Study in Latvia:
Three European countries in this series, three different answers, and Latvia gives the most practical one.
Poland hands you a free doctorate and charges you for everything else. Slovenia reserves its free study for its neighbors. Latvia does something neither of them does: it shuts its scholarship to you, then prices its degrees low enough that the scholarship matters less than you expect.
Start with the bad news, because it is short.
The state scholarship, and the list Pakistan is missing from
VIAA, Latvia’s education development agency, runs the Latvian state scholarships for studies. The 2026/2027 call names 39 eligible countries across two groups.
The first group holds countries with a formal education and science cooperation agreement with Latvia: Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, Finland, France, Georgia, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Peru, Poland, South Korea, Spain, Tajikistan, China, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. The second group holds countries that offer scholarships to Latvian students without a formal agreement: Austria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Japan, Slovakia, Switzerland and the United States.
Count the Asian entries in that first group. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, China, South Korea. Pakistan sits in none of them, and the reason is simply that no education and science cooperation agreement exists between Islamabad and Riga.
Two more things nobody mentions about it
Even for the lucky 39, this scholarship behaves differently from how Pakistani sites describe it.
It does not cover tuition. Study in Latvia states plainly that the scholarship covers neither tuition nor living costs in full, and that recipients pay part of both themselves. It also excludes travel to and from Latvia, and health insurance.
It is a monthly stipend, nothing more. VIAA’s own 2026 call document gives €500 a month for bachelor’s, €600 for master’s and €700 for doctoral study, while Study in Latvia’s page gives €500 for both bachelor’s and master’s, with €700 for doctoral. We print both figures because the two official sources disagree, and the award runs for up to ten or eleven months, with no payment for months when you are not studying.
For completeness, the window runs 1 February to 1 April each year through VIAA’s scholarship portal, with decisions emailed in June. The document list is heavier than most: a confirmation letter from the institution, a CV, a motivation letter, proof of education, two recommendation letters signed within the last six months, a study plan, a language certificate and a passport copy. And the award cannot run alongside any other Latvian state-funded grant.
Now the number that changes the conversation
Study in Latvia’s own fees FAQ puts tuition for some bachelor’s programmes at under €1,600 a year.
Read that again, because it is lower than almost anything else in the European Union. The range climbs steeply for the famous subjects — dentistry reaches €15,000 a year and an executive MBA €25,600 — but a normal bachelor’s degree in a normal subject sits at the bottom of that range, and the published sector figures run from about €2,800 upwards once you move beyond the cheapest programmes.
Living costs match. Study in Latvia gives €450 to €700 a month to cover accommodation, food, utilities and transport.
So put a realistic year together. A low-fee bachelor’s at roughly €1,600 plus living at €450 a month comes to about €7,000 for a full year including everything. That is less than one year’s tuition alone at a mid-range university in several countries your readers are currently saving for, and it needs no nomination, no bilateral agreement and nobody’s permission.
That is why Latvia deserves a post even though its scholarship excludes you. The scholarship is closed. The country is not.
How this compares with the other two
Our guide on studying in Poland free found that Polish doctoral schools charge nobody tuition by law and pay every admitted candidate a monthly scholarship, while Poland’s three famous student scholarships all exclude Pakistan. Our guide on studying in Slovenia free found that Slovenia waives fees for its neighbors, bills doctoral students, and reaches Pakistani students only through Erasmus Mundus consortia that happen to teach there.
Set the three side by side and a useful rule appears. In this part of Europe, national scholarships follow diplomacy and Europe-wide scholarships follow merit. If you want somebody to pay for you, look at European Commission money through our Erasmus Mundus scholarships page. If you are willing to pay a modest bill yourself, Latvia is the cheapest honest door in the three.
Eligibility criteria
1. For the Latvian state scholarship: citizenship of one of the 39 listed countries. Pakistan is not among them today, and nothing in your academic record changes that.
2. For a paid degree: admission, and the fee. Latvian universities recruit international students actively, and your bachelor’s or master’s qualification plus an English certificate is the ordinary route.
3. English, not Latvian. Programmes taught in foreign languages carry fees, and they are where international students study. Our scholarships without IELTS page covers institutions accepting a medium-of-instruction certificate, though you should confirm with the Latvian university directly.
4. Two referees, dated recently. The state scholarship wants letters signed within the last six months, and most Latvian admissions offices expect something similar. Our guide on asking a professor for a reference letter covers requesting a fresh one.
5. Proof of funds for the residence permit. Budget the published living figure rather than a hopeful one.
6. Nothing stops a Pakistani applicant from being admitted. The closure is on the scholarship, not on the country.
Step-by-step application process
Step 1, today: decide which question you are answering. “Who will pay for me” sends you to Erasmus Mundus. “Where can I afford to go” sends you to Latvia.
Step 2, this week: shortlist five Latvian programmes by fee, not by ranking. The gap between a €1,600 programme and a €15,000 one is the whole decision, and both sit in the same city.
Step 3, this week: write to each university’s international office and ask for the exact annual fee for a non-EU student on that programme in 2027/2028, in writing. Published ranges are ranges; the figure you pay comes from the university.
Step 4, this week: ask the same office what scholarships or fee discounts it offers its own international students. Latvian institutions compete for international enrolment and several run their own reductions, which no national list will show you.
Step 5, November: request transcripts and a grading-scale explanation. Pakistani universities are slow with the second one.
Step 6, November: ask two referees for letters dated within the last six months.
Step 7, December: build the CV and motivation letter. Our free CV builder handles the European format and our personal statement guide covers writing an argument rather than a list.
Step 8: work out the true annual cost before you commit. Fee, plus €450 to €700 a month, plus travel and health insurance, which no Latvian scholarship covers even for eligible nationals.
Step 9, once a year: recheck VIAA’s country list. It changes, the agency says so itself, and the day Pakistan appears on it is the day this post needs rewriting.
FAQ
Can Pakistani students apply for the Latvian state scholarship?
No. The 2026/2027 call lists 39 eligible countries and Pakistan is not among them, because no education and science cooperation agreement exists between the two states.
Is the Latvian state scholarship fully funded?
No, and this catches people even where they are eligible. It pays a monthly stipend, and Study in Latvia states that it covers neither tuition nor living costs in full. Travel and health insurance fall outside it too.
How much does the scholarship pay?
VIAA’s 2026 call gives €500 for bachelor’s, €600 for master’s and €700 for doctoral study. Study in Latvia’s page gives €500 for bachelor’s and master’s and €700 for doctoral. Ask VIAA directly for the current figure.
When does it open?
1 February to 1 April each year, with decisions emailed in June.
Can I study in Latvia for free in another way?
Not through a Latvian national route. The realistic free route into Latvia is the same as into Slovenia: European Commission funding through an Erasmus Mundus consortium.
How much does a degree in Latvia actually cost?
Some bachelor’s programmes sit under €1,600 a year on Study in Latvia’s own FAQ. Dentistry reaches €15,000 and an executive MBA €25,600, so the subject matters more than the country.
What are living costs? €450 to €700 a month on the official estimate, covering accommodation, food, utilities and transport.
So what would a full year cost me?
A low-fee bachelor’s plus living at the bottom of that range comes to roughly €7,000 for the year, everything included. Check the exact fee with the university before you rely on that.
Do Latvian universities offer their own scholarships?
Several run discounts and fee reductions for international students. Ask the international office directly, because national lists do not show them.
Is Latvia cheaper than Poland or Slovenia?
For a taught degree, yes, at the bottom of its range. For a doctorate, Poland wins outright, because Polish doctoral schools charge nobody and pay a scholarship.