Hungarian Diaspora Scholarship to Study in Hungary, 2025/2026

Applications are currently being received for the Hungarian Diaspora Scholarship program. By providing young individuals living in Hungarian diasporas with access to study abroad programs in Hungary, the Hungarian Diaspora Scholarship’s primary goal is to improve the relationships between Hungarian diaspora populations and Hungary. Its main objective is to assist those who desire to reconnect with and rediscover their Hungarian ancestry while also pursuing careers in fields that help advance the prosperity of their expatriate group.

The Hungarian Diaspora Scholarship is available for bachelor’s, master’s, one-tier master’s, doctoral, non-degree programs (preparatory and specialization courses) and postgraduate specialist training courses. One-tier master’s programs in Hungary cover both the bachelor’s and master’s level of study; hence, it is a combined master’s program that results in a master’s degree. These one-tier programs are available in a variety of academic areas, including teacher training, general medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, architecture, law, veterinary surgery, forestry engineering, etc. Postgraduate specialist training courses provide the opportunity to obtain a specialized qualification after a bachelor’s or master’s degree.

The scholarship allows for both full-time and part-time (exchange) education. Full-time degree programs lead to a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctorate degree. Full-time non-degree programs do not lead to a degree, but rather serve as a prerequisite for a degree program or a specialty course following a degree program. Partial studies are exchange studies that last one or two semesters (5 or 10 months). This Europe scholarship is open for all countries in the world, except the European Union countries, the Republic of Serbia and the Zakarpatska Oblast part of Ukraine. The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade has the final say over how the Scholarship Program is run, and the Tempus Public Foundation is in charge of administration.

Program Details

• Host Institution: Hungarian partner universities (Check the list below).
• Field of Study: Eligible programs listed on the application page.
• Types of Scholarships: bachelor’s, Master’s, PhD, one-tier master’s and non-degree programs scholarships.
• Number of Awards: Not specified (more than 4700 scholarships awarded last year).
• Duration: 1 to 6 years depending on the program.
• Eligible Countries: Open to every country in the world, except member states of the European Union, the Republic of Serbia, and Zakarpatska Oblast region of Ukraine.

Hungarian Diaspora Scholarship Benefits

Selected candidates for this government scholarship program will have the following benefits:

• Tuition-free education: exemption from the payment of tuition fee.
• Monthly stipend of HUF 43,700 for non-degree, bachelor’s, master’s and one-tier master’s level students. For doctoral level students an amount of HUF 140,000 for the first phase of education (4 semesters) and HUF 180,000 for the second phase (4 semesters). Stipends are paid for 12 months a year, until completion of studies.
• Accommodation contribution: free dormitory place or a contribution of HUF 40,000/month to accommodation costs for the whole duration of the scholarship period. For students not living in dormitories, the HUF 40,000/month is a contribution to the rental costs since in bigger cities, this amount would not cover the full rental costs.
• Medical insurance: health care services according to the relevant Hungarian legislation (Act LXXX of 1997, national health insurance card) and supplementary medical insurance for up to 65,000 (cca EUR 177) a year/person.
• Travel contribution (upon request): The scholarship also has a travel component, which grants a one-time travel stipend of HUF 330,000 if the distance between Budapest and the applicant’s place of residence (=city/town) is 8,000 km or more, (using this distance calculation tool).
• Hungary Pass: Reimbursement of a Hungary Pass, which entitles the Scholarship Holder to unlimited travel throughout Hungary (e.g. trains and interurban buses in all counties).

All applicants are highly advised to check the expected living expenses both in Hungary and in the city that they wish to live in before applying. Applicants can estimate the cost of living by using this tool.

Hungarian partner universities

Below is the list of universities in Hungary at which you can study with the Hungarian Diaspora Scholarship.

1. Eötvös József College
2. Budapest Business School – University of Applied Sciences
3. Budapest University of Technology and Economics
4. Corvinus University of Budapest
5. Eötvös Loránd University
6. Hungarian University of Fine Arts
7. Hungarian University of Sports Science
8. John Wesley Theological College
9. Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary
10. Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music
11. MFA Balassi
12. Óbuda University
13. Pázmány Péter Catholic University
14. Sapientia College of Theology of Religious Orders
15. Semmelweis University
16. University of Public Service
17. University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest
18. University of Debrecen
19. University of Dunaújváros
20. Eszterházy Károly Catholic University
21. Széchenyi István University
22. Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences
23. John von Neumann University
24. University of Miskolc
25. University of Nyíregyháza
26. University of Pécs
27. University of Sopron
28. Apor Vilmos Catholic College
29. and more. Please click here to see the full list of available host institutions for the Hungarian Diaspora Scholarship program

