You never apply directly to Hungary
Applications for the 2026/2027 cycle closed on 15 January 2026 at 2 p.m., and Hungary has not yet published a 2027/2028 call. When it does, expect the same structure: you cannot apply directly to Hungary. You apply through your own country’s Sending Partner, the national authority that holds a bilateral education agreement with Hungary, and that partner nominates you before Tempus Public Foundation, the programme’s administrator, becomes involved. Applicants with citizenship different from their Sending Partner’s country are not eligible, even if they are resident there.
What the award covers, and what it’s honest about not covering
The award covers tuition and a monthly stipend that scales with study level, plus a dormitory place or housing contribution and supplementary medical insurance. Hungary’s own programme page is unusually direct about the limits of this: the stipend is described as a contribution to living costs, not full coverage, and applicants are pointed to a cost of living calculator before committing. Around 900 full degree programmes are available across all fields and levels, including a mandatory first-year Hungarian language course for anyone not already studying in Hungarian, which the scholarship covers. For a wider view of how European scholarship funding generally works, see the guide to funding a Master’s in Europe.
Over 100 bilateral partners, and what actually applies depends on yours
More than 100 countries and territories currently hold a bilateral agreement, and the list keeps growing year to year. Which study programmes and scholarship types you can actually apply for depends entirely on what your own country’s specific agreement with Hungary covers, so your Sending Partner’s own published terms matter more here than the general programme page.
Hungary’s most prestigious higher-education scholarship, running since 2013
Stipendium Hungaricum was founded by the Hungarian Government in 2013 and is described on its own page as the government’s most prestigious higher education scholarship programme, run to promote the internationalisation of Hungarian higher education and build the personal and professional links graduates carry back to their home countries. It now attracts tens of thousands of international students a year across five continents, and Hungary cites a genuinely striking satisfaction figure: over 91% of past scholarship holders say they would choose Hungary again.