Study in Romania 2026: Fees, Medicine, Letter of Acceptance

Last checked: November 2026

If you want to study in Romania, you are looking at one of the cheaper ways to get an EU degree, a Schengen residence permit and, for many of our readers, a six-year medical degree taught in English. It is also a system with more paperwork than most, because every non-EU student needs a letter of acceptance from the Romanian Ministry of Education before a visa is possible.

This guide walks you through fees, universities, medicine, the letter of acceptance, the Romanian preparatory year and the calendar, then gives you our honest list of pros and cons. Every figure below changes from year to year, so check it on the university page before you pay anything.

Why study in Romania as a non-EU student?

Romania has been a full Schengen member since 1 January 2025, so a Romanian student residence permit lets you travel across the Schengen area for short trips. The degrees are EU degrees, and regulated programmes such as medicine and dentistry follow EU training rules.

Fees are fixed in euros and set per month of study, which makes budgeting easier than in countries where fees jump every year. Some universities, such as the medical university in Iași, even freeze the annual fee for the whole programme for students starting in 2026-2027.

Romania is also less crowded with African students than Poland or Germany. That can be good (smaller classes, more attention) or hard (fewer community networks), depending on your personality.

Tuition fees to study in Romania for non-EU students

When you study in Romania at a public university, non-EU fees are charged in euros, usually calculated per month for nine months of teaching. The figures below come from official university fee schedules published for 2025-2026 or 2026-2027. Private universities set their own fees.

On top of tuition, expect an application or processing fee. Examples range from €80 at the technical university in Iași to €200 at UMF Iași, and Carol Davila in Bucharest lists a 2,500 lei registration fee for its English medicine competition. These fees are normally non-refundable.

Two more things surprise people. First, you usually pay the full first year of tuition (or a large share of it) before the visa, because the embassy wants proof of payment. Second, a few universities ask for a guarantee deposit: the Vasile Alecsandri University of Bacău calendar for 2026-2027 lists a €5,000 guarantee fee. Read the refund rules before you send money.

If you are comparing countries on cost, our guide to the cheapest countries to study in Europe puts Romania next to Lithuania, Poland and others.

Living costs when you study in Romania

Romania is still one of the cheaper EU countries to live in, but Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca are noticeably dearer than smaller cities. Ovidius University in Constanța estimates basic living costs at roughly €330 to €880 a month, depending on housing and lifestyle. Treat that as a floor rather than a promise, as rents have risen.

For the visa itself, you must show funds of at least the Romanian minimum gross monthly wage for the whole visa period. That minimum is 4,325 lei a month from 1 July 2026. We cover the full file in our separate guide to the Romania student visa.

Universities to know before you study in Romania

Romania has a long list of public universities, and most offer at least some programmes in English, French or German. These are the names our readers ask about most:

• • University of Bucharest and Babeș-Bolyai University (Cluj-Napoca): broad, research-heavy universities with humanities, law, economics and sciences.
  • National University of Science and Technology Politehnica Bucharest, Politehnica University of Timișoara and Gheorghe Asachi Technical University of Iași: engineering, IT and architecture.
  • Bucharest University of Economic Studies: business and economics.
  • Medical universities (UMF) in Bucharest (Carol Davila), Cluj-Napoca (Iuliu Hațieganu), Iași (Grigore T. Popa), Timișoara (Victor Babeș), Craiova and Târgu Mureș.

Only apply to programmes that are accredited or authorised in Romania and listed on the university’s own website. If an agent offers a programme you cannot find on the university site, walk away and read our guide on how to check if a study abroad agent is genuine.

Studying medicine in English in Romania

Medicine is the main reason many Africans choose to study in Romania. Medicine and dental medicine last six years (360 ECTS credits) and are organised under EU rules for regulated professions, so the diploma is recognised across the EU, subject to each country’s language and registration rules.

Admission is competitive and the format differs by university. For 2026-2027:

• • Carol Davila (Bucharest) uses online registration, a 15 to 30 minute online interview in English on scientific topics, and your school results. Its methodology caps capacity at 300 seats for medicine and 72 for dentistry. Registration ran from 1 April to 6 July 2026, and confirming a seat required paying 50% of the tuition fee.
  • Grigore T. Popa (Iași) scores your file (your last two years of secondary school, with a minimum average of 6 on the Romanian scale) and then runs a short pass or fail interview. Confirming a seat means paying two-thirds of the first-year fee within two weeks.

English is usually required at B2 level. UMF Iași exempts citizens of listed countries where English is an official language, and Nigeria is on its list. Other universities may still want IELTS or a letter from your school, so do not assume.

