How to Apply to Universities in Montenegro: Requirements, Deadlines and Portals

Where to apply

Montenegro does not run one central application portal for all universities. You apply directly to the faculty you want, inside the university it belongs to. The University of Montenegro is the main public option, based in Podgorica with faculties also located in Nikšić, Kotor, Bar and Cetinje, and each faculty publishes its own application call and manages its own admission file.

Private universities such as University of Donja Gorica and Mediterranean University run separate application processes on their own websites. Check the specific faculty page for your subject rather than a general university homepage, since requirements differ by program.

Application timeline

Universities publish their public calls for the new academic year during summer, with the main enrollment window running before the October start of teaching. Faculties with entrance exams schedule them for late June or early July, ahead of the results and enrollment rounds that follow.

Each faculty sets its own exact dates within that window, so confirm the current year's deadline on the faculty page you are applying to rather than relying on a general date you find elsewhere.

Documents you need

• Valid passport or national ID

• Secondary school diploma and transcript of grades

• Proof of language proficiency, if the program is not taught in your native language

• Proof of diploma recognition from Montenegro's ENIC-NARIC center, for school qualifications earned outside Montenegro

• Passport photos and a completed application form, as specified by the faculty

Getting your foreign diploma recognized

If you finished secondary school outside Montenegro, your diploma needs a formal equivalence decision before a faculty enrolls you. Montenegro's national ENIC-NARIC center handles this recognition, comparing your qualification against the Montenegrin system and issuing a decision you submit alongside your application. Start this process early. Recognition takes weeks, and most faculties expect the decision before they finalize your enrollment.

Entrance exams

Open-enrollment faculties admit you based on your school grades alone. Competitive fields, medicine, dentistry, architecture, and some art and sport programs among them, add a subject-specific entrance exam on top of your grades. These exams typically run in late June or early July, right after the application deadline closes, so plan travel and preparation around that window if you apply from abroad.

EU and non-EU applicants

Montenegro treats foreign applicants, whether from the EU or outside it, largely the same way at enrollment. Both need diploma recognition, both compete for the places set aside for foreign students, and both generally pay tuition, since state-funded places go to Montenegrin citizens. Bilateral agreements and scholarship programs between Montenegro and specific countries reduce or waive this cost, so check whether your home country has an active agreement before you assume the full rate applies to you.

After you are accepted

Once a faculty accepts you, you still need a residence permit if you stay longer than 90 days and are not an EU/EEA citizen with free movement rights. Apply for this through Montenegro's police administration once you have your enrollment confirmation, since most residence permit applications require proof of enrollment as a supporting document.