Scholarships in Bulgaria: four separate regimes

Education · Last reviewed: 2026-08-23

The four regimes at a glance

This table is not a summary but a routing map. Most people beginning a scholarship search look straight at the ministry or for some central portal; in three of the four regimes, however, the counterpart is the institution itself — the school or the university. Knocking on the wrong door does not merely waste time; it makes you miss the filing window.

First, clear up one misunderstanding: abolished tuition is not a scholarship

From the second semester of the 2023/2024 academic year, tuition fees at state higher education institutions were abolished for students and doctoral candidates admitted under the state order, with the state covering the corresponding expenses (Ministry of Education and Science announcement, consulted 23 August 2026). That is a major change, but it is not a SCHOLARSHIP: not paying a fee and receiving a monthly payment are two different things. Scholarship regimes continue to operate independently of that change, and an application is still required.

School pupils: Decree No. 328/2017

The conditions and procedure for scholarships for pupils who have completed basic education are set by Decree No. 328 of 21 December 2017 (published in the State Gazette, issue 103 of 28 December 2017, in force from that day and amended since). Under the decree, scholarships are awarded to pupils in day, individual and combined forms of study, and in work-based (dual) training, after completed basic education. The threshold at which the entitlement begins is therefore the completion of basic education — the regime does not operate in the primary and lower secondary stages.

The most surprising feature of this regime is that the decision is taken not centrally but at SCHOOL level. The decree sets the frame; how much budget goes to which type of scholarship, what the deadlines and thresholds are, is decided by the school in its own rules. Two schools in the same city can therefore produce different outcomes for the same pupil profile. The filing point is likewise the school: the head teacher, the class teacher or the school's scholarship commission.

• •Typical types: excellence, social (income-tested), for pupils with lasting disabilities, for pupils without a parent, and support for particular occupations.
• •Applications are usually renewed at the start of each term — a scholarship once granted does not roll over automatically.
• •Income-tested scholarships require household income documents covering a defined period; collect them early.
• •Absences and conduct appear in most schools' rules as grounds for discontinuation.
• •The decree may also apply to pupils in private schools; ask about the particular school's rules.

Students and doctoral candidates: Decree No. 90/2000

The conditions and procedure for awarding scholarships to students, doctoral candidates and specialising trainees at state higher education institutions and research organisations are set by Decree No. 90 of 26 May 2000; the decree has been amended many times and its current text should be read from an official source (Lex.bg, consulted 23 August 2026). Under the decree's conditions and procedure, scholarships are awarded to those studying in the FULL-TIME form — which means part-time and distance students fall outside the regime, a detail often missed.

Here too the decision is not central but at UNIVERSITY level: each institution issues its own scholarship rules, opens an application window at the start of the semester and decides through its own commission. The grade threshold for merit awards and the income threshold for social awards vary between institutions. The sentence to get a scholarship in Bulgaria your average must be such-and-such therefore cannot be true; the true sentence is: in your university's rules for this semester, the threshold is such-and-such.

An additional scholarship based on matriculation results

On the higher education side there is also an additional scholarship based on state matriculation examination results, which the Ministry of Education and Science runs under its own heading (ministry page, consulted 23 August 2026). The logic is simple: to support, in their first year, a student who finished secondary school with very high results and entered a state university. Verify the conditions, which academic year they apply to and the application procedure on the ministry's own page; such programmes run on annual decisions and their scope can change.

For doctoral candidates there is a separate line: the ministry annually provides state higher education institutions and research organisations with funds for ADDITIONAL doctoral scholarships. A doctoral candidate may therefore draw on both the institution's general regime and this additional line. The filing point for both is the institution; the ministry provides the funds, the institution distributes them.

A separate regime for foreign nationals of Bulgarian origin

There is a separate admission and support regime for foreign nationals of Bulgarian origin living abroad, based on Decree No. 103 of 31 May 1993 (on educational activity among Bulgarians abroad) and Decree No. 228 of 20 May 1997. Under it the Minister of Education and Science annually proposes places to the Council of Ministers for approval; the annual number proposed does not exceed 2000 places, and within that, up to 30 places may be set aside for those placed in national olympiads in Bulgarian language and literature in their respective countries and for other categories assessed in that frame (information published by the relevant state agency and the ministry, consulted 23 August 2026). The figures may change with amendments to the rules; verify them on the official page before applying.

The regime has two practical features. First, Bulgarian origin must be proved by documents: for an ancestor (mother, father, grandmother, grandfather or further back), documents issued by Bulgarian or foreign state authorities attesting Bulgarian nationality are submitted with certified translation and legalisation. Second, students admitted this way are usually given a year of Bulgarian language preparation, delivered in units meeting the requirements of the higher education legislation.

1. 1

   Gather the origin documents

   Documents attesting an ancestor's Bulgarian nationality, with certified translation and legalisation or apostille.
2. 2

   Read the relevant state agency's procedure

   The document list and the route for establishing Bulgarian origin are published there.
3. 3

   Follow the ministry's announcement of places

   Places and preference rules are published annually; missing the calendar means waiting a year.
4. 4

   Plan the language preparation

   If admitted, the first year may be spent on Bulgarian preparation; plan housing and budget accordingly.
5. 5

   Do not confuse a place with a scholarship

   In this regime what matters is the PLACES; whether a scholarship is also granted is a separate decision stated in the announcement.

