Low Tuition Universities in Serbia, Admission Requirements and Essential Information for International Students

Serbia, officially the Republic of Serbia, is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian. It borders Hungary to the north, Romania and Bulgaria to the east, North Macedonia and Kosovo to the south, and Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro to the west. The capital city is Belgrade. Natural resources include coal, petroleum, natural gas and many metals; major industries include agriculture, food processing, metals, textiles, mining, automobiles and furniture.

Serbia’s capital, Belgrade is also the largest city. Official language is Serbian written in Cyrillic. The national currency of Serbia is Serbian Dinar (RSD).

Serbia is home to about 8.6 million inhabitants and it offers excellent education opportunities. Both the students from Serbia and International students can enroll.

Today’s article will be about the higher education system, costs of living, tuition fees, admission requirements, and also the lists of low tuition universities in Serbia

Higher Education System In Serbia

Serbia’s higher education system adheres to European standards established by the Bologna Process and employs the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS).

The typical three tiers of degrees in Serbia are bachelor studies, master studies, and doctoral studies (Ph.D.)

• Bachelor studies, which usually last 4 years with 240 ECTS, although 3-year/180 ECTS Bachelor programmes are also available,
• Master studies lasting 1-2 years with 60 to 120 ECTS, and
• Doctoral studies (PhD) with a minimum of three years of study or 180 ECTS.

The majority of courses are taught in Serbian, but some programs and courses are offered in English. International students planning to study in Serbia are typically required to complete one year of language training in Serbia before starting studies in their academic field.

The academic year typically begins in early October. Individual institutions have considerable leeway in determining the structure of the academic year, which must include 30 weeks of study.

Semesters (two 15-week periods) and trimesters are the most commonly used systems (three 10-week periods). Schools, on the other hand, are free to create any system they want as long as they meet the 30-week total requirement.

Costs of Living

Living in Serbia is not expensive

Renting a one-bedroom apartment can cost between 200 USD and 300 USD. This will depend on the area of the city and the size of the place.

Eating is also affordable. Regarding groceries, a monthly budget of 130 USD will the job. A meal in a cheap restaurant costs 4 USD and eating a single meal in a nice restaurant can cost up to 17 USD.

Utilities will definitely depend on the season and the place you are living in. During winter, you could pay around 70 USD in utilities because of heating. However, there are buildings with other facilities like parking, which could cost more.

As for transportation, you would spend around 30 USD per month if you use public transportation every day.

Tuition fees

Studies of Serbian residents at public institutions (both universities and colleges) can either be financed by the State or the students pay tuition for their studies. Students who study at private higher education institutions pay fees as determined by the higher education institution.

Foreign students pay tuition for their studies and in some cases there is a difference between the fee amount paid by local and foreign students.

The tuition fee is determined by the institution and is usually within a range from EUR500 to EUR2500 per year.

Admission Requirements

Bachelor programmes:

As a general requirement, to enter a Bachelor programme one has:
• to have completed four-year secondary education, and
• to pass the entrance exam.
Specific admission requirements usually include specific knowledge in certain disciplines and should be checked for each individual programme a student is interested in. Entrance exams are usually held in early July (the first round) and early September (the second round, if there are places left). The ranking of candidates depends on both the entrance exam and their results at the previous level of education.

Master programme:

For Master programmes lasting one year, a candidate has to have obtained Bachelor diploma.
For Master programmes lasting two years, a candidate has to have obtained Bachelor diploma.
Admission requirements vary from programme to programme (usually regarding the area of previous education) and should be checked on the web pages with information on specific programs.

Doctoral studies:

candidate has successfully completed a Master programme and obtained at least 300 ECTS.
Additional requirements, such as a minimum grade point average, number of papers published in scientific journals, etc. are determined by each institution and presented on the web pages of particular doctoral study programmes.