Stipendium Hungaricum Scholarship 2027 in Hungary: Fully Funded Bachelor’s, Master’s & PhD

Stipendium Hungaricum is the Hungarian Government’s flagship scholarship for international students, and it is built differently from most of the schemes in this series. There is no single global competition judged in Budapest alone. Instead, the programme runs on bilateral agreements between Hungary and more than 100 partner countries: your own country’s Sending Partner — usually a ministry, a national scholarship board or a higher education authority — first nominates candidates, and Hungary’s Tempus Public Foundation and the Hungarian universities then make the final selections from those nominated lists. Understanding that two-gate structure is the single most important thing an applicant can do, because a brilliant application that misses the Sending Partner’s own deadline or nomination rules never reaches Hungary at all.

Founded in 2013, supervised by Hungary’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and managed by the Tempus Public Foundation, Stipendium Hungaricum offers around 900 full degree programmes at Hungarian universities across every field and every level: bachelor’s, master’s, one-tier master’s, doctoral, plus non-degree preparatory and postgraduate specialist options, and partial (exchange) studies. The scholarship pays your tuition in full, provides a monthly stipend, guarantees a dormitory place or a housing contribution, and includes medical insurance. The official programme summary notes that over 91 percent of scholarship holders say they would choose Hungary again — a satisfaction figure the programme itself publishes, and one reason application numbers run into the tens of thousands every year.

This guide covers the full-degree programme for the 2027 cycle: what the scholarship actually pays (including the honest caveat, stated on the official site itself, that the stipend is a contribution toward living costs rather than complete coverage), who is eligible, how the Sending Partner system works in practice, the January deadline rhythm, the medical certificate requirement that surprises unprepared applicants, and the mistakes — above all, missing a home-country nomination deadline that may fall weeks before Hungary’s own — that end applications before they begin. If Hungary is one of several European options you are weighing, compare it against the other government schemes in the StudyGraduate scholarships directory, explore destinations through the study abroad hub, and use the rankings pages when you shortlist Hungarian universities.

Stipendium Hungaricum at a Glance

Read the stipend row with the programme’s own honesty in mind. The official Stipendium Hungaricum site states plainly that the provisions are a contribution to living expenses, that they do not fully cover all costs of living, and that students need to add their own financial resources. That candour is a strength of this programme, and this guide will repeat it where it matters: a Stipendium Hungaricum award removes tuition entirely and covers a solid base of monthly costs, but Budapest in particular costs more than the combined stipend and housing contribution, and every applicant should run the numbers for their city before accepting.

Eligibility: Who Can Apply

Partner-country citizenship. You must be a citizen of a country (or territory) that has a bilateral agreement with Hungary under the programme — the official list covers more than 100 Sending Partners across five continents, including Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Nigeria and Indonesia. Citizenship is assessed by your Sending Partner’s rules; applicants holding Hungarian citizenship, including dual citizenship with Hungary, are not eligible under the standard programme rules.

Sending Partner nomination. This is the eligibility condition with no workaround. Only applicants nominated by their Sending Partner can be considered by Tempus and the universities. Nomination is not a rubber stamp your application receives automatically: each Sending Partner runs its own announcement, its own document requirements and frequently its own earlier deadline, and some rank or shortlist candidates competitively before nominating. Find your Sending Partner on the official programme website, read its call as carefully as Hungary’s, and treat its deadline as your real deadline.

Academic qualifications. Bachelor’s applicants need a secondary school leaving certificate giving access to higher education. Master’s applicants need a bachelor’s degree; one-tier master’s applicants (long single-cycle programmes such as medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, architecture and law, typically five to six years) apply from secondary school. Doctoral applicants need a master’s degree, a research plan, and — a practical requirement applicants discover late — they are strongly advised to identify and contact a prospective supervisor or doctoral school before applying, since doctoral admission depends on the doctoral school’s assessment. Each programme in the Study Finder lists its own entry requirements, including any entrance examination.

Language. Programmes are taught in English, Hungarian and a smaller number in other languages. You must meet the language requirement of each programme you choose, evidenced in the way the programme specifies — typically an accepted English proficiency certificate at the stated level for English-taught programmes. Applicants who do not yet meet Hungarian-taught programme requirements may first take the one-year Hungarian language preparatory course under the scholarship, then continue to a Hungarian-taught degree. Check each programme’s stated requirement individually: two programmes at the same university can set different levels.

