This article starts with a piece of news you may not want to hear, but which can save you a great deal of money.
Norway is no longer a country of free education for Pakistani, Indian and Bangladeshi students. From the autumn 2023 intake, Norway introduced tuition fees for students from outside the European Union, the EEA and Switzerland. And this is not a small fee.
The problem is that this news never reached us. Even today, in Facebook groups, in YouTube videos from 2019, and from the mouths of many agents, Norway is still “the country where studying is completely free”. That was once true. It is not true now. And the people who are planning around that old truth are spending money, time and hope on something that is not there.
First understand what has changed
For decades, Norway’s public universities were free of fees for everyone without distinction — its own citizens and foreigners alike. In 2023 this rule was changed, and public institutions were required to charge students from outside the EU/EEA and Switzerland the full cost of their education.
In practice the fee varies a great deal by institution and by programme. Social science and administrative subjects are relatively cheaper, while laboratory, engineering and health fields are much more expensive. As a rough guide, the amount starts at around 80,000 Norwegian kroner a year and, in many programmes, reaches 200,000 kroner or well above. Every university publishes its own list and revises it each year, so check the actual fee for the degree you want only on that university’s own page.
Honesty requires one more thing to be written down: the policy is still under debate in Norway, and changes giving institutions the power to set fee levels themselves have been under consideration. Some institutions may lower their fees later on. But do not tie your future to a proposal that is still under discussion. Today you have only one question: what is this year’s fee for the programme I want to enrol in? The answer is written on the university’s own page.
Who it is still free for
It is important to know this so that you are not misled by hearing someone’s true story. Exemptions from the fee still exist:
- Citizens of the EU/EEA and Switzerland — for them, public universities remain free of fees as before.
- Exchange programme students — those who come for one or two semesters under a formal inter-university agreement are generally not charged a fee.
- PhD — in Norway a PhD is normally a job, not studentship. You become an employee of the university, you receive a salary, and the question of a fee does not arise at all. This is still the strongest route, but it is a researcher’s job and it demands a strong master’s degree and research work.
So if someone you know has studied in Norway without paying a fee, they were most likely in one of these categories, or they enrolled before 2023. What they say is not a lie — it simply does not apply to you.
The real cost is not the fee, it is living
This is the part that was true even before the fee and is still the most important thing today. Norway is one of the most expensive countries in the world. If you look at the cost of an ordinary day in Oslo, Bergen or Trondheim in Islamabad or Dhaka terms, your heart sinks.
That is why the immigration authorities (UDI) ask you, before the visa, for proof that you have the money to live for one year. For the academic year 2026–2027 this amount is given as about 170,368 Norwegian kroner a year (that is roughly 15,488 kroner a month). This limit rises every year. Treat this amount as being in addition to the tuition fee, not included in it.
An important technical point: it is generally not enough for this money to be sitting in your Pakistani bank account. In most cases the amount has to be deposited into the university’s designated account or into your Norwegian bank account, and that receipt is attached to the application. The procedure differs by institution, so read the instructions that come with your admission letter carefully and check them against the conditions on udi.no.
The semester fee — small, but compulsory
Separately from tuition, every student pays a small amount each semester — around 1,000 kroner — to their institution’s student welfare organisation (Samskipnad). In return you get the right to apply for student housing, health and sports facilities, and, most importantly, eligibility to sit exams. This payment is not optional.
A realistic monthly budget
This is a rough monthly cost for a single student. Oslo is the most expensive; Tromsø, Ås or smaller towns are comparatively cheaper.
| Item | Approx. (NOK per month) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Housing (student hostel room) | 4,500 – 7,500 | Far higher on the private market |
| Food and drink (cooking at home) | 3,000 – 4,500 | Eating out is very expensive |
| Transport (student monthly pass) | 400 – 800 | Cycling is common in many cities |
| Electricity, internet, phone | 500 – 1,000 | Electricity rises in winter |
| Insurance and medical costs | 200 – 500 | Stays over one year usually mean joining the national system |
| Books, clothes, miscellaneous | 800 – 1,500 | Winter clothing is a large initial expense |
| Total | 9,400 – 15,800 | Tuition fee is on top of this |
All these figures are estimates and change with the city, your way of living and the exchange rate. Always keep extra money for the first month — the deposit, winter clothing and basic household items together are a big shock.
Scholarships: is there really anything available?
Here it is necessary to keep expectations in line with reality. The old central Norwegian government scholarship programme that used to go to students from developing countries ended years ago. After the fee came in, some universities have started limited scholarship or fee-waiver schemes of their own, but there are few of them and the competition is hard.
Clear up one more misunderstanding: Lånekassen is Norway’s state educational loan and grant body, but it is essentially for Norwegian citizens and for residents who meet specific conditions. Students newly arriving from Pakistan are generally not eligible for it. If an agent tells you “you will get a loan once you arrive there”, that is not true.
