Slovak Government Scholarship Guide 2027

Four programmes, four portals, one country

Slovakia's government scholarships are not a single programme. They are four distinct schemes, each with its own portal, its own eligibility criteria and its own type of funding. The confusion between them is the single most common reason Slovak scholarship applications fail before the committee ever reads them.

The National Scholarship Programme (NSP), run by SAIA at scholarships.sk, supports short-term mobility. If you are a master's student, PhD candidate, researcher or university teacher wanting to spend one or two semesters at a Slovak university, this is the programme for you. It is open to applicants from every country in the world except Slovakia.

The ODA Government Scholarship, run by the Ministry of Education at vladnestipendia.sk, supports full Bachelor's, Master's and PhD degrees — but only for citizens of 32 specific developing countries (plus people with Slovak Living Abroad status). Study is normally in Slovak, and Slovak at B2 level is required for admission even to the few supported English or mixed-language programmes. If you do not speak Slovak, you first spend 10 months on a language course.

The Talented International Students Scholarship at scholarships.portalvs.sk is open worldwide for full bachelor's and master's degrees in selected study programmes under Slovakia's smart specialisation strategy (SK RIS3 2021+), but requires an SAT score of at least 1100 (or the equivalent SCIO result) — a requirement that eliminates many applicants who discover it only after reading the full terms.

The Bilateral/Intergovernmental Scholarships require your home country's education authority to nominate you. You cannot apply to these directly.

This guide covers all four, but focuses in detail on the NSP and ODA programmes — the two that most students can actually access and where the gaps between official information and student reality are widest.

Which programme are you looking at?

Where the 2026–2027 cycle stands

The official NSP deadlines recur every year at 30 April, 16:00 CET (stays in the next academic year) and 31 October, 16:00 CET (stays in the summer semester). Round 1 of 2026 (30 April 2026) has passed, and the Round 2 call is open now.

1. 8 September 2026

   Talented Students 2026/2027 closed

   Registration for the 2026/2027 academic year has closed. The 2027/2028 call is not yet published.

2. 1
   31 October 2026, 16:00 CET

   NSP Round 2 deadline

   For stays in the summer semester of 2026/2027. The original acceptance letter must reach SAIA by 12:00 noon on the third working day after the deadline. SAIA usually announces results within 8 weeks of the deadline.

3. 2
   Expected late March to May 2027

   ODA window for 2027/2028

   For 2026/2027 the ODA portal opened on 23 March 2026 and closed on 25 May 2026 (Ministry notice). The 2027/2028 dates are not yet published, so the timing shown here is an estimate.

4. 3
   30 April 2027, 16:00 CET

   NSP Round 1 deadline

   For stays during the 2027/2028 academic year, under the official recurring scholarships.sk rule.

The Government Scholarship of the Slovak Republic (administered through vladnestipendia.sk) is the only Slovak programme that covers a complete Bachelor's or Master's degree — tuition, a university fee stipend and a monthly living allowance. It has been running for more than 20 years, and for 2026/2027 it allocated 70 scholarships (65 Bachelor's/Master's and 5 PhD) across 32 eligible countries.

The catch — and it is a significant one — is language. Studies are normally in Slovak, and admission requires Slovak at B2 level. If you are accepted and you do not already speak Slovak, you spend your first 10 months (from September) in a language and preparatory course, which the scholarship also funds. Finishing that course does not guarantee university admission: you still pass the university's own admission procedure. Completing a full engineering degree in a language you began learning 10 months earlier is genuinely hard.

Things the official pages do not make clear

The “New Application” link is invisible outside the application window

On vladnestipendia.sk, the button to start a new application only appears during the official window (for 2026/2027, 23 March to 25 May 2026). Students who visit the portal in January or June and cannot find where to apply are not doing something wrong — the link does not exist yet. The NSP portal at scholarships.sk works differently: its online form opens at least 6 weeks before each 30 April and 31 October deadline.

There is no interview — the committee reads only your documents

Both the NSP and ODA programmes make their selection decisions entirely on paper. There is no interview at any stage. This means your motivation letter, your programme of stay (for NSP) and your recommendation letters are your only chance to make an impression. Applicants who treat the motivation letter as a formality consistently perform poorly.

Rejection does not mean permanent ineligibility

The NSP allows reapplication. Nothing in the programme terms bars an applicant who was turned down from applying again in a later round, so fix the weak parts and try again. (Former NSP holders are different: at least 2 years must pass between the previous scholarship and the new deadline.)

Combining NSP with Erasmus+ or other publicly funded scholarships is not allowed

The NSP explicitly prohibits simultaneous receipt of Erasmus+, Visegrad Fund, CEEPUS, bilateral-agreement and other publicly funded scholarships. If you are currently on one of these programmes, your NSP stay cannot cover the same period. SAIA can reject an application, or later reclaim the money, if it finds false information or concealed facts.

What this guide covers

Six more sections covering every stage of the Slovak scholarship application — from figuring out which programme applies to you, to understanding what to do after you receive results.

Official programme information changes each cycle — verify current deadlines and amounts at scholarships.sk and vladnestipendia.sk.