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International students

Higher education in Bulgaria

The institutions of higher education in Bulgaria are open to all applicants who have a diploma for secondary education. The degrees of higher education include:

  • Bachelor – the period of study is four years;
  • Master – the period of study is five years or at least one year after a Bachelor’s degree course;
  • Doctor (PhD) – the period of study is three/four years after a Master’s degree course.

The courses of higher education are full-time, part-time, distance and according to individual schedule of study. The institutions of higher education in Bulgaria offer courses for lifelong learning and further qualification. The lifelong learning programmes do not lead to awarding a new university degree.

Admission to study for Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees is possible according to:

  1. Intergovernmental agreements for educational, scientific and cultural exchange: the applicants are selected by the Bulgarian Ministry of education and science.
  2. Decrees of the Council of Ministers (Decree No 103/1993 and Decree No 228/1997): the applicants are selected by the Bulgarian Ministry of education and science.
  3. The general application procedures, terms and conditions: for the citizens of the EU/EEA member countries and applicants with permanent residence in Bulgaria.
  4. The rest foreign applicants are selected by universities under the regulations of the Higher Education Act (Art. 95) and approved by the Bulgarian Ministry of education and science that issues a special letter for visa arrangement. The students admitted under the above-mentioned law have to pay annual tuition fees for international students determined for each institution of higher education.

Applicants from EU/EEA member countries

Application requirements :

Bachelor’s Degree Programmes:

  1. Applicants should have completed secondary education. They should be eligible to continue their studies in institutions of higher education in the country where the diplomas of secondary education were issued.
  2. Applicants should have grades in the subjects relevant to the major applied for. If an applicant does not have such grades, he/she needs to pass examination at a Bulgarian high school appointed by the Bulgarian Ministry of education and science.

Master’s Degree Programmes:

The deadline for application for the academic year 2016/2017 is 1 August 2016. Applicants should submit the following documents:

  1. Application form
  2. The original and a copy of the diploma for a completed Bachelor’s degree
  3. The original and a copy of the diploma for completed secondary education

* Individuals who graduated non-Bulgarian secondary schools should submit a Certificate for acknowledged secondary education issued by the Bulgarian Ministry of education and science.

Applicants from third countries

General requirements:

Bachelor’s Degree Programmes:

  1. Applicants should have completed secondary education. They should be eligible to continue their studies in institutions of higher education in the country where the diplomas of secondary education were issued.
  2. The grades in the applicant’s diploma for secondary education relevant to the major applied for should be not less than 62% of the maximum grade in accordance to the grading system in the country where the applicant has completed secondary education.

Master’s Degree Programmes:

  1. Applicants should have a degree of higher education (BA/BSc or MA/MSc).
  2. The average grade of the diploma of higher education (BA/BSc) is not less than the equivalent of Good 4 according to the Bulgarian system of grades.

Application documents

  1. A completed Application form where the proficiency level of the applicant in Bulgarian language has to be explicitly specified.
  2. A validated copy and a certified translation of the applicant’s diploma of secondary education including a supplement specifying the period of attendance and the grades in different subjects. Applicants for Master’s degree courses should present a validated copy and a certified translation of a diploma of higher education (Bachelor’s or Master’s) accompanied by a Transcript of Records.
  3. A document issued by a competent body certifying the applicant’s eligibility to continue his/her studies in higher educational institutions in the country in which he/she has completed his/her secondary education.
  4. A medical certificate issued not earlier than one month before the application procedure, validated by the respective authorities in the applicant’s country.
    * The documents stated above must be translated into Bulgarian and legalized according to the intergovernmental agreements. If such agreements do not exist, the documents must be validated, translated and legalized according to the standard procedures for legalization (Apostille).
  5. A photocopy of the applicant’s passport /identity card with the name legibly written in Latin alphabet and indicating the place and date of birth. Applicants with dual citizenship should also provide photocopies of their Bulgarian identity card/passport. Whenever there is a difference between the names on the two identity cards or passports, the applicant must also provide a notarized declaration of identity (or a certificate issued by the respective municipal authorities) stating that the different names belong to one and the same person.
  6. Four recent photographs of the applicant.

* The application deadline for the academic year 2018/2019 is September 21st 2018.

 

This post is also available in: bg Български ( Bulgarian)