Study in Romania: Admission, Cost, Visa and Scholarships (2027)

Romania's universities teach degrees in Romanian and, increasingly at larger universities, in English, and for students from outside the European Union admission involves the national Ministry of Education as well as the university. Applications go to the university, which checks the file and then forwards accepted files to the Ministry of Education. Under Ministerial Order 5655 of 2024 the ministry issues letters of acceptance within 30 working days of receiving a complete file, and a foreign student's admission cannot be completed without that letter. Each university sets its own admission sessions; the government's Study in Romania portal says most run between February and the beginning of September.

Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca shows how this works in practice. For 2026-27 its non-EU window ran from 1 April to 31 July 2026, applications were made online, the university put total processing time at about 40 working days, and seats per country were limited and allocated first come, first served. Once the acceptance letter arrived, the student had 21 calendar days to pay tuition and could then apply for a visa. Non-EU tuition at Babes-Bolyai runs from EUR 2,500 a year for economics and business programmes to EUR 7,000 for Mathematics for Computer Science at bachelor's level, and up to EUR 9,000 for mathematics and computer science masters.

Students who want a Romanian-taught programme first complete a preparatory year of Romanian, lasting at least 28 teaching weeks and ending with an exam at B1 level; the fee for that year is set by each university, EUR 3,015 at Babes-Bolyai.

The student visa is the long-stay visa for studies, symbol D/SD, valid for 90 days. From 27 April 2026 its fee through the e-Viza portal is EUR 300. The consular checklist requires proof that at least a year's tuition has been paid, proof of accommodation, a criminal record certificate, travel medical insurance of at least EUR 30,000, and means equal to at least the national gross minimum wage for each month of the visa. After enrolling, a student applies to the General Inspectorate for Immigration within 30 days of entry for a residence permit, valid for one year and renewed yearly.

The Romanian government, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also offers scholarships to non-EU citizens, but for bachelor's and master's study only in Romanian-taught programmes, and not in medicine, dental medicine or pharmacy. The 2026 application window ran from 16 February to 31 March 2026.