Norway Ended Free Tuition — 7 Countries Where International Students Still Pay €0 in 2027

Last updated: August 2026

In autumn 2023, Norway’s public universities ended free tuition for students who are not citizens of the European Union, the European Economic Area, or Switzerland. A comparative update published on 28 March 2025 by Study.eu put typical annual fees for those non-European students at roughly €15,000 to €34,000, while EU and EEA students still study without tuition. The old “Norway trick” — English-taught degrees, no fees, and a high-wage part-time job — is no longer a plan for applicants from Nigeria, India, the Philippines, Pakistan, Brazil, Indonesia, Vietnam, Kenya, and the rest of the non-EU world. The good news is narrower and more honest: seven public systems still charge €0, or a fee so close to zero that it is not a Western tuition bill, if you meet the language and admission rules that actually unlock that price.

The comparison below is the whole article in one screen. Read it first. Then use the country sections to decide whether “free” is a real option for you, or whether you should look at a fully funded scholarship or a funded European volunteer year instead.

The 2027 comparison: where non-EU students can still pay €0

“€0 tuition” is not “€0 life.” Housing, health insurance, a visa financial-proof rule, a flight, and the months you spend learning the local language are the real invoice. That is why this guide separates the seven systems that still publish a free or near-free public tuition rule from the countries that used to be free and are not.

Source: Study in Germany (DAAD)

How we got here: 2017, 2023, 2024, and the 2026–2027 map

Free tuition in Europe has been shrinking in public, not in secret.

In 2017, the German state of Baden-Württemberg reintroduced tuition for students from outside the EU and EEA. The charge is €1,500 per semester at public universities in that state — Stuttgart, Karlsruhe, Heidelberg, Freiburg, Mannheim and their neighbours. The rest of Germany stayed on the no-tuition model, with only a semester contribution.

In autumn 2023, Norway moved. Non-EU, non-EEA, non-Swiss students lost the free seat at public universities. The 28 March 2025 Study.eu comparison is the cleanest public snapshot of what replaced it: about €15,000 to €34,000 a year. In the same year, Bavaria gave its public universities the legal option to charge non-European students. Most Bavarian public universities have chosen not to use that option so far. “So far” is the operative phrase. You check the specific university, not a 2019 blog post.

In February 2024, Argentina’s Congress rejected a push to charge international students at public universities. The PIE News reported the vote. That is why Buenos Aires, Córdoba and La Plata still sit in the €0 column for undergraduate study in 2026 and into the 2027 intake, unless a later law changes the rule.

Nordic neighbours did not wait for Norway. Finland, Sweden and Denmark already limit free tuition to EU, EEA and (in some cases) Swiss students. Austria, France and Greece never promised zero to non-Europeans; they promised a regulated public fee that is still far below a British or American private bill, and that is a different product.

If you are comparing destinations rather than hunting a single loophole, start with our best countries to study abroad in 2026–2027 and then come back here to test whether a free-tuition public seat is actually open to you.

1) Germany — still the default free public system, with two expensive exceptions

Germany is the country most international applicants mean when they type “free tuition countries 2027.” The official Study in Germany line is blunt: you only need to pay a small charge, the semester contribution, between €100 and €350. That contribution is not tuition. It funds student services, and it often includes a local transport ticket for the semester. Treat it as a mandatory campus fee, not as hidden tuition.

Two exceptions matter more than any ranking list.

Baden-Württemberg has charged non-EU/EEA students €1,500 per semester since 2017. That is €3,000 per academic year on top of the semester contribution if you enrol at a public university in that state. A computer-science offer from Karlsruhe and a computer-science offer from Leipzig are not the same price.

Bavaria, since 2023, allows public universities to charge non-European students. Most have not switched the fee on. That is a policy choice, not a constitutional lock. If you hold an offer from Munich, Würzburg, Regensburg or another Bavarian public university, read the current fee statute for your intake year. Do not inherit a roommate’s 2022 advice.

