# Studying in Latvia > Entry routes, costs, visa and work rights for international students in Latvia. - **Region:** Baltic - **Admissions portal:** Direct university application - **Annual cost band, EUR:** 10-20k - **Budget note:** €2.000–8.000 tuition/year; living costs €600–850/month in Riga · 2026-27 - **Bachelor routes:** direct-bachelor, applied-sciences - **Master routes:** direct-master - **Language-preparation routes:** language-prep - **Visa complexity:** medium ## Overview Riga is the largest city in the Baltics — 600,000 residents, a UNESCO-listed historic centre, art nouveau architecture, and a quality of life that consistently benchmarks above comparable cities at the same price level. Latvia is also a natural cultural bridge for students from CIS countries making their first transition into the European Union: familiar cultural references, close geography, and Russian widely spoken — alongside Latvian and English — in the academic and professional environment. Tuition at Latvian universities ranges from €2,000 to €8,000 a year depending on the programme and institution tier. The University of Latvia, RTU (Riga Technical University), and RSU (Rīga Stradiņš University) all offer English-language tracks. RSU in particular operates one of the largest English-taught medical programmes in the Baltics, attracting significant cohorts from South Asia, the Middle East, and Central Asia — the student body is genuinely international. The student visa for Latvia has lower financial proof requirements than Germany, the Netherlands, or even some CEE countries. Latvia is Schengen and EU, which means freedom of movement across 27 countries and a degree recognised across all of Europe. The Riga job market — particularly in IT, finance, and logistics — has expanded consistently over the past decade and continues to grow. ## Strengths - Lowest tuition band in the EU and growing English-taught provision. - Riga is a small European capital with good transport links. - Schengen EU entity with predictable student-visa procedure. ## Cautions - English-taught bachelor range is more limited — programme verification needed. - Scholarship provision is limited compared to Western Europe. - Deadlines for non-EU applicants close months before the July admission news — the University of Latvia cut off visa-required applicants on 21 June 2026 (lu.lv, Jul 2026). ## Student work rights - **Hours per week:** up to 20 hours/week during term - **During holidays:** Full-time during university holidays - **Separate work permit required:** no - **Legal basis:** Latvian Immigration Law — student residence permit - **Note:** Work rights are included in the student residence permit — no separate work permit required. ## Self-employment on a student permit - **Self-employment on the student permit:** not allowed - **Verified for study levels:** bachelor - **Separate permit or different residence title required:** yes - **Counts against the employment limit:** not applicable - **Legal basis:** MK noteikumi Nr. 55, 2.3. un 2.4. punkts · Imigrācijas likums 9. panta otrā daļa - **Norm last read:** 2026-09-03 - **Summary:** Cabinet Regulation No. 55 gives a student the right to be employed 20 hours a week (2.3); commercial activity (2.4) sits under a different permit basis, so a bachelor's student permit does not carry it. Where the right exists at all it has to be entered in the residence permit itself (Immigration Law, s. 9(2)). - **After graduation:** After graduation p. 9.2.7 of Regulation No. 55 and the nine-month job-search permit open the route to staying on. ## Scholarships - [Latvian State Scholarships](https://studyroute.app/scholarships/latvian-state-scholarship.md) — €500/month (Bachelor's), €600/month (Master's), 2026/2027 - [Erasmus+](https://studyroute.app/scholarships/erasmus-plus.md) — Monthly mobility grant set by the home institution + possible top-ups - [Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters](https://studyroute.app/scholarships/erasmus-mundus.md) — Full scholarship: tuition + travel, visa & a monthly living allowance (set per programme) ## Institutions with published facts (26) - [Art Academy of Latvia](https://studyroute.app/institutions/art-academy-of-latvia.md) — Riga - [BA School of Business and Finance (University of Latvia)](https://studyroute.app/institutions/ba-school-of-business-and-finance.md) — Riga - [Baltic International Academy](https://studyroute.app/institutions/baltic-international-academy.md) — Riga - [College of Law, Riga](https://studyroute.app/institutions/college-of-law-riga.md) — Riga - [Daugavpils University](https://studyroute.app/institutions/daugavpils-university.md) — Daugavpils - [EKA University](https://studyroute.app/institutions/eka-university.md) — Riga - [Hotel School Riga](https://studyroute.app/institutions/hotel-school-riga.md) — Riga - [Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music](https://studyroute.app/institutions/jazeps-vitols-latvian-academy-of-music.md) — Riga - [Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies (LBTU)](https://studyroute.app/institutions/latvia-university-of-life-sciences-and-technologies.md) — Jelgava - [Latvian Academy of Culture](https://studyroute.app/institutions/latvian-academy-of-culture.md) — Riga - [Latvian Christian Academy](https://studyroute.app/institutions/latvian-christian-academy.md) — Riga - [Latvian Maritime Academy](https://studyroute.app/institutions/latvian-maritime-academy.md) — Riga - [Riga Aeronautical Institute](https://studyroute.app/institutions/riga-aeronautical-institute.md) — Riga - [Riga Business School](https://studyroute.app/institutions/riga-business-school.md) — Riga - [Riga Graduate School of Law (RGSL)](https://studyroute.app/institutions/riga-graduate-school-of-law.md) — Riga - [Riga Nordic University (ex-ISMA)](https://studyroute.app/institutions/isma-university.md) — Riga - [Riga Stradiņš University](https://studyroute.app/institutions/riga-stradins-university.md) — Riga - [Riga Technical University](https://studyroute.app/institutions/riga-technical-university.md) — Riga - [RISEBA University of Applied Sciences](https://studyroute.app/institutions/riseba-university.md) — Riga - [RTU Liepāja Academy (formerly Liepaja University)](https://studyroute.app/institutions/liepaja-university.md) — Liepāja - [RTU Rezekne Academy (formerly Rezekne Academy of Technologies)](https://studyroute.app/institutions/rezekne-academy-of-technologies.md) — Rēzekne - [SSE Riga — Stockholm School of Economics in Riga](https://studyroute.app/institutions/sse-riga.md) — Riga - [TSI, University of Applied Sciences](https://studyroute.app/institutions/tsi-university.md) — Riga - [Turiba University](https://studyroute.app/institutions/turiba-university.md) — Riga - [University of Latvia (Latvijas Universitāte)](https://studyroute.app/institutions/university-of-latvia.md) — Riga - [Ventspils University of Applied Sciences](https://studyroute.app/institutions/ventspils-university-of-applied-sciences.md) — Ventspils ## Sources Public sources: ULatvia, RTU, RSU programme pages and Schengen visa rules. --- Canonical page: https://studyroute.app/countries/latvia Source of this file: https://studyroute.app/countries/latvia.md Each figure above carries the date its record was last checked against its sources. Where no date is shown, none is claimed — the figure is real, its check date is not on record.