If you are considering to get your degree in Hungary, this article will guide you through some tips that will give you an insight into the application process from searching and finding your university to submitting your documents.

7 tips to plan your studies

1. Get familiar

Take the first step towards planning your studies and get familiar with the Hungarian higher education system, Hungarian degree programmes to find what suits you the best and browse universities throughout the country to get a basic overview about how and where you could obtain your degree exactly.

2. Choose your study programme

Hungarian Study Finder database can help you with finding the programs you like by browsing through study fields, institutions, cities and levels of studies..

3. Keep up to the deadlines

4. Funding options

If you will fund your studies by yourself it's worth considering from the start how you will finance the tuition fees for years. As scholarships can’t be awarded to all applicants you may need to cover living expenses and your university’s tuition fees on your own. Fortunately, in Hungary they offer several funding options for self-financed students to fund their university years.

5. Prepare your application

Generally, you need to have some basic documents such as a language proficiency test or your obtained diplomas to apply for the chosen course.

         Higher education in Hungary

Education system

Hungarian higher education has been representing academic excellence for more than 650 years. The first university was founded in 1367 in Pécs, the Southern region of Hungary. Today, there are 65 higher education institutions in Hungary, ranging from minor universities of applied sciences to top research universities. 

Hungary offers 26 ecclesiastic, 11 private and 28 public institutions to choose from. As a result of Hungarian institutions’ internationalisation process all students can find what fits their interests the best: 550 courses in English, German, French and other languages. The foreign language programmes are of a high standard and tuition fees are very favorable when compared to its competitors.

 The range of study fields students can choose from is wide:

• Agricultural Science
• Computer Science and Information Technology
• Legal Science
• Economic Science
• Medical and Health Science
• Arts 
• Arts and Humanities 
• Arts Education
• Engineering Science
• Social Science
• Teacher Training
• Sport Science
• Natural Science

Higher education studies are offered at two types of higher education institutions, egyetem (university) and főiskola (college), both of them may offer courses in all three training cycles: Bachelor course, Master course, and Doctoral course.

Although the degree structure is divided in most courses, there are some integrated (one-tier) programmes where the Bachelor level and the Master level are unified: veterinary medicine, architecture, dentistry, pharmaceutics, law, and medicine. These one-tier programmes consist of 10-12 semesters (5-6 years) and by the end of the last year, you must have 300 to 360 credits completed.

Within a Doctoral programme, you need to complete 240 credits within 4 years of study. At the end of the fourth semester, a final examination must be taken. After a successful examination, the last 2 years of the doctoral programme are about conducting the research and writing your dissertation, which can be extended with one more year.

Credit System

The European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) in Hungary ensures the transparency of the learning, teaching and assessment processes by facilitating recognition of your learning achievements and qualifications in many countries throughout the European Higher Education Area. The ECTS ensures that the grades you have achieved can be accepted by other European institutions in other countries.

For incoming international students, a Transcript of Records must be issued that contains a table of completed courses, credits, the Hungarian grade, and the ECTS grade. The number of credits you have to achieve might differ from one institution and course to another in an academic year or semester, therefore, you may need to approach your local international coordinator to obtain the exact information about this.

At the end of each semester, the student’s study achievement is evaluated with a grade in the Hungarian credit system (5-excellent, 4-good, 3-medium or satisfactory, 2-sufficient or pass, 1-fail).

ECTS grade compared with Hungarian grading:

• 5 (excellent) - A, B excellent, very good
• 4 (good) - C good
• 3 (satisfactory) - D satisfactory
• 2 (pass) - E sufficient
• 1 (fail) - FX, F fail

      Entry and Admission Requirements   

Entry and admission requirements in Hungary follow the standards of the Bologna Process. This means that a Bachelor’s degree must be obtained to have access to Master’s and PhD courses. To be eligible for a BA degree you must have your language proficiency certificates, your diploma and other documents required by the programme.

To apply for a Residence Permit for the Purpose of Study you must visit the local Embassy of Hungary in your country to issue the documents you need for entering Hungary as schools may also require some of these documents to accept your application. You will need a copy of your high school diploma to justify eligibility for higher education studies.