Age and other conditions. For full-degree bachelor’s applications, the programme’s Call for Applications sets age conditions that applicants must check in the current call — in recent cycles, bachelor’s applicants have generally needed to be at least 18 by the start of studies and born on or after a stated date. Applicants who have previously held Stipendium Hungaricum support face the reapplication conditions published in the call, and those already studying in Hungary as self-financed students should check the call’s specific provisions. The binding text is always the current Call for Applications PDF for your level, linked from the official site and the application portal — read it, not a summary, before you conclude you are eligible or ineligible on any borderline point.

What the Scholarship Covers

Tuition-free education

Scholarship holders are exempt from tuition fees for the duration of the scholarship period. There is no cap calculation and no partial percentage: the tuition fee for your programme is simply not charged while you hold the scholarship and remain in good standing under its rules.

Monthly stipend

For non-degree, bachelor’s, master’s and one-tier master’s students, the stipend is HUF 43,700 per month — approximately EUR 110 at the exchange rate the programme published in October 2025 — paid for 12 months a year until completion of studies. Doctoral students receive the higher statutory doctoral scholarship: HUF 140,000 per month (approximately EUR 355) during the first phase of the doctorate (the training and research phase, four semesters) and HUF 180,000 per month (approximately EUR 460) during the second phase (the research and dissertation phase, four semesters), likewise for 12 months a year. The two-phase doctoral structure is a real feature of Hungarian doctoral education, not a payment quirk: your stipend rises when you pass the complex examination and move into the dissertation phase.

Accommodation contribution

Holders receive either a free dormitory place or a contribution of HUF 40,000 per month (approximately EUR 100) toward accommodation costs for the whole scholarship period. The official site makes the limitation explicit: if you rent privately, HUF 40,000 is a contribution, and in larger cities — especially Budapest — it will not cover full rent. Dormitory housing is therefore the financially safer default, particularly in the capital, while in regional university cities such as Debrecen, Szeged, Pécs or Miskolc private rents come closer to what the contribution can carry.

Medical insurance

Holders are covered by health care services under the relevant Hungarian legislation (Act CXXII of 2019 on entitlements to social security benefits) and by supplementary medical insurance of up to HUF 65,000 per year per person. The scholarship also includes free visa and residence permit administration support through the institutions. What the scholarship does not include is equally important to state: there is no general travel grant from the Hungarian side in the standard provisions — travel support, where it exists, depends on your Sending Partner’s own arrangements — and there is no dependants’ funding.

Programmes and Fields of Study

Around 900 full degree programmes participate, and the official Study Finder on the programme website is the only reliable way to see them, because the programme list available to you depends on your Sending Partner: bilateral agreements specify which levels and fields each country can apply for. A field open to applicants from one country may simply not appear for another. Hungarian universities offering programmes under the scheme include large research universities such as Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), the University of Debrecen, the University of Szeged, the University of Pécs, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, and Semmelweis University for health sciences, alongside specialised institutions for agriculture, veterinary medicine, arts, music and sports. Fields span agriculture and food science, engineering and IT, natural sciences, business and economics, social sciences, humanities, law, health sciences and medicine, teacher training, and arts.

Two structural options deserve attention. One-tier master’s programmes combine bachelor’s and master’s into a single long degree — the standard route in Hungary for medicine (six years), dentistry and pharmacy (five years), architecture, law and some arts programmes — and they are fully within the scholarship. Partial (exchange) studies allow students enrolled at a home university to spend a semester or a year in Hungary under the same benefit structure; useful, but a different decision from a full degree, with its own call. Doctoral programmes are organised through doctoral schools, and the research proposal and supervisor fit carry decisive weight — a point developed in the selection section below.

For applicants also considering a Hungarian-taught degree — sometimes the only route into particular regulated fields — the one-year Hungarian preparatory course exists precisely to bridge the language gap, and succeeding in it changes the set of programmes open to you. Weigh that extra year honestly against starting an English-taught programme immediately.

