Study in Turkey: costs, requirements and how to get in

How much it costs to study in Turkey

Plan for two costs: tuition and living. Across all programs, the typical international fee is 3,250 USD a year at a state university and 4,000 USD at a private (foundation) one, from the fees universities list on Study in Türkiye. A student sharing a flat spends roughly 18,000-35,000 TL a month, about 360-700 USD, depending on the city, as our student cost of living guide estimates.

So a first year usually comes to about 7,600-12,400 USD. Medicine and dentistry cost far more, and a preparatory year adds a whole extra year. Dollar figures here use the Turkish central bank rate of 3 November 2026, 49.91 TL per USD.

Our living cost range is not a guess from thin air. METU in Ankara, the only university that publishes a student budget, puts a shared flat at 20,000-35,000 TL a month and a campus dorm at 12,000-18,000 TL, on its cost of living page.

Work out your own first-year budget

Choose your degree level, program, university type, city and language. The planner shows how you get in, how many universities match and what your first year may cost, from the same data as our tuition fees by university.

Can you study in Turkey for free?

Not as a self-funded international student. Free tuition at state universities is for students placed through Türkiye's national exam. A state university must charge international students at least twice each program's service cost, under the 2026 Presidential Decision on fees.

Four things bring the bill down, and only the first one can bring it to zero.

• Türkiye Scholarships (Türkiye Bursları): the government's fully funded scholarship pays tuition, accommodation, health insurance, a flight, a one-year Turkish course and a monthly stipend of 6,500 TL for bachelor's students, according to the scholarship's own page. Applications run every year from 10 January to 20 February, as its application calendar shows.
• Who can apply for it: bachelor's applicants must be under 21 with at least 70% grades, or 90% for medicine, dentistry and pharmacy, under the scholarship criteria.
• University waivers: Bilkent gives international students tuition waivers of up to 100%, on its scholarship page, and Sabancı up to 75%, on its 2026-2027 fee page.
• Discounts on the fee list: Medipol takes 10% off for paying the year at once, on its 2026-2027 fee page. Okan takes an extra 20% off its 5,000 USD English-taught bachelor's programs for students from the countries on its list¹⁴.

Requirements for international students

You can apply if you are a foreign national in the last year of high school or already a graduate, under the 2026 YÖK admission rules. Each university then sets the exams and minimum scores it accepts, so there is no single pass mark for the whole country.

• After matric or 10th grade: not yet. You must be in your final school year or have finished it, for example FSc, intermediate, 12th grade, WAEC or A levels¹⁷.
• Percentage needed: each university sets its own. Istinye, for example, asks for 50% and SAT 1,000 for most programs, and 60% and SAT 1,200 for medicine and dentistry, in its application criteria. It admits on grades alone if yours meet its minimum.
• Exams: every university must accept TR-YÖS, the exam for foreign applicants. Many also accept SAT, ACT, IB or your national school-leaving exam¹⁷.
• Study gap: graduates can apply, not only final-year students¹⁷, and SAT and TR-YÖS scores stay valid for two years¹⁹. If you left school some years ago, ask each university whether it sets a limit of its own.

Our guide to applying to Turkish universities lists the minimum scores at ITU, Boğaziçi, METU and Ankara University. Applicants under 18 have extra steps, explained on our page about studying in Turkey under 18.

Studying in English, with or without IELTS

Yes, you can study in Turkey in English. The 2026 YÖK placement guide lists 3,586 bachelor's options taught fully in English: 2,150 at private universities, 867 at state universities and 569 in Northern Cyprus. Most state university programs are taught in Turkish.

• With IELTS or TOEFL: Boğaziçi asks for IELTS Academic 6.5 or TOEFL iBT 79, with scores valid for two years, in its registration rules. ITU asks for TOEFL iBT 78 for thesis master's programs, in its list of valid English tests.
• Without IELTS: you can still be admitted. You join a one-year English preparatory program before your degree courses start²¹²². At Okan it costs 3,000 USD, or 6,000 USD for medicine and dentistry, in its 2026-2027 fee list.
• Turkish-taught programs: universities commonly ask for C1 Turkish. At ITU you must show it within one year of registration, and only ITU TÖMER or Yunus Emre Institute certificates count²⁰.
• The entrance exam: TR-YÖS can be taken in English and five other languages, so you need no Turkish to sit it¹⁹.