Hungarian Diaspora Scholarship Eligibility

To apply for this government scholarship program, applicants should comply with the following criteria:

1. has Hungarian roots and maintains a Hungarian identity, which they convincingly demonstrate in a Diaspora Motivation Letter and declare in the Statement for Application that is a part of the application,
2. is a citizen of one of the eligible countries (see details above) and has an address outside of Hungary,
3. holds a recommendation from a Hungarian diaspora organization or a Hungarian Diplomatic Representation (including Honorary Consuls) of the respective country (=Diaspora Recommendation Letter),
4. has made a statement that they have lived a minimum of 10 years outside Hungary before the submission of their application.
5. has completed the last 4 years of their secondary education in a foreign country (not Hungary). If in the applicant’s country secondary education lasts less than 4 years, the last period of primary education will be considered, too.
6. was born before 31 August 2007 (except those applying for Dance study programs),
7. undertakes to sign a scholarship agreement and learn Hungarian as a foreign language and culture during their whole study period.
8. In the case of study programmes conducted in a foreign (non-Hungarian) language, the applicant undertakes to attend a Hungarian as a foreign language and culture course during the entire period of the scholarship agreement.
9. Applicant undertakes to pass a Hungarian as a foreign language exam at least at an intermediate level of proficiency (B2 level4) by the end of the scholarship studies, no later than within 1 year after obtaining the degree (or certificate in case of postgraduate specialist training courses). The obligation to pass a Hungarian as a foreign language exam does not apply to students taking part in 1 or 2 semester-long short study programmes, including partial/exchange studies.
10. The applicant agrees to support a local Hungarian diaspora in a particular country with community work for a 2-year long period after obtaining their degree. This obligation only applies to those Scholarship Holders who are awarded a full-time study programme leading to a degree. This means that the obligation does not apply to those studying in a partial/exchange study mode, or non-degree study programmes (Hungarian preparatory and postgraduate specialist training course).

Non-eligibility

Applications will not be considered for this foundation scholarship in the following cases:

1. has only Hungarian citizenship or is a person granted refugee status (“menekült”) or a person enjoying temporary protection (“menedékes”), or a person admitted for subsidiary protection (“oltalmazott”), or a person granted humanitarian protection (“befogadott”).
2. was born after 31 August 2007 (= applicants under 18 years old as of 31 August 2025 except applicants applying for Dance study programs),
3. applying for a doctoral program has submitted an application for another study level, as well, in the same application round of the Hungarian Diaspora Scholarship. In this case, the application for the lower study level will not be considered.
4. Those applicants who are registered self-financed / fee-paying students of a Hungarian higher education institution at the time of the application deadline AND who are applying for a study level below their self-financed studies.
5. has been a Scholarship Holder in the framework of the Hungarian Diaspora Scholarship or in any other scholarship programs established by the Hungarian Government on the same or higher study level.
6. is applying for the Hungarian Diaspora Scholarship for any cycle of education while they still have a scholarship status in the framework of the Hungarian Diaspora Scholarship or in other scholarship programmes established by the Hungarian Government at the time of application and will not receive their degree until 31 August 2025,
7. has postponed the start date of their scholarship studies in the Hungarian Diaspora Scholarship or in any other scholarship programs established by the Hungarian Government and did not withdraw their scholarship before the current application deadline,
8. does not fulfill the entry requirements determined by the Host Institution. Those applicants who are registered self-financed / fee-paying students of a Hungarian higher education institution at the time of the application deadline AND who are now applying for the same study level are only eligible to apply for the Hungarian Diaspora Scholarship if
   • they are recommended by their Hungarian host universities where they are studying at the time of application, AND
   • if their cumulative, corrected sum average (“összesített korrigált kreditindex”) is higher than the students’ average performance in the particular study program (“szakátlag”). Please note that the requirement regarding the cumulative, corrected sum average does not apply for applicants for doctoral programs.

Similar opportunities

1. Ghent University PhD Scholarship for Developing Countries;
2. ENS International Selection Scholarship for All;
3. Emile-Boutmy Scholarship at Sciences Po for international students.

How to Apply for the Hungarian Diaspora Scholarship?

Interested applicants who wish to apply for this scholarship to study in Europe need to click on the apply button below to access the online application system of Tempus Public Foundation and register. After registration, applicants will be able to log in and follow the given instructions to fill out the application form. Applicants must also upload the required documents into the system. Each applicant can apply for up to TWO different study programs, in order of preference. These two study programs can be both at the same Host Institution and at different Host Institutions. It’s up to you.

