YOUR SCHOLARSHIP IN EUROPE

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Your Scholarship in Europe 2008-2009
Slovakia
BASIC INFORMATION ABOUT SLOVAKIA
The Slovak Republic (increasingly referred to as Slovakia) is a landlocked country
at the centre of Continental Europe, bound by Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary,
Poland and Ukraine. In the north and northeast, Slovakia is fl anked by the Carpathian
Mountains. Hilly terrain takes up over 33% of the country’s territory. Slovakia has a
population of 5.4 million, most of the inhabitants are ethnic Slovaks (85%), a Western
Slavic nation with historical and cultural ties with Western Europe. The offi cial language
is Slovak, and Hungarian and Czech are widely spoken as well. The country’s capital
is Bratislava.
HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM
Slovakia has public, state-fi nanced, and private higher educational institutions. In all,
there are 20 public institutions of higher learning, 3 state higher education institutions,
10 private higher education institutions. Under Slovakia’s current Higher Education
Law, its institutions of higher learning offer three levels of higher education: the fi rst
level ends with the award of Bachelors degree (Bakalár); the second level gives a full
higher education in three degrees – Master (Magister), Engineer (Inzinier), and Doctor
of Medicine (Doktor Mediciny); and the third level is completed with a Doctorate
(Doctorate or PhD).
ENROLMENT
Requirements for foreign applicants are not different from those for Slovakian citizens.
A decision to enrol a student is, as a general rule, made on the basis of the average
score of the secondary school leaving certifi cate and the results of entrance examinations.
Entrance examinations differ widely depending on disciplines, and can be taken
in written or oral form, or as written tests. Some institutions, for example institutes of
art, hold creative art competitions. Unless you meet all enrolment requirements, you
may be asked to take a preparatory course, including a course in Slovak. Such courses
can be taken at the Institute of the Slovak Language and Academic Training for Foreign
Students or the independent unit of Comenius University in Bratislava. Each department
sets its own enrolment criteria. Information about enrolment and application fi ling
rules can be obtained from the department of your choice. Details of educational
programmes taught in Slovak and English are available on the pages of international
offi ces of the departments’ websites. Tuition fees for foreign students vary from $2,500
(€2,010) to $6,500 (€5,235) for a full academic year. The exact amount of tuition fee
is fi xed by each institution. Information about the size of the tuition fee can be obtained
from the international offi ces of universities.