Poland and I think that’s actually a really cool option because the good thing about Poland is that the living costs there are really low in comparison to other countries, my research showed that you need between 450 and 650 euros per month which I think is even quite high like you can even do that at lower than that the only thing you do have to pay tuition which is not that expensive though, it’s 1500-2000 euros per year which is okay when you think that like your living costs won’t really be as expensive. Poland there are really so many cool cities I’ve never been personally but I heard so many great things about Warsaw and Krakow and all of those really cool places it’s obviously really sensual in Europe like you can basically travel anywhere it’s really quite I think it’s actually really cool option to study in Poland.
5. Study Abroad in the Czech Republic :
Similar to Poland the next country that I would consider is the Czech Republic which I personally am absolutely in love with Prague you can speak Czech. You can study there no matter if you’re from the EU or from Non-EU will be for free, and you can even if you don’t speak Czech and even do like a language course which is 900 dollars per semester to learn the language but still, you would be a lot cheaper to do that rather than enroll in an English course can pay a lot of money.
The Czech Republic is really affordable when it comes to living costs, in Germany, you would maybe need at least like 10,000 euros per year for living costs in the Czech Republic you would need like 7000-8000 euros, so that really does make a difference personally love Prague so much and I know that the University in Prague is really great so maybe you could look into that.
6. Study Abroad in the Austria :
The next one is Austria where for EU students you have to pay around 350 euros per semester and for Non-EU around 700 euros per semester which if you think about it’s also not that expensive obviously the living costs are probably similar to Germany it’s supposed to be incredible.
7. Study Abroad in the Belgium :
The next number is the Country you can also consider is Belgium, I personally think in comparison to the other ones it’s more of an expensive option, living costs in Belgium are definitely like France and Germany so a bit higher but not as expensive as Norway maybe but still more the expensive side and as an EU student you will pay 900 euros per year and for Non-EU around 4000 euros per year which is again a bit more expensive, also know that those countries that do charge that much money they also have scholarships available so you have to look into that as well. Belgium is a small country and it’s like next to the Netherlands, next to France, next to Germany so you do have a lot of options to travel around as well.
8. Study Abroad in the Spain :
The Last Countrt in our list of stufy abroad for free is Spain, and as EU students you don’t have to pay fees and for Non-EU you have to pay between a 1000-2000 euros per year which is also not that bad I guess and the living costs I think are maybe like Germany but maybe even a bit cheaper I would consider.
So I really hope that you found this article valuable and helpful I know I literally only scratched the surface in this article honestly the information on that it’s so broad enough anyway comments below if this article inspires you and if yes like what country you would consider? Do you have any experience of studying abroad in any of those countries?
Resources used in this article:
🇩🇪Germany:
https://www.germany-visa.org/student
🇫🇷France:
https://www.study.eu/article/tuition
http://campusbourses.campusfrance.org
🇳🇴Norway:
https://studylink.com/countries/norway/
https://www.mastersportal.com/article
🇸🇪Sweden: https://www.studying-in-sweden.com/co