Financing your Studies in Sweden

The Swedish higher education system

Sweden runs its higher education and research across 48 institutions in four categories: universities (universitet), university colleges (högskolor), university colleges of the arts, and independent education providers. Depending on how you count, around 39 of these are ranked as universities. The system splits into two main types. Research universities (universitet) are research-oriented and can award degrees at every level, including the doctorate, in many subjects. University colleges (högskola) are more applied and have limited rights to award PhDs, though they can apply for and be granted the right to award doctorates in specific fields.

Most of these institutions are state-funded or subsidised, but a number of private universities and colleges exist too. A private institution is not run directly by the state; it may be run by a foundation, a company or an association, and some are entitled to award the same degrees as state institutions. The best-known private one is Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, founded in 1829 and the only private technical university in Sweden, with around 10,000 students and 3,000 staff. Sweden’s oldest universities are Uppsala (a university since 1477) and Lund (1666). Karolinska Institutet is the country’s leading medical university, and three Swedish universities sit in the QS World Top 100.

Teaching follows the Bologna process, with three cycles: bachelor’s (first cycle), master’s (second cycle) and PhD (third cycle). The teaching model is built around the idea of „freedom with responsibility”: you get less lecturer-led time and are expected to work independently and in groups.

Who studies in Sweden

In autumn 2012, about 357,000 students were enrolled in first and second cycle programmes, against roughly 19,000 third cycle (PhD) students in the same term. The most popular first and second cycle fields were social sciences and law with 42 % of students, followed by humanities and theology with 16 % and technology with 14 %. Applications peaked at 486,200 in 2021 during the pandemic, then fell back from the autumn 2022 semester. In 2023, 39,806 international students were enrolled.

Recently added funding for your studies in Sweden

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Cost of your studies

Tuition fees

Higher education in Sweden is financed primarily through tax revenue. This once applied to all students, but in 2011 fees were introduced for students who are not citizens of an EU/EEA country, a Nordic country or Switzerland. If you come from any of those, your bachelor’s and master’s studies at public universities are free.

Fees apply only to bachelor’s and master’s programmes. PhD study is free for everyone, whatever your nationality. For non-EU/EEA students the fee is set per programme and subject, and figures vary by source. Study.eu puts bachelor’s fees at SEK 80,000-180,000 per year (roughly €7,000-16,000) and master’s at SEK 90,000-200,000 per year (roughly €8,000-18,000); other sources give a wider band of SEK 80,000-300,000 per year (roughly €7,500-25,500). As a rough guide by subject in 2026, humanities run around SEK 120,000 a year, business around SEK 160,000, engineering around SEK 185,000, and medicine or architecture around SEK 255,000. Business, engineering and design programmes sit at the top end. Non-EU applicants also pay a one-off application fee of SEK 900, submitted through universityadmissions.se. For the autumn 2026 intake, applications opened in mid-October 2025 with a deadline in mid-January 2026.

The application fee of SEK 900 (about €80) is charged once per application round to applicants from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland, no matter how many programmes you apply for. EU, EEA and Swiss citizens are exempt and apply for free. The fee covers processing your application, not your tuition, and it must be paid before the deadline for your application to be considered.

Cost of living

On top of tuition, living costs come to roughly SEK 8,000-12,000 a month (about €800-1,300), covering food, housing, travel, books and leisure. Swedish universities are not required to house you, so plan for that. A room in a student corridor runs SEK 3,500-6,500 a month depending on the city, and a room in a shared private flat SEK 4,500-9,000. The average flat rent in Sweden in 2026 is around SEK 7,664 (about €662), up 6.1 % on the year. Stockholm is the most expensive city; Malmö, Gothenburg and Lund are cheaper.

Healthcare in Sweden is subsidised by the government. EU students use the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC). Fee-paying non-EU students get free FAS or FASplus insurance, ordered for them by their university.

Proof of funds and residence permit

If your studies last 12 months or more, you apply for a personal identity number (personnummer) at the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket); for studies under 12 months you get a coordination number (samordningsnummer) instead. For a residence permit in 2026, the Migration Agency (Migrationsverket) wants you to show at least SEK 10,314 a month (SEK 103,140 for a ten-month study year); one other benchmark for 2026 puts the figure at SEK 10,656 a month. Check the official Migrationsverket page for the current amount.

Funding for a semester or year abroad

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Financing your studies

Scholarships

Scholarships are one of the main ways to fund studies in Sweden, and there are two principal sources of Swedish funding. The Swedish Institute, a government agency, provides a limited number of scholarships for international and local students through a series of specially designed programmes. The Swedish Institute and the universities both award funding on a competitive basis. Alongside these public sources, Sweden also has smaller private ones through foundations and fund-raising organisations; these often provide substantial grants, geared towards financing the research of international students.

