Short answer. Hungary offers 200 Stipendium Hungaricum places a year to Indian students, nominated by UGC. It waives tuition and pays 43,700 forints a month, about ₹12,800, plus a hostel place or a housing allowance. Indians can apply only in set fields, not medicine, and must apply twice: online in Hungary and on paper to UGC.
Stipendium Hungaricum is the Hungarian government’s scholarship for international students, run by the Tempus Public Foundation in Budapest. For India it works through an education exchange agreement, with the University Grants Commission acting as the sending partner that nominates Indian applicants. That gives India a large, fixed quota, which makes it one of the more winnable government scholarships in Europe.
It also comes with conditions that the agents selling Hungary rarely mention: the fields open to Indians are restricted, the stipend is small, and an application that skips the UGC step is not considered. Every figure here is from UGC’s public notice for the 2026 to 27 round, the Stipendium Hungaricum partner listing for India and the programme’s operational regulations.
What the scholarship pays
| Benefit | Amount | In rupees, approx. |
|---|---|---|
| Tuition | Waived in full | |
| Monthly stipend, bachelor’s and master’s | 43,700 forints a month | ₹12,800 |
| Monthly stipend, PhD | 140,000 forints for the first two years, 180,000 after the complex exam | ₹41,000 then ₹52,700 |
| Housing | A dormitory place, or 40,000 forints a month towards rent | ₹11,700 |
| Health | Hungarian state health care, plus a health contribution of 65,000 forints a year | ₹19,000 a year |
The tuition waiver is the valuable part. The stipend is not designed to cover living costs, and a 40,000 forint housing allowance will not rent a room in Budapest on its own. Plan to top up living costs from family money or savings, and check your university’s dormitory before you count on the allowance. A Hungarian language course is free and compulsory for full time bachelor’s and master’s scholars.
India’s 200 places
| Level | Places for Indian students |
|---|---|
| Bachelor’s | 50 |
| Master’s | 75 |
| PhD | 30 |
| Interpreter, translator and literary translator studies | 5 |
| Postgraduate courses and research, part time, 14 days to 3 months | 40 |
What Indians can study, and what they cannot
Each sending country agrees its own fields with Hungary. For India, the official partner listing says bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral places are primarily in natural and life sciences, information technology, economics, business and management, and engineering. One tier master’s programmes, the integrated degrees Hungary uses for subjects such as general medicine, dentistry and pharmacy, are listed as not available for India.
Faz's ruleIf someone offers you a free MBBS in Hungary through Stipendium Hungaricum, ask them to show you India's entry on the official partner list.
Medical study in Hungary is a large, paid market aimed at Indian families, and the scholarship’s name gets used to sell it. Under the current listing, the one tier master’s route that medicine runs through is not open to Indian applicants under this scholarship. The listing also restricts other degrees to the fields above. Check India’s entry on stipendiumhungaricum.hu yourself before you pay anyone anything. Tempus states that applying and sitting the entrance exams are free.
Eligibility set by UGC
- Citizenship: you must be an Indian citizen.
- Marks: at least 60 percent in the last examination you passed.
- Last degree from India: your last study programme must be from a recognised Indian institution. Past Stipendium Hungaricum holders can apply again only for a different or higher level.
- Date of birth: the 2026 notice tied eligibility to a date of birth of 31 August 2003. Its wording reads as a minimum age rather than an upper limit, so confirm the rule with UGC before you apply.
- CGPA: if your mark sheet shows a CGPA, UGC wants it converted to a percentage on a separate sheet, with documentary proof of your university’s conversion factor.
That last point trips up a lot of engineering applicants. UGC does not accept a generic multiply by 9.5 if your university uses a different rule. Find your university’s official formula, attach the page or circular that states it, and work the number out with our CGPA to percentage calculator.
The two applications and the calendar
First you apply online to Tempus, choosing up to two programmes from the courses open to Indian applicants. Then you send UGC a printout of that online application with the UGC form and supporting documents. UGC considers only candidates who have done both. In the 2026 round the online deadline was 15 January 2026 at 2 pm Central European Time, and the UGC hard copy had to reach its International Cooperation Section in New Delhi by 22 January 2026.
| Stage | 2026 to 27 round |
|---|---|
| Find programmes and register online | November to December 2025 |
| Online application deadline | 15 January 2026, 2 pm CET |
| UGC hard copy deadline | 22 January 2026 |
| Nomination by UGC | February 2026 |
| University entrance exams and interviews | March to May 2026; at least 56 of 100 points to pass |
| Results | End of June or early July 2026 |
If the next round follows the same pattern, the call for 2027 to 28 will open around November 2026 with a mid January deadline. That is our reading of past cycles, not a published date, so watch the UGC notices page and stipendiumhungaricum.hu. Keep in mind that the scholarship continues only while you keep up: holders must average at least 18 credits a semester over their last two semesters.
The honest closing take
For an Indian student in science, IT, engineering or business, Stipendium Hungaricum is a real and reachable option: tuition free study in the EU, with a quota of 200 places that few other government scholarships offer India. Apply if Hungary genuinely suits your subject, not because the word free is in the advert.
Go in knowing what it does not do. It will not fund medicine, it will not cover your living costs, and it will not forgive a missed UGC hard copy. Choose your two programmes carefully, get your CGPA conversion proof ready in December, and budget for living costs from your own funds. Our guide to fully funded scholarships for Indian students lists alternatives that do cover living costs.
FAQ
How many Stipendium Hungaricum scholarships does India get?
200 in the 2026 to 27 round: 50 bachelor’s, 75 master’s, 30 PhD, 5 interpreter and translator places, and 40 part time postgraduate course and research places.
Can Indian students study MBBS in Hungary on Stipendium Hungaricum?
Not under the current listing. One tier master’s programmes, which include medicine, are marked as not available for India, and other degrees are mainly limited to sciences, IT, economics, business and engineering.
What is the minimum percentage for Stipendium Hungaricum from India?
UGC asks for at least 60 percent in your last examination. A CGPA must be converted to a percentage using your university’s formula, with proof of that formula attached.
Is Stipendium Hungaricum fully funded?
Partly. It waives tuition and gives a stipend of 43,700 forints a month, a dormitory place or a 40,000 forint housing allowance, and health cover. The stipend does not cover living costs in Hungary on its own.
Do I need to pay an agent to apply?
No. Applying through the Tempus system and sitting the entrance exams are free, and the UGC step is a printed form posted to New Delhi.
Where these figures come from
- University Grants Commission, public notice on the Stipendium Hungaricum Scholarship Programme, 12 November 2025
- Stipendium Hungaricum, sending partners and fields of study for India
- Stipendium Hungaricum, how to apply
- Stipendium Hungaricum, operational regulations
- European Central Bank, euro reference exchange rates
Checked against the sources above in October 2026. Quotas, fields and dates are set for each round; confirm them in the current UGC notice.
