29/10/2016
Tuition Fees
There are two types of universities in Portugal – private and public. Generally public universities are cheaper, but some private universities from their behalf provide discounts up to 100% of the lecture fees according to the evaluation marks.One thing you should remember is that if you attend a public university, fees are payable annually and at most private universities you will have to pay a part of the total tuition monthly.
Tuition costs in public universities
Tuition fees in public universities are usually set according to the regulations set by the Ministry of Education in Portugal, which is a minimum fee equivalent to 1.3 times the minimum national wage rate.
However, most public universities decide their own level of tuition fees (propinas), which in some cases, are higher than the minimum recommendation.
Full time students enrolled on Bachelor and Master programmes pay between 950 and 1,250 EUR/year. For third level degrees (PhD courses), the average tuition fee can lead to approximately 2,500 – 3,000 EUR per academic year.
An exception is Coimbra city, where tuition fees are smaller, around 700 EUR/year.
Tuition costs in private universities
Most private universities are forming their tuition fees upon the number of credits each student obtain during the years. As it is set the Bachelor degree or the so called licenciatura (Pre or Post-Bologna) to be 180 ECTS (60 ECTS for each of the 3 years), students must pay the respective tax for each of those 60 ECTS. When available some discount, they are applied mainly to the part of the subject (ECTS weight), that corresponds to the lecture classes. For a master degree, with set minimum of 120 ECTS, students also must pay the respective amount. Here it is necessary to specify, that in some universities exist 3rd type of degree (mestrados integrados or integrated master), which combines the 2 cycles in one degree. Generally the tuition fees in private universities vary from 350 to 500 EUR per month.
Average tuition fees in private universities range between 3,323 and 3,872 EUR/year for any degree level.
Besides tuition fees, some universities apply taxes for the matriculas which also varies from the university, the department and part or full time studying. Each student has to pay registration fee of about 25 to 30 EUR and annual insurance of less than 2 EUR.