How to Apply, Step by Step

1. Confirm your country is a Sending Partner and find its rules. On the official Stipendium Hungaricum website, open the Sending Partners list, identify your country’s partner organisation, and read its current announcement. Note its deadline separately — it may be earlier than Hungary’s mid-January closing date.
2. Read the Call for Applications for your level. Separate calls are published for bachelor’s/master’s/one-tier/non-degree and for doctoral applicants. The call is the binding document for eligibility, documents and dates in your cycle.
3. Search programmes in the Study Finder. Filter by your level and field, check which programmes are open to your Sending Partner’s applicants, and read each programme’s entry and language requirements. You will choose up to two programmes (in priority order) in the application, so research at least four or five seriously before deciding.
4. Doctoral applicants: contact a prospective supervisor. Identify the doctoral school and potential supervisor whose research matches your proposal, and make contact before submitting. A supervisor’s support transforms a doctoral file.
5. Register on the application portal. Create your account at apply.stipendiumhungaricum.hu when the cycle opens (typically in November), and keep the programme’s official Apply guidance open alongside it, and build the application early — the system records your Sending Partner automatically from your citizenship, and partner-specific questions appear there.
6. Complete the online application form. Personal data, educational history, language evidence, and your programme choices in priority order. The order matters: Tempus and the universities process your first choice first.
7. Write the motivation letter. The portal requires a motivation letter (in the programme’s language of study or Hungarian) explaining your choice of programme, your preparation, and your plans after graduation — including how you will use the degree in your home country, which is central to this programme’s bilateral mission.
8. Upload all required documents. Certificates, transcripts, language proof, copy of passport or ID, and the signed declaration forms generated in the system — see the checklist below, including the medical certificate.
9. Obtain and upload the medical certificate. The call requires a medical certificate of satisfactory health condition, issued on the prescribed basis — in recent cycles, a certificate issued after a specified date by a medical doctor confirming freedom from listed conditions (including AIDS, Hepatitis A, B and C, and other contagious diseases specified in the call). Do not leave this to the final week; clinic appointments and any required tests take time.
10. Submit before both deadlines. Submit the online application by Hungary’s deadline (14:00 CET on the January closing date) and satisfy your Sending Partner’s submission or nomination requirements by its own — possibly earlier — deadline. Both gates must be passed.
11. Sending Partner nomination. Your partner reviews applications from your country and forwards a nominated list to Tempus. Only nominated applications proceed.
12. University entrance assessment. Hungarian universities examine nominated applications; many programmes hold an online entrance examination or interview, typically between February and April. Prepare for the exam your programme describes — it is a real selection stage, not a formality.
13. Results and pre-departure. Final results are announced around June–July. Successful applicants receive their Letter of Award, then complete visa and residence permit steps, accept the scholarship in the system, and travel for the September start.

Required Documents

The standard document set for full-degree applications comprises: the completed online application form; a recent motivation letter; proof of language proficiency for each chosen programme as that programme specifies; secondary school certificate (bachelor’s/one-tier) or bachelor’s/master’s diploma as applicable; full transcripts of records; a copy of a valid passport or national ID; the medical certificate described above; the signed application declaration and any partner-specific documents your Sending Partner requires. Doctoral applicants add a detailed research plan, two recommendation letters, and documentation of supervisor acceptance or contact where the doctoral school requires it. Documents not in English or Hungarian (or the programme’s language) generally need certified translation as the call specifies. Upload clean, complete scans — Tempus and the universities can and do reject applications for missing or illegible mandatory documents, and there is no general right to complete a defective file after the deadline.

Deadlines and Timeline

As this guide is written, the 2027/28 call has not yet been published with its own dates; the programme’s established rhythm — portal in November, mid-January deadline (15 January for the 2026/27 cycle) — is the basis on which to plan, and the new call should be checked the moment it appears. Track dates centrally with the StudyGraduate tools section, and set your personal deadline at your Sending Partner’s date, not Hungary’s, whenever the two differ.

Selection Criteria — and How to Improve Your Chances

Selection has three filters, and a strong applicant plans for all three. The Sending Partner filter rewards a file that visibly serves the home country’s priorities: a motivation letter that connects your chosen field to a real need or opportunity at home, and a credible plan to return and use the degree, speaks directly to why bilateral programmes exist. The university filter is academic: entry requirements met clearly, entrance examination or interview performance, and — for doctoral candidates — research fit with a named supervisor and doctoral school. The Tempus allocation filter balances nominations against the places available under each bilateral agreement, which is one more reason your programme choices matter: an over-subscribed programme at a famous university and a strong programme at a regional university are not the same bet.

Practical improvements that compound: choose your two programme priorities strategically rather than listing the same famous institution twice; write a motivation letter that names the programme’s actual curriculum and your preparation for it; secure language evidence above the minimum where you can, not merely at it; prepare for the entrance examination as a real exam, using the topics the university publishes; and give your Sending Partner a complete, early file — partners notice, and remember, applicants who make nomination easy. Applicants weighing a research master’s or doctorate may also find the cross-country comparison in our Stipendium Hungaricum versus Erasmus Mundus comparison useful for deciding which scheme fits their profile.