The Swedish Institute (SI) Scholarship for Global Professionals and Pioneering Women in STEM went to 232 recipients from 33 countries for 2026/2027. The master’s-level SI scholarship covers full tuition fees plus a monthly living allowance of SEK 12,000 and a travel grant of SEK 15,000, runs for one to two years, and has a February 2026 deadline. It is not open to EU/EEA citizens, people already resident in Sweden, or former SI scholarship holders.

Universities also offer scholarships in the form of tuition fee waivers, with the amount and frequency set by each university. KTH’s 75 % tuition fee waiver, for example, cuts a two-year fee from SEK 310,000 to SEK 77,500.

The Erasmus Mundus Joint Master’s scholarship is available to students at universities in Sweden. It is fully funded: full fee waiver, a monthly stipend of around €1,400 (sources range from €1,100 to €1,400) for up to 24 months, plus travel and insurance.

Grants and loans through CSN

Who can get CSN support

Swedish and eligible students can draw grants and loans through CSN (Centrala studiestödsnämnden, the Swedish National Board of Student Aid), the government agency responsible for state study support. Support is not limited to bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral students; those at a Swedish Folk High School or on a National Adult Education Programme may qualify too. Students choose CSN partly because its interest rate is generally far lower than other routes. Where CSN is not an option, students turn to the banks for private loans.

Foreign students can qualify under special terms. EU/EEA and Swiss citizens can receive CSN support, for instance if they work in Sweden; non-EU/EEA citizens may qualify if they hold permanent residence. Beyond that, a non-Swedish student may need to show proof of residence, hold refugee status, or have lived and worked in Sweden for at least two years. Those married to, or cohabiting for more than two years with, a Swedish citizen may also qualify, as may foreign students with Swedish parents.

How much you get

The support (studiemedel) combines a grant (bidrag) and a loan (lån). For full-time study in 2026 the total is SEK 3,398 per week, made up of a SEK 1,030 grant and a SEK 2,368 loan; over a four-week period that is SEK 13,592 (SEK 4,120 grant plus SEK 9,472 loan). Under the higher-grant model (högre bidrag), the four-week total is the same SEK 13,592 but weighted towards the grant: SEK 9,116 grant plus SEK 4,476 loan (SEK 2,279 grant plus SEK 1,119 loan per week). Part-time rates are lower: at 75 % the four-week total is SEK 10,204 (SEK 3,100 grant plus SEK 7,104 loan), and at 50 % it is SEK 6,796 (SEK 2,036 grant plus SEK 4,760 loan). The 2026 uplift, driven by a price base amount (prisbasbelopp) of SEK 59,200, raised the grant by SEK 28 and the loan by SEK 64 over four weeks.

On top of the standard amounts you can take an additional loan (tilläggslån) of SEK 4,688 per four weeks, and an additional grant (tilläggsbidrag) if you have children: SEK 780 per four weeks (SEK 195 a week) for one child, rising in steps to SEK 2,056 per four weeks for five children. The additional grant is tax-free and does not affect your housing benefit.

The loan interest rate for 2026 is 2.135 % (variable, up from 1.981 % the year before), made up of a base rate of 1.736 % plus a 0.399 % markup. CSN expects the rate to have peaked and to fall from 2027.

Conditions, limits and payment

There is a ceiling on how much you can earn alongside the support before it is reduced. This income limit (fribelopp) for 2026 is SEK 114,676 per calendar half-year for full-time study over 20 weeks (about SEK 19,100 a month); at 75 % it is SEK 143,346 and at 50 % SEK 172,017 per half-year.

The maximum duration of support at higher education or post-secondary level is 240 weeks, roughly six years of full-time study (at upper-secondary level it is 80 or 120 weeks, and at compulsory level 40, 80 or 100 weeks depending on your prior schooling). A week counts as used even if you took only the grant, or a smaller loan. You can receive the grant up to the year you turn 60; from the year you turn 51, the number of weeks for which you can take a loan starts to fall.

You do not receive grants or loans over the summer break, unless you are enrolled on a summer course or programme, in which case the funds are available. Payments land around the 25th of each month, four weeks in advance; the first payment comes no earlier than your first week of study, once your award, your study declaration and the school’s registration are all in place.

Erasmus+

Erasmus+ is the EU exchange programme, open to bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral students for study periods of 2 to 12 months per study cycle. On an Erasmus+ exchange you pay no tuition at the host university and receive support towards travel and living costs, with the monthly amount varying by destination country.

Student jobs

To work in Sweden during your studies you need a personal identity number, though a coordination number is also accepted; international students obtain either from the Swedish Tax Agency. On request, universities help their students find work in the region.

After you finish your studies, non-EU graduates of a Swedish higher education institution can apply to Migrationsverket for a residence permit to look for work, valid for up to 12 months. It covers both job-hunting and starting a business, and once you find a job it can be converted into a work permit. EU, EEA and Swiss citizens need no extra permit; they can stay and work in Sweden under free movement.