Tuition Fees in Turkey 2026: State, Private and Medicine

How tuition fees work at Turkish universities

Türkiye has two kinds of universities that admit international students, and they price tuition in different ways. State universities follow a Presidential Decision published every year in the Official Gazette. Private universities, legally called foundation universities, set their own fees through their board of trustees¹⁴.

State universities: a legal minimum, set again every year

The Decision for 2026-2027 is No. 11625, published on 15 August 2026¹. It lists a yearly "service cost" for each group of faculties. Students admitted through the international student quota pay a fee that each university sets, but it may not be lower than twice that service cost¹.

The service costs come from table I of the Decision¹. The minimum fee is our arithmetic (twice the cost), and the dollar column uses the Central Bank rate of 30 October 2026, 49.86 TL per USD¹¹. Each university may charge more than the minimum, and many price their fees in US dollars instead.

• Two exceptions lower the bill. A university may charge less to up to 10% of its international students, by board decision, to attract strong students¹.
• Siblings: if a family holds Turkish residence permits and more than one child studies at a state university, each gets at least 25% off¹.
• No extra charges: a state university may not ask for any other fee at enrolment or re-enrolment beyond tuition¹.

Private universities: their own price list, mostly in dollars

Foundation universities publish a price list for international students each year. Istanbul Medipol University, for example, says its fees are set every year by its board of trustees⁴. Okan and Üsküdar publish their 2026-2027 fees in US dollars³⁵. To compare private universities in depth, see our guide to private universities in Turkey.

Private university fees by program in 2026

Across private universities that list a dollar fee, most bachelor's programs cost 5,000-7,000 USD a year at the median. Health programs are the exception: pharmacy is 11,500 USD, dentistry 15,310 USD and medicine 20,000 USD².

The band matters as much as the median. A quarter of private universities charge engineering students less than 3,970 USD, and a quarter charge more than 8,500 USD². Istanbul's best-known names sit at the top of that range. To see fees city by city, read our guide to universities in Istanbul.

State university fees: what the universities list

Most state universities list their international fees in Turkish lira. The medians below come from the fees each university reports on Study in Türkiye².

Some state universities charge international students in US dollars instead. Only four to six of them list dollar fees for the same program on Study in Türkiye, so the figures below are examples, not a market rate.

Medicine and dentistry fees in Turkey

Medicine is the most expensive program at every type of university. Private universities that list a dollar fee charge a median of 20,000 USD a year². State universities may not charge less than 230,870 TL a year, about 4,630 USD¹¹¹. A handful of state universities price medicine in dollars, from 6,000 USD at İnönü to 12,000 USD at Hacettepe².

Dentistry follows the same pattern at a lower level. The private median is 15,310 USD a year², and the state minimum is 83,282 TL, about 1,670 USD¹¹¹.

Fees by university: the private universities that charge in dollars

Study in Türkiye lists international fees for more than 100 universities². The table below shows the private universities that price in US dollars, from the cheapest starting fee. The range runs from the cheapest program to the most expensive one, usually medicine.

Our university finder shows the fee range of every university, state and private, next to its programs, languages and rankings. Filter it by city and program to build a shortlist.

The costs on top of tuition

Tuition is rarely the largest line in a student's budget outside medicine. Plan for these costs too.

• Application fees: state universities charge their own, for example 30 USD at Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, not refunded⁷, and 100 USD at Gazi University as an application and exam fee⁸.
• Residence permit card: 964 TL in 2026⁹. Our student residence permit guide explains the application and what else it needs.
• Health insurance: the General Health Insurance premium for foreign students is 1,321.20 TL a month in 2026¹⁰.
• Living costs: rent, food and transport. Our student cost of living guide estimates 20,000-35,000 TL a month in Istanbul and 18,000-33,000 TL in Ankara for a student sharing a flat, as of October 2026, health insurance included.
• English or Turkish preparatory year: if your language level is not enough, the prep year is charged separately. At Okan, the English prep year for medicine costs 6,000 USD³.

Total cost of studying in Turkey: a worked yearly budget

Here is what one year costs when you add a typical tuition fee to the living costs of a student sharing a flat. We count twelve months of living costs, because most students stay over the summer.

Living costs are twelve times the monthly ranges in our cost of living guide. Dollar figures use the Central Bank rate of 30 October 2026¹¹. Add the one-off costs once: the application fee, the 964 TL residence card⁹ and a deposit if your university asks for one.

Discounts and scholarships that cut the fee

Private universities publish discounts that can cut the list price by a tenth or more. Each university has its own rules; these are examples from their 2026-2027 pages, not a rule for all.

• Paying the year in advance: 10% off at Istanbul Medipol⁴, about 10% at Üsküdar, where medicine in English drops from 24,000 to 21,600 USD⁵, and 5% at Okan³.
• Paying the whole program at once: Okan takes 12% off programs of four years or less and 15% off programs of five years or more³.
• Nationality: Okan gives Iranian students 8% off medicine taught in Turkish, which brings it to 17,940 USD³. Medipol gives 15% to nationals of a list of countries⁴.
• Family: 10% off for each enrolled relative at Medipol and Okan³⁴, and at least 25% for siblings at state universities¹.
• Grades and test scores: Medipol links discounts to SAT scores and gives its top students up to a full waiver for the next year⁴.

The largest saving is a full scholarship. For Türkiye Bursları students, the state pays the tuition to the university¹. See our guide to scholarships for studying in Turkey for who can apply and when.

How and when you pay

1. 1

   Deposit after acceptance

   Many private universities ask for a deposit to hold your place. Okan asks for 2,500 USD for programs above 6,500 USD and 1,000 USD for the rest, deducted from the first payment and refunded only after an official visa refusal, minus a 250 USD fee³.

2. 2

   First payment at registration

   State universities collect the fee at the start of each semester, at registration or re-registration, and a student who has not paid cannot enrol for that semester¹⁶. Okan splits the year into two equal payments, the second due by 31 January³.

3. 3

   Currency and bank transfer

   Pay in the currency the university lists: dollar fees in dollars, lira fees in lira. Use only the account on the university's own page, and keep the bank receipt, which ITU asks for in any refund case⁶.

4. 4

   Know the refund rules

   A state university keeps the fee if you withdraw on your own¹. Private universities set their own rules, so read them before you transfer the deposit.