How to get on Erasmus+ from a Slovak university — grants, deadlines, and documents

Citizenship does not matter for Erasmus+. What matters is where you are enrolled: a student of a Slovak university (vysoká škola) with an Erasmus Charter for Higher Education (ECHE) applies for mobility under the same conditions as a Slovak — with temporary protection (dočasné útočisko), with a residence permit (VNZh), or just admitted with a Ukrainian certificate. The base grant for the 2026 call is from €550 to €674 per month for studies and from €700 to €824 for internships.

Who from a Slovak university (vysoká škola) can apply?

There is one condition: you must be enrolled in a program leading to a recognized diploma at a university with an Erasmus Charter (ECHE). The official program page describes a participant as a person registered at the participating university and enrolled in a program with a recognized diploma. Citizenship is not mentioned in the conditions.

The level of study still matters. Bachelor's students usually can go abroad for a semester starting from the second year: Paneurópska vysoká škola requires "minimálne v druhom ročníku štúdia" (at least in the second year of study). Internships can be done earlier. Master's and doctoral students are not limited by year, and doctoral students also have a short format of 5–30 days.

A special case is graduates. They are accepted only for internships and only under two conditions simultaneously: the university selected you during your last year of study, and the internship was completed within a year after receiving the diploma. This is not related to the 9-month residence permit (VNZh) for job search — that has its own terms and procedure.

See what each university offers in the list of Slovak universities (vysoké školy). Agreements with partners are held not by the university as a whole but by a specific faculty or even department — the list may differ on the neighboring floor.

For Ukrainians with dočasné útočisko (temporary protection), there are no separate quotas, competitions, or restrictions. Your residence status affects not admission to the program but travel — explained below separately.

What mobility formats exist?

There are four formats, all counted in one common limit.

• Studies — from 2 to 12 months at a partner university.
• Internship (stáž) — from 2 to 12 months in a company, laboratory, NGO, or university.
• Short blended mobility — 5–30 days on-site plus a mandatory online part, minimum 3 ECTS. This is the BIP format, blended intensive program.
• Short doctoral mobility — also 5–30 days.

The limit is 12 months per study cycle separately. Bachelor's, master's, and doctoral studies are counted separately, so over all years it can add up to 36 months. For single-cycle programs like medicine — 24 months.

The host institution must fully and automatically recognize credits from mobility — this is required by the Erasmus Charter. How they fit into the Slovak diploma is shown in the article about the credit system. If after returning some subjects are still not completed at home, there is an option of an additional year of study — with its own rules and impact on residence permit (VNZh).

How much does Erasmus+ pay in 2026?

Rates for Slovak universities are set by the National Agency SAAIC and are the same nationwide. The amount depends on the destination country, not on how rich your university is. Current figures are in the grant rates for the 2026 call.

The difference between studies and internship is exactly €150 per month in each row. This is the internship supplement — Sprievodca programom lists it separately: €150 per month on top of the base individual support.

A participant "with fewer opportunities" receives an additional €250 per month on top of the base rate. The basis for this supplement is usually a social scholarship (sociálne štipendium), disability, or another serious obstacle; your university holds the specific list of grounds.

Short mobility is counted by days: €79 per day from day 1 to 14 and €56 per day from day 15 to 30, regardless of the country. Participants with fewer opportunities get a one-time amount — €100 for trips of 5–14 days or €150 for trips of 15–30 days.

The host university does not charge you for tuition, registration, exams, or access to the library and laboratories. Small fees for insurance or student union membership remain your responsibility.

The grant comes in two payments. Prešovská univerzita describes its scheme for internships as: 80% of the amount is paid before the trip, the remaining 20% after successful completion. The exact payment schedule is in your agreement. Travel grant is calculated separately — by kilometers from the departure city, rates are the same for all program countries.

The grant does not cover everything: €674 in Vienna or Helsinki runs out faster than you want. Some students look for part-time jobs locally, and the ISIC card works outside Slovakia as well.

When to apply and how are candidates selected?

The competition takes place about a year before the trip, which is why most learn about Erasmus late. To go in the 2027/2028 academic year, applications are submitted in winter 2027.

1. Visit the international office of your faculty. There you will find the list of partner universities and selection criteria for your department.
2. Register on the portal used by your university. For example, Ekonomická univerzita v Bratislave uses studyabroad.sk.
3. Gather your documents and submit them by the faculty deadline.
4. Pass the výberové konanie (selection process). The committee counts points and allocates places.
5. Sign the Learning Agreement — after selection and before departure.

The deadline is set by the faculty, and dates differ within one university — check with your dean's office.