Erasmus+: not a scholarship but mobility support

Erasmus+ is the most misunderstood item on this list. Higher education students and staff cannot apply DIRECTLY for a grant; the selection criteria for participation in mobility activities are defined by the higher education institution in which the student studies or the staff member is employed. Your counterpart is therefore not the European Commission or a national agency but your own university's Erasmus or international office; the institution applies for the grant, you enter its selection process, and the sending institution is obliged to select applicants in a fair and transparent way (Erasmus+ programme information, consulted 23 August 2026).

The durations are fixed too, and useful for planning: long-term mobility runs from a minimum of 2 months to a maximum of 12 months (including blended mobilities with a virtual component); short-term mobility is between 5 and 30 days and must be blended; the maximum total within one study cycle is 12 months. To take part you must be a student at short-cycle, bachelor's or master's level, registered at a participating higher education institution, and enrolled in studies leading to a recognised degree.

• •The first step is always your own institution's Erasmus office — the announcement calendar lives there.
• •Selection criteria sit in the institution's own rules: grades, language level, motivation, sometimes year of study.
• •There must be an agreement with the receiving institution; partner lists differ by department, so ask for your department's.
• •The learning agreement is signed before departure and secures recognition of the courses taken.
• •Grant amounts depend on the destination country and the period; no amounts appear here, see your institution's announcement.

Which regime does an international student fall into

This is the most asked and most confused question. The short answer: it depends on your citizenship, the status under which you were admitted, and your form of study. An EU citizen admitted under the state order and studying full time is usually assessed under the institution's rules on the same footing as Bulgarian students. For a student in a paid form or a non-EU national the decree regime is often closed; their routes are scholarships from the institution's own funds, project scholarships and Erasmus+ mobility.

You can resolve this uncertainty yourself, with a single email. Write to the institution where you are enrolled and ask: given my status (citizenship, type of admission, form of study), which scholarship regimes may I apply to? Get the answer in writing and keep it; you will not have to ask again next semester. Academic offices are obliged to answer, and the answer is usually clear.

Why we publish neither amounts nor a most generous universities ranking

Two reasons, both resting on the same discipline. First: scholarship amounts are not a central tariff. They are set by the institution's budget, the number of applicants, the decision for the period and the type of award, and can change even between two semesters at the same university. A figure here would be taken as official and push readers into the wrong budget. Second: a list of the most generous institutions is a ranking, and every ranking hides the single indicator its compiler chose. One institution may pay a high amount to few students, another a lower amount to many; which is better depends on your situation.

Instead we give you a method: find your institution's scholarship rules, read the announcement for the semester, and note four things — the types of award, the thresholds, the amount and the calendar. With those four facts in hand, no internet list is of any use to you.

Applying in practice: where it usually goes wrong

Most scholarship applications are rejected on procedure rather than substance. The four commonest causes are: missing the filing window, income documents not covering the requested period, an ineligible form of study (the full-time requirement) and missing certification or translation. None of these is an academic matter; all are matters of calendar and paperwork. That is why the search for a scholarship begins not when the announcement appears but before the semester starts.

• •At the start of the semester, put the institution's scholarship page in your calendar; the window is usually short.
• •Find out in advance which months of income documents are required and obtain them for exactly that period.
• •For foreign documents, allow time for apostille or legalisation and certified translation.
• •Check your form of study; some regimes are open only to full-time students.
• •Find out how the result is communicated: email, the student portal, or a notice board?
• •If refused, ask for written reasons — most often it is a correctable procedural gap.

Build the calendar backwards

The best planning for a scholarship application runs backwards, not forwards. If the announcement appears at the start of the semester, income documents must be gathered before it; if they are to be gathered, you must first know which months are required; if a foreign document is needed, the apostille and translation must start earlier still. Build the calendar backwards from the announcement date and leave realistic time for each step. A student who builds this habit once reuses the same checklist every semester.

One more practical tip: keep your scholarship file in a digital folder and put each document's date in the file name. Income documents, enrolment certificates, transcripts and identity documents are requested afresh every semester; a student who spends an hour organising in the first semester finishes the job in ten minutes thereafter. A significant share of refusals concern a document that exists but could not be found in time.

Support to consider alongside a scholarship

A scholarship is only one line in a student budget. Three more usually sit next to it: student housing (a separate application with separate ranking), canteen and transport reductions (tied to the enrolment certificate) and work opportunities inside the institution (laboratory, library or project assistant roles). Individually they look small; together they often exceed the scholarship. The whole picture of student costs is covered in [student living costs](/bilgi/bulgaristan-ogrenci-yasam-maliyeti).

There are also scholarships universities fund from their own resources or from donations; these sit outside the decree regimes, set their own conditions and are usually advertised less widely. Asking at the department office and the student council is the fastest way to hear about them, because they are often announced only through internal channels.

A final warning: beware of intermediaries who take money against a promise of a scholarship. In none of the four regimes described here is a payment made to an intermediary; applications go directly to the school, the university or the relevant institution, and no application fee is charged. No private organisation can guarantee a scholarship, because the decision is taken by a commission inside the institution and the criteria are published. When in doubt, open the institution's own announcement and compare what it says with what you are being told.

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