Common Mistakes

Missing the Sending Partner’s earlier deadline while watching Hungary’s January date — the most damaging error in this programme, and entirely avoidable. Assuming nomination is automatic. Choosing programmes that are not open to your country’s applicants. Writing one generic motivation letter for two different programmes. Leaving the medical certificate until January and discovering clinic delays. Uploading uncertified translations where the call requires certified ones. Listing programme priorities carelessly, then discovering the order cannot be rearranged. Doctoral applicants submitting a research plan without ever contacting a supervisor. Budgeting as if the stipend and housing contribution cover full Budapest living costs, when the programme itself warns they are a contribution. And, finally, treating the entrance examination as a formality — universities do fail nominated candidates who perform poorly, and a lost year is the price.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Stipendium Hungaricum fully funded?

It covers tuition completely, pays a monthly stipend (HUF 43,700 at bachelor’s/master’s level; HUF 140,000 then HUF 180,000 at doctoral level), provides a dormitory place or HUF 40,000 per month toward housing, and includes medical insurance. The programme itself states, however, that these provisions are a contribution to living expenses and do not cover every cost — especially private rent in Budapest. “Fully funded” here means tuition-free plus a solid monthly base, with some personal funds still advisable.

What is a Sending Partner, and why does nomination matter?

Your Sending Partner is the organisation — usually a ministry or national scholarship authority — that represents your country under the bilateral agreement with Hungary. It announces the call locally, may set its own earlier deadline and extra requirements, and formally nominates candidates to Tempus Public Foundation. Without nomination, your application cannot proceed, however strong it is.

When is the Stipendium Hungaricum deadline for 2027 entry?

The programme’s established deadline is mid-January: the 2026/27 cycle closed on 15 January 2026 at 14:00 CET, and the 2027/28 cycle is expected to follow the same pattern with its date confirmed in the new call. Your Sending Partner’s deadline may be weeks earlier — check both, and work to the earlier one.

How much is the stipend in euros?

At the exchange rate the programme published in October 2025, HUF 43,700 is approximately EUR 110 per month, the housing contribution of HUF 40,000 approximately EUR 100, and the doctoral stipends of HUF 140,000 and HUF 180,000 approximately EUR 355 and EUR 460. Exchange rates move; treat these as orientation, not guarantees.

Do I need IELTS for Stipendium Hungaricum?

You need the language evidence each programme you choose specifies — for English-taught programmes that is commonly an accepted proficiency certificate at the stated level, and some programmes accept alternative evidence defined in their entry requirements. There is no single programme-wide test rule, so check both of your chosen programmes individually in the Study Finder and the call.

Why is a medical certificate required, and when must it be issued?

The call requires a medical certificate confirming satisfactory health, covering the contagious conditions the call lists, issued by a medical doctor within the validity window the current call specifies. It is a mandatory upload: an application without it is incomplete. Arrange it as soon as the portal opens, because appointments and any required tests cannot be compressed into the final days.

Can I apply for two different universities?

You choose up to two study programmes, in priority order, and they may be at two different Hungarian universities, subject to both being open to your Sending Partner’s applicants. Tempus processes your first priority first, so order the two choices as you genuinely prefer them — and make each motivation argument fit the programme it names.

Does the scholarship pay for my flight to Hungary?

The standard Hungarian provisions do not include a travel grant; travel support, where available, is arranged by some Sending Partners under their own rules. Check your partner’s announcement for any travel provision, and otherwise budget the flight yourself. The scholarship’s financial package begins with tuition, stipend, housing support and insurance.

Sources & Verification

This guide was compiled from official sources checked at the time of writing: Tempus Public Foundation’s Stipendium Hungaricum — About the programme page, for the programme’s governance, benefit amounts by level (stipend, housing contribution, medical insurance), the contribution-to-living-costs statement and programme scale; the programme’s official application portal at apply.stipendiumhungaricum.hu, for the application system and cycle process; and Hungarian university programme pages, including Eötvös Loránd University’s Stipendium Hungaricum summary, confirming the 15 January 2026 (14:00 CET) deadline for the 2026/27 cycle. Partner-specific rules are published by each Sending Partner and prevail for their applicants.

Disclaimer: Scholarship details, amounts, quotas and deadlines change yearly — always confirm deadlines and amounts on the official website before applying. StudyGraduate is an information portal, not an agency or a university, and we never promise selection, admission or visa approval to any applicant.