Generally, you’ll need the following documents to be submitted:

• an up-to-date CV
• a motivation letter
• copy of your passport / ID
• proof of language proficiency
• English translation of transcripts of records
• English translation of obtained diplomas
• two academic reference letters

To apply for a Bachelor’s degree (3 years) prospective students need to possess a high school diploma translated into Hungarian or English with the corresponding transcript of courses and grades. Some courses may also require an entrance exam besides submitting these documents.

For a Master’s degree (2 years) application applicants have to submit the photocopy of their Bachelor’s diploma and probably have to take an entrance exam.

If someone wishes to obtain a Ph.D. degree (2+2 years), the minimum requirement is to have a university degree which is equivalent to a master’s degree. The prerequisite for entering doctoral courses is an MA/MSc degree or an equivalent to an MA/MSc degree. Within a Doctoral programme, you need to complete 240 credits within 4 years of study.

Institutions in Hungary rank the applications based on applicants’ previous studies and the grade point average (GPA), also experience in work and research might be required by some institutions.

In order to be admitted to a Hungarian higher education institution, prospective students must demonstrate that they meet certain requirements. Although there is a general system of entrance, the entry requirements may differ at certain higher education institutions.

           Application Timeline

Application process for self-financed students:

Although the application procedure for enrolment may vary at different institutions and courses, in general the process should be the following:

1. Finding university and programme

2. Checking entry requirements and deadlines

Application period and exact dates for self-financed foreign students usually vary from one institution to another. The deadline for the first round of admission procedures is usually in November for those classes that commence in February while the second round of admission procedures is in February for classes commencing in September.

3. Online application is required

An online application form of the programme on the website of the chosen university should be filled in.

4. Wait to receive confirmation from the university

If you are accepted, you will get a notification around late July and the contact person will inform you regarding further steps. Fee-paying students are usually required to transfer (part of) the tuition fee prior to the enrolment in the academic period.

Academic year for self-financed students

The academic year is divided into 2 semesters including 14-15 weeks of lectures and seminars followed by an examination period that lasts for 6-8 weeks.

Autumn semester 

• First half of September: registration and signing up for courses
• Second half of September to middle of December: term time (14-15 weeks)
• Middle of December to beginning of February: exam period

Spring semester

• First half of February: registration and signing up for courses 
• Second half of February to the first half of May: term time (14-15 weeks)
• Middle of May to the beginning of July: exam period

Holidays

• Autumn break: end of October 
• Winter break: end of December 
• Spring break: end of April

           Tuition Fees and Funding Option

Tuition fees

Compared to the rest of Western Europe, tuition fees in Hungary are very affordable.

Tuition fees vary depending on the selected university and study programme but below you will find a starting point for your further studies and an opportunity to see the bigger picture.

• Medicine and dentistry: approximately € 3000-4000 / semester
• Engineering programmes: approximately € 1600-2500 / semester
• Business Administration programmes: approximately € 1200 / semester
• International Relations programmes: approximately € 600-1000 / semester

In the case of most institutions, the tuition fees must be paid before enrolment.

In addition to paying tuition fees, students at Hungarian universities are also required to pay an application fee, exam fee and registration fee, each around €15.

Funding options: 

Those who want to find funding options as self-financed students can take student loans with a favorable interest rate from the Hungarian Student Loan Centre.

For the application you need:

• a permanent residence or immigration card
• to be under 40 years old

Hungary is aware that students may have difficulty repaying a loan and so offer an income-based repayment. This means that the amount of money a student needs to pay back and when it needs to be repaid depends upon how much the student is earning. 

Another option to fund your university studies is to get a student job through student-job agencies. According to Hungarian law a student is entitled to have either a full-time (8 hours) or a part-time job (4 or 6 hours), however scholarship contracts may control the conditions under which a student can work. The minimum wage for unskilled work for 8 hours per day is around 430 EUR while the salary is approximately 560 EUR for skilled jobs.