Medicine, MBBS and dentistry in Turkey

Medicine is a six-year degree in Turkey. Dentistry and pharmacy take five years, and nursing, law and engineering four, as Okan University's 2026-2027 program list shows. If you are searching for MBBS in Turkey, this six-year medicine program is what you will apply to.

universities that teach medicine, 2026²³

117

of them offer medicine in English²³

39

show a TEPDAD-accredited medicine program²³

56

median yearly medicine fee at private universities¹

20,000 USD

At private universities the median yearly fee is 20,000 USD for medicine and 15,310 USD for dentistry¹. State universities that list a fee ask a median of 310,340 TL for medicine, about 6,220 USD¹. The legal minimum is 230,870 TL, about 4,630 USD³.

Entry bars are higher than for other programs. Istinye asks for 60% and SAT 1,200 with 600 in math¹⁸, and Türkiye Scholarships asks for 90%¹⁰. The English prep year for medicine costs 6,000 USD at Okan¹⁴.

Medical faculties are accredited by TEPDAD, which holds recognition from the World Federation for Medical Education until July 2033, on the WFME list of recognised agencies. Check that your own track, English or Turkish, is accredited. Then check your home country's licensing rules before you pay a deposit,.

Is it worth studying in Turkey? Pros and cons

The questions students ask on Reddit and forums come down to one: is it good value, and what is the catch? Here is the honest answer, side by side, with a source for each line.

Is it safe? The UK government's travel advice for Turkey says many parts of the country regularly have earthquakes. It says most terrorist attacks have happened in the southeast, Ankara and Istanbul, and that pickpocketing is common in Istanbul's tourist areas. Read your own government's advice too.

Pakistani, Indian, Nigerian and Bangladeshi students

In 2024-2025 Türkiye had 4,973 students from Pakistan, 3,437 from Nigeria, 750 from Bangladesh and 680 from India, out of 337,119 international students, in YÖK's tables by nationality²⁹. Two rules depend on your passport: the visa, and who recognises your degree back home.

Applying from the UK or another country? Check whether your passport needs a visa on the Turkish Foreign Ministry's visa page. Pakistani students can verify the HEC process on the HEC foreign degree page, Indian students on the AIU equivalence page, and Nigerian students with the Federal Ministry of Education.

How to apply, step by step

There is no central application portal: you apply on each university's website, under its own calendar¹⁷. A typical year runs like this.

1. 1

   A year before: shortlist universities

   Choose your program and compare universities in the university finder. Check that your home country will recognise the degree.

2. 2

   October to April: sit an exam if you need one

   In 2026 TR-YÖS was held on 12 April and 11 October, according to the ÖSYM exam calendar. The 2027 dates are not yet published. SAT and IB also count at many universities.

3. 3

   10 January to 20 February: Türkiye Scholarships

   The government scholarship takes applications every year in this window⁹.

4. 4

   February to August: apply to universities

   Private universities often open in February or March, as Study in Türkiye notes. Boğaziçi took undergraduate applications from 6 April to 5 June 2026, on its application page.

5. 5

   June to August: acceptance, deposit and visa

   Pay a deposit only after reading the refund rules. The e-Visa covers tourism and trade only³³: fill in the online pre-application at konsolosluk.gov.tr, then go to the Turkish consulate in person, as Study in Türkiye's visa page describes.

6. 6

   August to September: arrive and register

   Bring your original documents, the equivalence certificate (denklik) and your visa. Boğaziçi registered new students from 4 to 8 September 2026²².

7. 7

   First weeks: residence permit and insurance

   Apply online at e-ikamet.goc.gov.tr, never from abroad, and hand your documents to the university's international office, per the migration authority's 2026 student guide. Apply before your visa ends: online applications are considered up to 10 days after it, in its residence FAQ. Students pay no permit fee, only the 964 TL card⁴. Apply for General Health Insurance within three months of first enrolment, under the implementing regulation.

Each step has its own page: our admission guide, the Turkish student visa page and the student residence permit guide.

Planning to stay after your degree, or to bring your spouse and children? What a student permit gives you year by year is on our page about moving to Turkey as a student.

Which city and which kind of university

Türkiye has 129 state and 74 foundation (private) universities, plus 16 in Northern Cyprus, in the 2026 YÖK placement guide. Foundation universities are non-profit and supervised by YÖK like state ones. They differ mainly in price, admission and language.

Istanbul has 59 universities and schools, Ankara 22 and Izmir 10²³. Rent decides what a city costs: an average 2+1 flat in student areas cost 44,332 TL a month in Istanbul, 28,540 TL in Izmir and 23,921 TL in Ankara in mid-2026, according to Takvim, citing TSKB. Compare them on our pages about universities in Istanbul and private universities in Turkey, or search all of them in the university finder.