Required Documents

All of the following documents are compulsory and need to be submitted to the online application system by the deadline, except the medical certificate which must be submitted by the nominated applicants only until 15 April.

1. Online application form (will need a recent photo of the applicant taken not earlier than 2 years);
2. Diaspora Motivation Letter (minimum 1 page, typed in Times New Roman 12-point letters);
3. Recommendation letter from a Diaspora Organisation or the Hungarian Diplomatic Representation of the respective territory : Minimum 1 page, typed in Times New Roman 12-point letters. The recommendation letter has to be issued by a Hungarian diaspora organization or the Hungarian Diplomatic Representation (including Honorary Consuls) of the respective territory, it must declare that the applicant has a real connection to the diaspora of their country/town and that their studies will contribute to the prosperity of the community. The letter must meet the following criteria:
   • contains Applicant’s personal data (full name, country of his/her residence, date and location of birth) – if the country of residence does not correspond to the country from which the recommendation comes, an explanation is required in the recommendation letter on how the applicant relates to the country issuing the recommendation,
   • it supports what is written in the Applicant’s motivation letter,
   • the official signature and stamp – if they have one – of the authorized representative of the organization,
   • it contains the name and capacity in printed form of the authorized representative of the organization,
   • Applicant is linked to the country in which the organization issuing the recommendation is established,
   • it contains the date of issue.
4. Proof of language proficiency;
5. School certificates;
6. Transcript of Records;
7. Medical Certificate. Must be submitted only by applicants whose recommendation letter got evaluated and accepted by the Hungarian Diplomatic Representation and submittable until 15 April 2025 (but it can be uploaded before 31 January too).
8. Copy of Identification document;
9. Acceptance of Statement for Application in the online system. Please click here to download documents’ checklist.
10. Research Plan: minimum 2 pages, typed in Times New Roman 12-point font size letters, written in the language of the selected study program (Only for PhD Applicants);
11. Letter of Recommendation: a signed Letter of Recommendation from the applicant’s former or current academic tutor or supervisor, who has a scientific degree and has an insight into the professional work of the applicant. The letter must be written in the language of the selected study program or in Hungarian (Only for PhD Applicants);
12. Statement of the Supervisor (if required by the proposed Doctoral School): a statement by the supervisor at the proposed Host Institution declaring that the supervisor undertakes to supervise the student’s work (Only for Ph.D. Applicants);
13. Portfolio: photographs of three works of art/sketches (indicating the date of creation – Only for Art Applicants);
14. Audio Portfolio: audio tracks of three works (indicating the date of the creation – Only for Music Applicants).

Please note that no applications will be accepted without the online submission and after the deadline. No hard copies of documents are required by Tempus Public Foundation at the time of application. However, sending partners might require hard copies. Please check their requirements. Study programs are listed as foreign language programs in the online application system by default.

Students must demonstrate competency in the host institution’s necessary language of instruction. Applicants must apply to the study program directly using the online application portal. Applicants who do not have at least an intermediate (B2) level of Hungarian must take a one-year preparatory language course in Hungarian before beginning their degree courses in Hungarian.

Applicants are normally expected to have a basic degree of English proficiency for this. Applicants must apply for the preparatory course directly using the online application portal (and NOT for the degree program they wish to start after the language preparatory year). To see all Hungarian language preparatory courses and entry requirements, please check the online application system

Applicants can either submit an application for non-degree, bachelor’s, master’s, one-tier master’s, postgraduate specialist training courses, OR doctoral programs, therefore, please carefully consider your selected program (s). Example: You can submit your application to a Non-degree study program and a Bachelor’s program, but it is not possible to apply for a Master’s study program and a Doctoral study program at the same time. If you would like to study at the doctoral level, you can only apply for doctoral studies as your first and your second choice. One-tier master programs cover both the bachelor’s and the Master’s level of studies and are offered in specific study fields such as general medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, architecture, law, veterinary medicine, etc.

All applicants of doctoral programmes are required to visit doktori.hu before they submit their application. The website provides information about Hungarian doctoral schools, available research fields, and research topics as well as the possible supervisors of doctoral students in English and Hungarian. Proposed research topics for aspiring doctoral students are available here.

Should you have further questions about the application, please contact the program managers.

• Skype ”diasporascholarship”
• E-mail [email protected]
• Phone +36 1 236 5045
• Frequently Asked Questions

Useful Documents

1. Privacy statement
2. Scholarship contract – sample
3. Dos and donts
4. Statement for application
5. Medical certificate example
6. Checklist.

The application deadline is January 31, 2025. For more detail on the Hungarian Diaspora Scholarship, please visit the official page. To be the first to see latest opportunities, please follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.