What It Costs Just to Apply to a European Medical School
17 programs publish an application-stage fee, from about €24 in Poland to €300 in Hungary — and one university charges twice as much to apply online as in person. Most publish nothing at all.
Quick Answer
Less than most people fear per application, and more than most people budget in total. 17 programs on this site publish a confirmed application-stage cost, and the range is wide: about €24 at the Medical University of Łódź and PLN 100 at Jagiellonian and Lublin, up to €300 at the University of Szeged for dentistry. The University of Debrecen charges US$150 to apply plus a US$350 entrance-procedure fee, so US$500 before anyone has read your file. The University of Zagreb charges €200 to apply in person and €400 online, which is the only case in the catalog where the remote option costs more. The larger point is what is missing: 254 of the 271 programs do not publish an application fee at all, so a total for your shortlist is something you have to assemble by asking.
Source Status
Application-stage fees are quoted from the mandatory and additional fee notes recorded against each program. Only figures confirmed for the current cycle are listed; one further program publishes a fee that is not current and is excluded.
Quick Take
- 17 programs publish a confirmed application-stage fee, from about €24 to €300.
- Debrecen pharmacy costs US$500 to apply — US$150 plus a US$350 entrance-procedure fee.
- Zagreb charges €200 in person and €400 online, the only case where remote costs more.
What universities actually charge
Every figure below is confirmed for the current cycle and quoted from the university's own fee note:
| Fee | University | Program |
|---|---|---|
| ~€24 | Medical University of Łódź | Dentistry |
| PLN 100 (~US$26) | Medical University of Lublin | Medicine and dentistry |
| PLN 100 | Jagiellonian University | Dentistry |
| €55 | Trinity College Dublin | Pharmacy (non-EU) |
| €85 | Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin | Medicine and dentistry |
| €99 | Comenius University Bratislava | Dentistry |
| €100 | Vilnius University | Dentistry |
| €100 | Rīga Stradiņš University | Dentistry |
| €100 | Goce Delčev University of Štip | Medicine |
| €150 | Lithuanian University of Health Sciences | Pharmacy |
| US$200 | University of Pécs | Dentistry |
| €200 or €400 | University of Zagreb | Dentistry |
| €210 + €55 | Medical University of Sofia | Dentistry |
| €300 | University of Szeged | Dentistry |
| US$150 + US$350 | University of Debrecen | Pharmacy |
The Polish fees are the striking ones. PLN 100 is roughly US$26, which is less than a single US medical school secondary application, and Łódź's is about €24. If you have been putting off applying because of cost, Poland is not where the money goes.
Three things to notice
The entrance-procedure fee is the hidden one. Debrecen's pharmacy application is US$150, which sounds ordinary until you add the US$350 entrance-procedure fee for a total of US$500. Sofia's dentistry entrance examination is €210 with a further €55 to submit documents. Where a university runs its own entrance exam, expect the exam to be charged separately from the application.
Non-refundable is stated for a reason. Lublin and Pomeranian both label their fees non-refundable in the published text. That is normal, and it means an application you abandon after a change of mind is money gone.
Zagreb charges more to apply online. €200 in person, €400 online, for the same dentistry entrance application. It is the only inversion of its kind in the catalog and it is easy to read past. If you are applying there, the flight may genuinely be cheaper than the convenience fee.
What is not on that list
254 of the 271 programs publish no application fee that we could verify. That does not mean they are free — it means the amount is not on the page we check, and you will find out when you apply.
It also excludes several costs that land in the same window and are usually larger than the application fee itself:
Apostilles and certified translations, which you pay per document and often per copy. With a shortlist across several countries this is routinely the biggest pre-offer expense — the documents guide sets out the chain.
Recognition or nostrification fees, charged by an authority in the destination country and separate from anything the university takes.
Travel, where an entrance exam or interview is in person.
Pre-course fees. Pomeranian publishes a €600 non-refundable pre-courses fee alongside its €85 application, which is a different order of money and easy to miss in the same sentence.
And once you have an offer, the deposits start — several programs ask for thousands, and one asks for half the annual tuition. That is its own guide.
How to budget it
Assume every application costs something, even where nothing is published. A working placeholder of €100 per program will not be far off for most of the catalog.
Ask about the entrance exam separately. "Is there an application fee?" and "is there a fee to sit the entrance examination?" are two different questions and universities answer them literally.
Price documents once, across the whole shortlist. This is where the real money is, and ordering in one batch is cheaper and faster than discovering you need a fourth apostilled copy in March.
Do not let the fee pick your list. The gap between the cheapest and dearest application here is roughly €280 — real, but trivial against a degree that costs tens of thousands a year. Apply where you want to study, and budget the applications as one line rather than deciding school by school.
FAQs
How much does it cost to apply to medical school in Europe?
Where it is published, from about €24 to €300 per application. 17 programs publish a confirmed figure — the cheapest are Polish at roughly PLN 100, and the most expensive is €300 at the University of Szeged for dentistry. 254 programs publish no fee that we could verify.
Is there a fee to sit the entrance exam?
Often, and it is charged separately. The University of Debrecen adds a US$350 entrance-procedure fee to its US$150 pharmacy application, and the Medical University of Sofia charges €210 for its dentistry entrance examination plus €55 to submit documents.
Are application fees refundable?
Generally not. The Medical University of Lublin and Pomeranian Medical University both state theirs are non-refundable in the published text, and that is the norm rather than the exception.
Why does Zagreb cost more to apply online?
Its published entrance application fee is €200 in person or €400 online. It is the only program in this catalog where the remote option is the more expensive one, and it is easy to read past.
What is the biggest pre-offer cost?
Usually not the application fee. Apostilles, certified translations and recognition fees are charged per document and often per copy, so across a shortlist in several countries they add up to considerably more than the applications themselves.
Should I apply to fewer schools to save money?
Not on this basis. The spread between the cheapest and most expensive published application fee is about €280, which is trivial against a degree costing tens of thousands a year. The document costs are the ones worth planning around.