English-taught master’s programmes exist across Germany, and many remain tuition-free at public universities outside Baden-Württemberg. The bottleneck is not the English. The bottleneck is admission capacity, German for daily life and internships, and the financial-proof rule attached to the student residence permit. German authorities require a blocked account (Sperrkonto) or an equivalent proof of living funds. The exact euro figure is updated. For a 2026 or 2027 visa file, use the amount published for the year you apply — a figure often cited in recent cycles has been around €11,904 per year, but you should copy the official number from the mission that will stamp your visa, not from this paragraph.

Work rights and post-study residence are separate from tuition. If your plan is “free degree, then stay,” read which countries let students work while they study and which countries offer post-graduation residence in 2027 before you pick a city.

2) Czech Republic — free in Czech, priced in English

Public universities in the Czech Republic do not charge tuition for programmes taught in Czech, regardless of the student’s nationality. That is the legal core. A Nigerian or Indian applicant who can study in Czech sits in the same tuition column as a Czech citizen.

English-taught programmes are a different product. Market estimates collected by Study.eu put them at roughly €4,000 to €12,000 per year. That range is an estimate, not a ministry price list. Faculties set their own English fees. Medicine and some technical degrees sit at the top of the band; some humanities and social-science English tracks sit lower.

Living costs are the reason Czechia still appears on “cheap Europe” lists. Study.eu’s working estimate is about $9,000 a year, which is lower than western Germany, the Netherlands or Ireland. Rent in Prague is not rent in Ostrava or Olomouc. Budget the city, not the country.

The practical path for a student who wants €0 is a Czech-language year, then a public bachelor’s or master’s in Czech. That is a year of unpaid or self-funded language study for most people. It is still cheaper than three years of English tuition at €8,000 a year. It is not free in month one.

3) Argentina — public undergraduate study without an arancel, including for foreigners

Argentina’s national public universities — Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA), Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (UNC), Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP) and their peers — do not charge undergraduate tuition. The public-education model is written into the country’s constitutional culture, and in February 2024 Congress rejected a proposal to impose fees on international students.

That is the fact. The conditions around the fact are what separate a real plan from a viral post.

Study is in Spanish. A language exam or a demonstrated level is a practical requirement even when a faculty does not print an IELTS-style number on the homepage. Master’s and doctoral programmes may charge modest fees; the €0 claim in this article is about the regular undergraduate (grado) track at national public universities.

Buenos Aires living costs are lower than western Europe in many months and unstable in others. Inflation rewrites grocery and rent maths. Do not lock a monthly dollar figure in your head from a 2023 vlog. Build a three-month cash buffer and recost the city the month you book housing.

Admission is faculty-specific. UBA’s Ciclo Básico Común and the entry rules of UNC or UNLP are not interchangeable. Start at uba.ar and the faculty that actually teaches your subject.

4) Brazil — federal public universities are free in Portuguese

Brazil’s federal public higher-education system does not charge tuition on regular degree programmes, and that rule is not reserved for Brazilian citizens. International students on those programmes sit in the same tuition column.

The price of entry is competition and language, not a bank transfer to a bursar. Vestibular exams, ENEM-based tracks, and university-specific international pathways are all used, depending on the campus. Portuguese is the language of the classroom, the hospital ward, the engineering lab and the student union. An English-taught island exists in some graduate programmes and private campuses; that is not the free federal undergraduate model.

Living costs swing hard. São Paulo is not João Pessoa. Recife is not Florianópolis. State it that way and then price the city you will actually live in. Do not invent a national “student salary” and do not expect a federal university to hand you a stipend simply because tuition is zero.

If your Portuguese is not yet classroom-ready, a language year in Brazil or a serious online course is part of the budget. The same logic applies if you are aiming at Spanish-speaking public systems: build the language before you book the visa appointment — and treat local-language study with the same seriousness.

5) Poland — free in Polish, a mid-range bill in English

Poland is the country that most clearly shows the language split. Study.eu reports that non-European students usually pay €2,000 to €8,000 per year for English-taught programmes. That is not American private-university money, and it is not €0.

Study in Polish at a public university is usually free or reduced to a symbolic charge. The condition is the language. A student who spends a year reaching B2 or C1 Polish can convert a four-year English bill of €8,000–€32,000 into a public Polish-taught degree at €0 tuition. A student who wants to start lectures next October in English should budget the English fee and stop calling the plan “free Poland.”