The honest part: you will meet Romanian patients from your clinical years, so most universities teach Romanian alongside the English programme. If you want to practise in Romania later, you will need good Romanian. If you plan to work in the UK, Germany or elsewhere, budget for that country’s language and licensing exams too.

The letter of acceptance from the Ministry of Education

This is the step that makes Romania different, and every non-EU student who wants to study in Romania goes through it. Your university does not issue the final admission document. Instead, it checks your file and sends it to the Ministry of Education, whose international relations department issues the Letter of Acceptance to Studies. Without it, the embassy will not process a study visa.

Under the Ministry methodology (Order 5655/2024), the Ministry may issue the letter within 30 working days of receiving a complete file, and incomplete files are rejected. In practice, Politehnica Bucharest warns that it can take 60 days or more, and many letters arrive between July and September.

A typical file includes:

1. 1. Application form and passport copy (passport valid at least six months beyond the start of the programme).
   2. Birth certificate, with a certified translation if it is not in English or Romanian.
   3. Secondary school certificate (or bachelor’s degree for a master’s) and transcripts, legalised.
   4. Language certificate for the language of study, or a request for the preparatory year.
   5. Medical certificate and a signed tuition payment commitment.

Legalisation matters. Documents from countries in the Hague Apostille Convention need an apostille; documents from other countries must be legalised by their own Ministry of Foreign Affairs and then by the Romanian embassy. Many files stall here, so start early.

The Romanian language preparatory year

If you choose a programme taught in Romanian, you must either show a Romanian certificate at B1 level or complete the preparatory year first. It runs for about nine months, ends with an exam, and costs around €1,980 at Timișoara, for example.

It adds a year and its living costs to your plan, but Romanian-taught places are usually more numerous, and speaking the language makes part-time work, internships and later employment far easier. If you take this route to study in Romania, apply for the preparatory year and the degree together where the university allows it.

Intakes and deadlines

For non-EU students, Romania has one main intake, starting in autumn, usually from 1 October. There is no regular February start for new non-EU degree students. Each university sets its own calendar, but the pattern looks like this:

If you plan to study in Romania from Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya or Cameroon, our advice is to apply between February and April. The long-stay study visa should be requested at least two months before departure, and that only starts once the letter of acceptance arrives.

Honest pros and cons

No country is perfect, and a decision to study in Romania should rest on both lists, not just the fee table.

Pros

• • Tuition among the lowest for EU degrees, fixed in euros.
  • Six-year medical programmes in English at established public medical universities.
  • Schengen residence permit and an EU qualification.
  • Students may work part-time without a work permit, up to four hours a day, according to the EU Immigration Portal.
  • After graduation you can extend your stay by up to nine months to look for work or start a business.

Cons

• • Two layers of approval (university and Ministry) plus the visa, so the process is slow and late letters are common.
  • You must usually pay a year of tuition before the visa, and refund rules vary.
  • Local wages are low, and four hours a day will not pay your tuition.
  • Outside the big cities, life without Romanian is hard, and racism does happen.
  • Visas can still be refused, especially where funds or documents look weak.

If those cons worry you, compare options first. Our article on studying medicine in Bulgaria covers a similar route, and our Lithuania tuition fees guide shows a country where we live and work.

How we can help you study in Romania

Pumpkin Abroad can help you choose a suitable programme, check that your documents are legalised correctly, submit the application and prepare the visa file once you have the right papers. See our application support page for what we do, and the official EU Immigration Portal page for students in Romania for the legal basics.

Frequently asked questions

Can I study in Romania in English?

Yes. Many public universities offer English-taught bachelor’s and master’s programmes, especially in medicine, engineering, IT and business. You will normally need B2 English or an accepted exemption.

Do I need IELTS to study in Romania?

Not always. Some universities accept a letter showing English was your language of instruction, and UMF Iași exempts citizens of listed English-speaking countries. Check each university’s rules before you book a test.

How long does the letter of acceptance take?

The Ministry may issue it within 30 working days of a complete file, but universities warn it can take two months or longer. Incomplete files are rejected, so get legalisation right first.

Can I work while studying in Romania?

Yes, part-time without a work permit, up to four hours a day. Treat this as pocket money, not a way to pay tuition.

Is there a January or February intake?

Not for most new non-EU degree students. Plan for the October start and apply early in the year.

Choosing to study in Romania can be a smart, affordable move if you are patient with paperwork and realistic about language and money. If you want help deciding whether it fits your budget and goals, book a free consultation with us.