Who Can Apply for Croatian Government Scholarships 2027/28

Pool 1 — bilateral countries

If you're a citizen of a country that has an education co-operation programme with Croatia, you're in Pool 1. This is the main pool: all 8 scholarship types exist here, durations range from a few days to 4 years, and you can apply for undergraduate, graduate, PhD or postdoctoral mobility. The catch is that each country is offered specific types and a fixed number of places — you can only apply for what your country's agreement includes.

Citizenship matters, not residence: residents of these countries who don't hold that country's citizenship are not considered, and you can't be nominated by a country whose citizenship you don't have.

What each country was offered in 2026/2027

Source: AMPEU Call for Applications 2026/2027. The 2027/2028 call may change the numbers and types.

Germany and Bavaria

Germany appears twice in the call. Bavaria has its own agreement with the most places: semester study (A1, A2), PhD research and postdoc stays (C2, D) and the summer seminar (F), with nominations handled by BAYHOST. If you're at a Bavarian university (Munich, Augsburg, Erlangen-Nuremberg, etc.), that is your route. The federal agreement for the rest of Germany offers just one postdoctoral place (type D, 1–3 months), nominated through the DAAD. So if you're a student in Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt or anywhere else outside Bavaria, there is no student place for you in Pool 1 — check whether Pool 2 applies, which means studying Croatian or Slavic Studies at your institution.

Government nomination — non-negotiable

Pool 1 applicants cannot simply apply to AMPEU and wait. Your home country has a designated nominating authority — typically your ministry of education or national scholarship agency. You contact them to be nominated. They pre-select candidates, and applications ranked by these offices take priority. Then the Nomination Letter goes from that authority to AMPEU, not from you.

Skipping this step doesn't just hurt your chances — applications that arrive without a nomination are not processed at all. Find your nominating body before you open the AMPEU portal.

The call lists no institution for Israel, and none for Belgium (Flanders), Kosovo, Ukraine or Italian citizens outside the minority places; ask AMPEU at bilaterala@ampeu.hr who nominates for your country. The table also names swissuniversities for Switzerland, although Switzerland has no places in the 2026/2027 offer.

Pool 2 — language students

Pool 2 is open to any nationality worldwide, whether or not your country has an agreement with Croatia. The catch: you must currently be a student of Croatian language and literature or Slavic Studies, or be taking Croatian classes, at a university outside Croatia. Not studying Croatian yet but interested? This pool doesn't apply to you — the enrolment has to exist before you apply.

1. 1
   Currently studying Croatian language or Slavic Studies

   At your home institution — not something you plan to do. It must be ongoing.

2. 2
   Recommendation from your Croatian language professor

   The professor who currently teaches you Croatian nominates you through a Recommendation Letter, which you upload with your application.

3. 3
   Only types A1 and F are available

   A1 = language semester in Zagreb or Rijeka (4–5 months, EUR 300/month). F = summer seminar in Dubrovnik (2 weeks in August, free). A1 places are not capped; F places are limited and Pool 1 nominees get priority for them.

Age limits by scholarship type

Every candidate must be at least 18 on 1 October of the academic year you're applying for (1 October 2026 in the last call) — not the application date. Upper limits depend on the type:

Academic prerequisites

Minimum enrolment

Students must have completed at least 2 semesters at their home institution before applying — you can't apply in your first year of university. This is spelled out for A1, A2 and F, and students who haven't completed two semesters are listed as ineligible.

Level-specific prerequisites

• A2: currently enrolled in BA or MA studies at home; open to all fields of study.
• B: a four-year high school diploma to apply for a BA, or a BA degree to apply for an MA. Only for citizens of China and members of the Croatian minority in Hungary, Romania and the Slovak Republic.
• C1: must hold an MA degree. You can't jump straight from a BA to a Croatian PhD scholarship.
• C2: enrolled in a PhD programme outside Croatia (with an MA degree).
• D/E: must hold a PhD at the time of applying. Postdoc types are strictly postdoctoral and aimed at university teachers and researchers.

Language

A1, A2, B, C1 and F are taught in Croatian; C2, D and E run in Croatian or English, as stated in your Letter of Invitation. Type F requires at least B1 Croatian, and applicants with stronger Croatian are preferred. For full degrees (B, C1), the scholarship only covers programmes taught in Croatian; holders whose Croatian isn't good enough get a preparatory year of Croatian first and must pass a final language exam.

Who is excluded

These categories are explicitly ineligible regardless of nationality or pool:

• Croatian residents. Foreign citizens who hold or are applying for a Croatian residence permit are not eligible. The scholarship is for international mobility.
• Croatian-only citizens. Candidates who hold only Croatian citizenship can't apply.
• Already enrolled at a Croatian institution. Currently studying in Croatia? Not eligible. This scholarship is for people coming to Croatia, not staying in it.
• Targeting a private Croatian university. Only public institutions are eligible. Applications for a private institution are not accepted.
• Students with fewer than two completed semesters at their home institution.
• Candidates without the citizenship of the country that nominates them.
• Previous scholarship recipients. Not excluded, but ranked lower: first-time applicants take precedence. This is by design.