These dates have passed: the main competition for 2026/2027 is closed, the next full call will be announced in January 2027. Until then, two entry points remain. The first is dodatočná výzva (additional call), which the faculty announces if places remain unfilled; Národohospodárska fakulta EUBA did this for 2025/2026. The second is internships, which have their own calendar: Fakulta chemickej a potravinárskej technológie STU accepted Erasmus internships until May 15, 2026, and the next round — for internships and student mobilities — was announced for September 2026.

Points are counted by several scales simultaneously, and each faculty approves its own grid. The Faculty of Law at Comenius University gives up to 100 points for GPA, up to 100 for year of study, up to 50 for language certificate, and up to 100 for oral interview. Language level is measured by the CEFR scale: a B2 matura gives 20 points, C1 matura 40, C2 certificate 50.

There is a trap where even excellent students fail. You must score at least 50 points in the oral interview — if not, the total score does not help. For universities in Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Ireland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and the UK, the same faculty nominates only those who scored 90 in the interview.

What documents are needed and what about insurance?

The application package is collected in English. Fakulta hospodárskej informatiky EUBA requests:

• a structured CV in English;
• a motivation letter in English or a motivation video up to two minutes;
• a photo;
• language certificates — if available, but applications are accepted without them;
• a preliminary list of subjects from three partner universities you plan to attend;
• a list of awards and extracurricular activities.

The main document of the whole program is the Learning Agreement. This is an agreement on which subjects you will take abroad and how they will be recognized at home, signed by three parties: you, your university, and the host. Without a signed Learning Agreement, mobility does not start.

Insurance is where students most often hope to avoid it somehow. The European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) is mandatory. For internships, Prešovská univerzita requires a full package for the entire period: travel insurance, accident insurance, and liability insurance. Ekonomická univerzita v Bratislave accepts only EHIC but strongly recommends commercial travel insurance: the card covers emergency care in public institutions but not private clinics, hospitalization, or lost luggage.

The host university may offer accommodation but is not obliged to — dormitories must be found separately and in advance.

Why are applications rejected?

Reasons are almost always mechanical. The committee rarely rejects for low GPA — much more often the application is lost due to expired deadlines or lack of agreement with the chosen university.

• Incomplete package or submitted after the deadline. The call specifies exact times: at FHI EUBA, the 2026/2027 application closed at 24:00 on February 13, 2026.
• Your faculty does not have an agreement with the university you chose.
• Too few points in the interview. At some faculties, this is a separate barrier: if you do not pass the minimum, the total score does not help.
• First-year bachelor students applying for study mobility. Restrictions are softer for internships.
• Application for both semesters at the same university: FHI EUBA does not allow this.

Can you go with temporary protection status?

Here a Ukrainian student has a step that a Slovak does not. Rights given by temporary protection work only in the EU country that granted it. The European Commission states this clearly: temporary protection rights are valid only in the country that issued the residence permit. You can travel to other EU countries for 90 days within 180 days.

Calculate: a semester is 4–5 months. It does not fit into the 90-day window. A two-month internship fits.

This is not a ban on going. It is a reason to come to the international office with this question before applying, not after selection: the residence permit for a mobility student is issued by the host country, and each has its own procedure and timing.

What if your university stayed in Ukraine?

Then you apply not through a Slovak university but through your Ukrainian one. This is international credit mobility: the Ukrainian institution makes an agreement with a European one, announces an internal competition, and sends students.

The entry grant to Slovakia for the 2026 call is €850 per month, the same for studies and internships. This figure is seen from two sides: in the SAAIC document Slovakia is listed separately at €850, and the National Erasmus+ Office in Ukraine shows a scale of €800/850/900 per month, where €850 is the middle step. Durations are the same as for Slovak students: from 2 to 12 months, up to 24 for medical specialties.

The second path does not depend on your university at all — Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters. These are joint master's programs of several European universities, and applications are submitted directly to the program consortium.

What the Ukrainian national office warns about: there can be "zero grants." A place in mobility exists, but no funding; you pay for travel and accommodation yourself.

What if you are not a student at all?

Youth exchanges last from 5 to 21 days excluding travel, accept participants aged 13 to 30, and gather groups of 16 to 60 people. Student status is not required: exchanges are organized by accredited organizations or informal youth groups.

The European Solidarity Corps is volunteering abroad for people aged 18 to 30, and in humanitarian areas the upper limit is raised to 35. It starts with registration on the corps portal. Then organizations contact participants themselves.

In Slovakia, the educational part of the program is run by SAAIC, youth and sports by NIVAM: questions about universities go to the first agency, and about exchanges and volunteering — to the second.

The nearest real window is September: Fakulta chemickej a potravinárskej technológie STU announced a round of acceptance for internships and student mobilities for that month. Meanwhile, check if there is a dodatočná výzva at your faculty. The next full call is for 2027/2028: announcements come out in January, deadlines fall between late January and March. Mark January 10, 2027, in your calendar, and before Christmas visit the international office for the list of partner universities — it is posted before applications open.