Scholarships for studies to accredited higher education institutions in Romania are granted through a file-based application assessment by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and the Ministry of Education and Research (MER).

To whom is it addressed?

Foreign citizens from all non-EU countries, with the following exceptions of persons not eligible under this programme:

• Citizens of Romanian origin or who are part of the Romanian historical communities in the proximity of Romania (entitled to different scholarship programmes);

• Citizens who have requested or acquired a form of protection in Romania;

• Stateless persons whose stay on the territory of Romania is officially recognized according to the law;

• Members of the diplomatic and consular corps or family members of the diplomatic and consular corps accredited to Romania; members of the administrative and technical staff of diplomatic missions and consular offices accredited to Romania;

• Staff members of international organizations based in Romania or family members of staff of international organizations based in Romania;

• Beneficiaries of a scholarship from the Romanian state for the same cycle of study.

To be eligible, the scholarship applicant must:

• Submit a complete file (see below, point 5);

• Present study documents issued by accredited/recognized education institutions in the country where they were issued;

• Comply with the file submission methodology (see below, point 3);

• Comply with the enrolment dates (see below, point 4).

The scholarships are granted for 3 study cycles

The scholarship applicant can choose from any of the following three study cycles in accredited higher education institutions in Romania:

• Bachelor’s degree: bachelor's degree programmes are addressed to graduates of high school studies or pre-university studies at the end of which they obtained a baccalaureate degree or equivalent, as well as candidates applying for further university studies in Romania. The complete programme runs for a period of 3-6 years, depending on the specialization followed and ends with a bachelor's exam;

• Master’s degree: master's degree programmes are addressed to undergraduates, run for a period of 1 year, 1.5 years or 2 years and end with the dissertation exam;

• PhD: doctoral programmes are addressed to graduate students or equivalent and run for a period of 3-5 years, depending on the profile of the chosen faculty and end with the presentation of a PhD thesis.

Language of study

In order to promote the Romanian language and culture, the beneficiaries of the scholarships granted by the Romanian state for undergraduate and master's studies study only in Romanian.

The exception is doctoral scholarship holders, who can opt for studies in Romanian or in a foreign language set by the doctoral school. For candidates who do not speak Romanian, a preparatory year is granted for the study of the Romanian language prior to the actual university studies, with the exception of doctoral scholarship holders who have opted for the form of education in a foreign language set by the doctoral school.

The following categories of persons are exempted from enrolling in the Romanian language preparatory year:

• Those who present Romanian study documents (diplomas or certificates) or study documents, school records attesting at least four consecutive years of studies attended in Romanian in an educational unit/institution from the Romanian national system;

• Those who, in order to enrol in university education, pass the Romanian language test, organized according to the regulations in force;

• Those who, in order to enrol in university education, present a certificate of linguistic competence in Romanian, minimum level B1, issued according to the regulations in force.

The application files must be sent by the candidates, in electronic or physical format (preferably in electronic format), only through the diplomatic missions of Romania.

As an exception, application files may be submitted by candidates, in electronic or physical format (preferably in electronic format), also through the diplomatic mission of the state of citizenship accredited in Bucharest, if the diplomatic mission in question accepts it (a dedicated email address will be made available to foreign missions accredited in Romania for this purpose).

To the extent that the diplomatic mission refuses to take over the application file for transmission to the MFA, the file must be submitted in accordance with the procedure described in paragraph 1.

The enrolment period begins each year on November 15 for the following year's university session.

The deadline for submitting applications is April 30, the following year. The candidate has the obligation to inquire about the dates and conditions of enrolment with the diplomatic mission where he/she wishes to submit the application or on the MFA website.

The application file for the scholarship selection process must include the following documents:

The results of the scholarship selection process will be announced each year, on July 15, to each diplomatic mission that has submitted application files to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

• For admitted students, the Ministry of Education and Research will issue a “Letter of acceptance for studies in Romania”, which will mention the obligation (where applicable) to complete a Romanian language preparatory year and the higher education institution(s) where the studies will take place;

• The Letter of acceptance will be sent by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the applicant through the diplomatic mission to whom the application was submitted, based on the personal request submitted with the application;

• The “Letter of acceptance for studies in Romania” is required in order to obtain a long-stay visa and for the enrolment.

• If the candidate mentions in the application form in ANNEX 1 only an option for his/her enrolment and that specific option cannot be honoured by the specified university, the Ministry of Education and Research reserves the right to propose to the candidate an alternative in the same field of study, subject to the availability of higher education institutions in Romania.
  Upon receiving the letter of acceptance for studies with this alternative, the candidate is free to accept the scholarship or to give it up (being able to opt for continuing studies in Romania on his/her own expense, i.e. with the payment of tuition fees).

• After receiving the letter of acceptance, the students will send to the Romanian diplomatic mission to which he/she submitted the application, within the term indicated by it, a response regarding the acceptance/refusal of the scholarship, and in case of acceptance, will request a long study visa. Students who have submitted applications through foreign diplomatic missions accredited in Bucharest and who have been accepted will be contacted by the MFA in order to give a response regarding their acceptance/refusal of the scholarship, following, in case of acceptance, the procedure for obtaining a long-term visa for studies.

In Romania, the academic year usually begins on October 1. Universities establish their own calendar, in accordance with the principle of university autonomy. Host universities may also decide on specific measures regarding the teaching and learning process, in accordance with the public health guidelines. Romanian authorities may impose additional public health requirements.

The scholarship obtained, including the preparatory year where applicable, consists of:

• Financing tuition fees;

• Financing the accommodation expenses in the dormitories, through the budget of the Ministry of Education and Research, within the limit of the subsidy allocated for this purpose (accommodation will be provided to the extent of available places);

• Granting a monthly financial aid, as follows: the equivalent in lei of the amount of 65 EURO, for undergraduate students; the equivalent in lei of the amount of 75 EURO, for master and specialization students, the equivalent in lei of the amount of 85 EURO, for PhD students.

The scholarships do not cover the costs of international transport and those of domestic transport from the Romanian border crossing point to the university. In this regard, candidates must be prepared for the personal financial support of the additional costs.

Students of the Romanian language preparatory year programme, as well as those of the undergraduate and master's degree programmes, must obtain, at the end of the academic year, the minimum number of credits established by the university regulations for passing to the next academic year. The rights deriving from the scholarship can be regained in the following academic year after obtaining the necessary number of transferable credits, provided that the number of scholarship years does not exceed the duration of the academic cycle. During the suspension of the scholarship and the financing of the tuition expenses, the students will have to pay a fee, in the amount established in accordance with the legal provisions in force.

During the period indicated by the university, the admitted candidates must present themselves at the Office of International Relations/ Rector’s Office of the university where they were accepted.

Students will present:

• A complete file with the original documents from the application file; the hostuniversities may request that all registration documents be accompanied by authenticated copies and legalized translations into Romanian;

• Letter of acceptance for studies;

• Passport (original and copy) with a valid visa (long stay visa for studies);

• The medical certificate attesting that the student is free from contagious diseases or other diseases incompatible with the requested studies, as well as the authorized translation into English, French or Romanian, if applicable;

• Other documents required by universities.

Candidates who have obtained the Letter of Acceptance for studies can get up-to-date information regarding the visa application procedure.

For more information please access the website of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and https://portaligi.mai.gov.ro/portaligi/ or the General Inspectorate for Immigration http://igi.mai.gov.ro/en/content/studies .