Warsaw and Kraków cost more than Lublin or Rzeszów. The tuition rule does not change that. Poland also sits on many work-and-stay shortlists; pair this section with the work-while-studying and post-graduation residence guides if the degree is a migration step rather than a three-year visit.

6) Mexico — UNAM and the public system, symbolic fees rather than a marketing zero

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México is one of the largest public universities on earth. Ordinary programmes are priced as a public good. Fees are symbolic next to any North American or British invoice. They are not an absolute zero on every programme and every administrative item. UNAM publishes its own regulations; copy those, not a screenshot from a Facebook group.

Admission runs through an entrance examination. Classroom language is Spanish. Living costs in Mexico City depend on neighbourhood the way living costs in any megacity do. A student from Kenya or the Philippines who already holds Spanish has a shorter road than a student who must add a language year to the plan.

Other Mexican public universities follow a similar public-fee logic. UNAM is the reference point because it is the campus international applicants actually name. Confirm the current cuota on unam.mx for the faculty and cycle you want.

7) Uruguay — Universidad de la República and the public free-or-near-free model

Universidad de la República (UdelaR) is Uruguay’s main public university. The country’s public higher-education model is free or near-free on regular programmes. That model is why Uruguay is the seventh country on this list.

State the condition as a condition. The public-free model applies to regular programmes; confirm the faculty page on udelar.edu.uy before you buy a ticket. International applicants still need Spanish, a student residence path, and a living-cost plan for Montevideo. Uruguay is smaller than Argentina or Brazil, which can mean fewer English-speaking shortcuts and a tighter housing market near popular faculties.

If a programme quotes a fee, it is no longer in the €0 column. Move it to your “low public fee” spreadsheet next to Austria and France, and keep this list honest.

Countries that are rumoured to be free and are not

This is the section that should save you a year.

Norway. Free for EU, EEA and Swiss students. Not free for others since autumn 2023. Budget €15,000–€34,000 a year in tuition before you add Oslo or Bergen rent.

Finland, Sweden, Denmark. The Nordic free-tuition story that still circulates on TikTok is an EU-only story. Non-EU applicants face tuition unless a scholarship covers it.

Austria. About €1,500 a year for non-European students at public universities. That is a low public fee, not zero.

France. Standard public rates for non-European students sit around €2,770 for a bachelor’s year and €3,770 for a master’s year, with university-level exemptions that you must win, not assume.

Greece. About €1,500 a year for non-European students on many public programmes. Again: low, not free.

Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Still Germany. Not still free if you are non-EU.

If a reel promises “Europe is free in 2027,” it is collapsing five different legal regimes into one caption. Use the table at the top of this article instead.

What free tuition actually costs: a Germany walk-through

Take a non-EU student heading to a public bachelor’s or master’s outside Baden-Württemberg in 2027.

Tuition: €0.

Semester contribution: €100–€350 per semester, often including a transport ticket. Call it a few hundred euros a year, not a few thousand.

Living proof for the residence permit: a blocked account or equivalent, in the amount German authorities publish for your application year. Recent public discussion has used a figure around €11,904 per year. Treat that as a planning signal, then replace it with the number on the consulate page the month you apply.

Housing: the largest cash item after the blocked-account deposit. Shared flats in smaller university cities are a different market from Munich or Frankfurt.

Health insurance: mandatory. Budget it as a monthly line, not a surprise.

Language: if you need a German year before the degree, that year has rent, insurance and course fees even when the later degree has no tuition.

Flight and visa file: one-off costs. Use a current student-visa document checklist rather than a WhatsApp rumour.

That is why “Germany is free” and “I need €0 in my bank” cannot both be true. Germany is free of tuition on most public programmes. It is not free of a living-cost rule.

Source: Study in Germany (DAAD)

The language bargain nobody puts in the title

Every €0 cell in the comparison table has a language attached.

German opens Germany. Czech opens Czech public universities. Polish opens Polish public universities. Spanish opens Argentina, Uruguay and UNAM. Portuguese opens Brazil’s federal system.

English opens a different shop: paid programmes in Prague and Warsaw, some still-free German public master’s, and scholarship routes such as Chevening if you want a fully funded year in the United Kingdom instead of a free public seat in another language.

