Romania: what scholarships exist and how they differ
RomaniaMoney and scholarships5 min readOfficial source
Verified10/19/2026studyinromania.gov.ro
The Romanian state pays foreign students along several different lines, and these are different calls run by different ministries. Here is what exists and what they have in common.
Several different lines
The state portal Study in Romania lists several kinds of public support for non-EU students at once, and that is the first thing to understand: there is no single “scholarship competition”.
Under intergovernmental agreements. Places arising from Romania's bilateral or multilateral arrangements with another country. The agreement sets the conditions, and each one differs.
From the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A separate programme with its own announcement and its own application procedure; the Study in Romania portal links to it directly.
From the Ministry of Education. Awarded for academic results — that is, while already studying in Romania rather than instead of being admitted.
From the Ministry of Economy. A line tied to economic and commercial cooperation.
Besides these there are occasional programmes, and universities may award their own scholarships — their own decision under institutional autonomy.
What they have in common
The portal names several conditions worth knowing before applying:
- The number and the amount of state scholarships are set by government decision — not by a university and not by an intermediary.
- They are paid in the national currency, in Romanian lei.
- A scholarship is suspended if the student does not earn the required yearly credits or breaks Romanian law.
The last point is worth reading twice: a scholarship is not a one-off payment but an obligation renewed when conditions are met.
For EU citizens it is a different conversation
The same portal notes separately that students from the EU go the Erasmus+ way — that is, through short mobilities — or apply for scholarships awarded by the Romanian state. These are different doors, and you start from the question of citizenship rather than from searching for “a scholarship to Romania”.
What to check in the announcement
Who announced the call and on which site. Which level — preparatory year, bachelor's, master's, doctorate. What is covered: tuition, dormitory, a monthly payment. And what the deadline is — in this announcement, not in last year's retelling.