Study abroad8 min read
Can you study in Europe without paying tuition? Country by country
The Draimo team
Short answer
In most of Europe, tuition depends on your citizenship. EU and EEA citizens study without tuition, or for a low fee, in Germany, Sweden, Finland and Norway. Students from outside the EU pay tuition in Sweden, Finland and Norway, and at some German universities, while most German public universities still charge only a semester fee. Living costs are the real expense: Germany asks non-EU students to show €11,904 for 2026.
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- Compare tuition for a non-EU student doing a master's in computer science at KTH, TU Munich and the University of Helsinki.
- Which German states charge non-EU students tuition in 2026?
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Germany
Most public universities charge no tuition to anyone, only a semester contribution. Two important exceptions: Baden-Württemberg charges non-EU students €1,500 a semester, and the Technical University of Munich has charged non-EU students who enrol from winter 2024/25 between €2,000 and €6,000 a semester, depending on the programme. Non-EU students usually show living funds through a blocked account holding €11,904 for 2026.
Sweden
No tuition for EU, EEA and Swiss citizens; everyone else pays per programme. Applications go through universityadmissions.se, and the deadline for autumn 2027 is 15 January 2027. Read the full cost of studying in Sweden.
Finland and Norway
Finland has charged non-EU students tuition since 2017, and each university runs its own scholarships to reduce it. Norway introduced tuition for students from outside the EU and EEA from autumn 2023. Fees in both countries are set by each university.
The Netherlands
EU students pay the statutory fee, €2,694 for 2026-27. Non-EU students pay a higher institutional fee set by each university, often many times the statutory one.
How to compare without twenty browser tabs
Rules differ by country, state, university and programme, and they change. On a monthly plan, Draimo's Agent Mode reads the current fee pages of several universities at once and gives you one comparison, with every page cited, which you can save as a document. For Swedish universities, Draimo answers from their own pages on every plan.
Questions people ask
- Is university free in Germany for international students?
- At most public universities, yes, apart from a semester contribution. Baden-Württemberg charges non-EU students €1,500 a semester, and TUM charges non-EU students who enrol from winter 2024/25.
- How much is the German blocked account in 2026?
- €11,904 for a year of study.
- Which European countries charge non-EU students tuition?
- Sweden, Finland, Norway and the Netherlands do, as do some German universities. EU and EEA citizens study without tuition or at a low statutory fee.
Sources we checked
- TUM: tuition fees for students from non-EU countries
- Heidelberg University: tuition fees for international students
- DUO: tuition fees in the Netherlands
- European Education Area: study in Norway
Checked 30 September 2026. Dates and amounts change every year. Draimo reads the current pages when you ask.
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