The European Union’s Erasmus+ programme does open some routes through joint master’s degrees, and a Norwegian university is a partner in some of those programmes. It is worth looking at, but the competition there is hard too.
Language: study in English, work in Norwegian
In Norway many programmes at master’s level are entirely in English and you can complete the degree without knowing Norwegian. At bachelor’s level there are comparatively few English programmes — most bachelor’s degrees are taught in Norwegian.
But the real point is this: language decides whether you can stay in Norway after your studies. In health, education, administration and most public sectors, getting a job without Norwegian is close to impossible. In technology and research you can manage with English, but even there the candidate who knows Norwegian is always ahead. If your plan is not simply to take the degree and come back, start learning Norwegian from the first semester — many municipalities and universities run cheap or free courses.
Working during your studies
Students holding a study permit can generally work up to 20 hours a week during the academic year and full time during the holidays. Pay levels are good, and this is what many students use to cover their costs.
But two things must be clear. Earnings from 20 hours cannot pay the tuition fee — this is help with living costs, not a substitute for the fee. And part-time work is not easy to find in Norway, especially without Norwegian and especially in the first few months. When you make your budget, do not assume that work will appear as soon as you arrive.
What happens after the degree
For those who take a degree in Norway there is a permit of limited duration for the purpose of looking for work (job seeker permit). If during that time you find skilled work matching your education and the salary meets the set threshold, you can move onto a work permit (skilled worker). After that, the years of legal residence count towards permanent residence.
This route is real and it is open — but it opens for the person who has the skills that are in demand. The conditions, the duration and the salary threshold change from time to time, so before you decide, check the conditions for your own situation on udi.no.
Norway’s well-known public universities
- University of Oslo (UiO) — the country’s oldest and largest university
- NTNU, Trondheim — the biggest centre for engineering and technology
- University of Bergen (UiB) — strong in marine science and climate research
- UiT — The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø — Arctic sciences
- NMBU, Ås — agriculture, environment and life sciences
- OsloMet — applied sciences and professional education
- University of Stavanger — energy and petroleum engineering
- University of Agder — Kristiansand and Grimstad
- Nord University — northern Norway, aquaculture and business
- Western Norway University of Applied Sciences — Bergen and the surrounding towns
Every institution has its own fees, its own deadlines and its own admission conditions. For general information, studyinnorway.no is the official and reliable page.
If you really want “free education”, where to look
If the attraction of Norway was only that there was no fee, then you should change the country, not the plan. Those routes still exist in Europe:
- Germany — in most states, tuition at public universities is still close to nothing; you pay only a semester contribution. The cost is in living, not in studying. We have a separate detailed article on this.
- Czech Republic — for those who study in Czech, public universities are free of fees, and English programmes are also cheaper than in Western Europe. Learning the language is work, but the reward is the fee for a whole degree. Read our separate article on this too.
- Hungary — under Stipendium Hungaricum there is a full scholarship for Pakistani students, covering the fee, housing and a monthly allowance.
Scams being run specifically in Norway’s name
“Studying in Norway is still free.” This is the best-selling lie today. Some agents are deliberately using old information; some do not know themselves. The result is the same: people spend money on admission applications, translations and consultancy fees, and then pull back at the end when they see the fee bill. Before you believe anything, open the tuition fee section on the university’s own page and look at it yourself.
Fake admission letters. This business has grown since the fee came in, because an admission letter is now a valuable document. Norwegian institutions and the immigration authorities verify every letter directly with the university. A fake document does not only lead to a refusal — it leaves a record against your name that works against you in every Schengen country for several years.
Arranging “show money”. Some people sell the service of temporarily putting money into your account. The authorities look at both the source of the money and how long it has been there. It is not a risk worth taking.
“Everything will sort itself out once you get there.” Rent, deposits and daily costs in Norway are so high that a student who arrives with insufficient money is in trouble within a few weeks. This is not a country where you can “adjust” with less money.
The summary, without softening it
Norway still has an excellent education system, a safe society and a strong research environment. The point is not that Norway has become bad — the point is that for a student from outside the EU/EEA it is no longer cheap. If you can bear the cost, it can be an excellent decision. If you cannot, look towards Germany and the Czech Republic, and do apply for the Hungarian government scholarship. And whoever is selling you “free education in Norway” today is either working from old information or deliberately telling you something false — in either case, do not spend money on what they say.
Official sources — verify here
- Official information on studying in Norway: studyinnorway.no
- Study permit, financial requirements and work rights: udi.no
- Educational loans and grants (essentially for residents): lanekassen.no
- The actual fee amount: only from that university’s own page
This article was written to correct information, not to promote or oppose any institution. Norway’s tuition policy changed in 2023 and the process of reviewing it is still going on; fees, financial requirements and immigration rules change every year. All the figures given here are estimates and are only for forming a rough idea. Before applying, depositing money or paying a fee to anyone, verify every amount and every condition yourself with the official pages listed above and with the university concerned.