Source: Chevening (UK FCDO)

If you need twelve to eighteen months to reach classroom Czech, Polish, German, Spanish or Portuguese, put that year in the budget. Compare it with three years of English tuition. Compare it with a Gulf fully funded scholarship. Compare it with a European Solidarity Corps year that pays housing, food, travel and pocket money while you learn a European language on the ground.

Truescho is built for that comparison — scholarships, visa files, rankings, jobs and an Apply-For-Me desk on one platform — not for pretending every country is still Norway in 2019. Browse open opportunities and rankings once you have picked the tuition rule you can actually live with.

Who each of the seven systems is really for

Germany fits a student who can show living funds, who can handle a blocked-account process, and who is willing to function in German even if the lectures are in English. It is the broadest free public system left in western Europe.

The Czech Republic and Poland fit a student who will trade a language year for a multi-year tuition waiver. They punish the applicant who wants English next month and still wants €0.

Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Uruguay fit a student who already has Spanish or Portuguese, or who will treat the language as a two-year project, not a three-week app. They also fit a student who can live with administrative ambiguity, inflation (in Argentina), and entrance exams (in Brazil and Mexico).

None of the seven is a “show up and enrol” system. Free tuition is a public-policy price. Admission is still competitive.

Frequently asked questions

Which countries still have free university tuition for non-EU students in 2027?

Germany’s public universities (outside Baden-Württemberg, and pending any Bavarian campus that switches fees on), Czech and Polish public programmes taught in the local language, Argentine national undergraduate programmes, Brazilian federal regular programmes, UNAM-style Mexican public programmes at symbolic fees, and Uruguay’s Universidad de la República on regular public programmes. Always re-read the faculty page for your intake year.

Did Norway start charging international students?

Yes. Since autumn 2023, public universities charge students from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland. Study.eu’s 28 March 2025 update placed typical fees at about €15,000 to €34,000 per year. EU and EEA students still study without tuition. Older articles that list Norway as free for everyone are out of date.

Is public university in Germany free for all nationalities?

On tuition, yes at most public universities, including for non-EU students. You still pay the semester contribution of €100–€350. Baden-Württemberg charges non-EU/EEA students €1,500 per semester. Bavarian public universities may charge non-Europeans and should be checked individually. Living-cost proof is separate from tuition.

Can I study in English for free in the Czech Republic?

Not as a rule. Czech-taught programmes at public universities are free for every nationality. English-taught programmes commonly cost about €4,000 to €12,000 per year, according to Study.eu’s market estimates. If you need English on day one, budget a fee or choose a German public programme that is still tuition-free.

Are Argentine public universities free for foreigners?

National public universities do not charge undergraduate tuition, and that includes international students. Congress rejected a fee for international students in February 2024. Study is in Spanish. Some master’s and doctoral programmes charge low fees. Confirm the current rule on the university site, starting with UBA if that is your campus.

What is a semester contribution in Germany?

It is a mandatory per-semester charge of €100 to €350 at public universities. It funds student services and often includes a public-transport ticket. It is not tuition. Confusing the two is how applicants either overestimate Germany’s price or underestimate the cash they must pay before lectures start.

Free tuition vs living costs: what should I budget?

Budget housing, food, insurance, transport, a visa financial-proof rule, a flight, and any language year. In Germany, plan around the blocked-account amount published for your visa year, often discussed near €11,904 annually in recent cycles. In Czechia, Study.eu’s living-cost sketch is about $9,000 a year. In Argentina, keep the budget flexible because inflation moves monthly.

What to do next

Pick one language you are willing to learn to classroom level. Pick one public system that waives tuition in that language. Price the city, not the country. Then decide whether a free public seat, a fully funded scholarship, or a funded volunteer year in Europe is the faster way to get you onto the continent or into the lecture hall.

If you want a second pair of eyes on the file, use Apply for me or start from the opportunities board. Free tuition is still real in 2027. It is just no longer hiding in Oslo.

Sources

• Study in Germany — Why Germany (DAAD)
• DAAD
• Study.eu — Study in Europe for free or low tuition fees
• Study in Czechia
• Universidad de Buenos Aires
• The PIE News — Congress rejects international student fees in Argentina
• Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
• Universidad de la República (Uruguay)
• Chevening Scholarships