Estonia is a developed northern European country which shares its border with Finland next to Sweden. More than two thousand islands make this country’s landscapes breathtaking and attract thousands of foreign tourists to visit Estonia. Literacy rate in Estonia is very high making it to 99.8% where almost all people are well-educated and well-employed. However, this beautiful country is also becoming a popular study-destination for foreign students. The following reasons are attracting a good number of international students every year-
Studying in Estonia, you will definitely lead a healthy life just because of its clean ar. According to the WHO, Estonia is among the countries with the cleanest air where the other countries are Sweden, Finland, Norway and Canada. Additionally, more than fifty two percent of the country is forest and therefore it is called as the greenest country in the Europe. Among the EU countries, Estonia is the least crowded and populous country where people are found friendly and peace-loving.
Estonia is a European country and therefore delivers European standard education. However, you may be surprised to see the tuition fees of their bachelors and masters program. Depends on the program, in most cases, tuition fees start from 1600 Euros to 4000 Euros per year. There are no other European countries where international students can earn a European degree with such a little amount of money. Additionally, each year Estonian Government and its universities offer hundreds of scholarships to international students especially those are from developing countries. The amount offered is in many cases covers the whole tuition fees. However, if you have excellent academic achievements and have good score in IELTS/TOEFL, you will more likely to be granted for a monthly stipend to cover your living expenses.
Estonian education system especially its higher education curriculum is designed in a way so that graduates do not need to run after jobs. They focus on practical learning rather than focusing on academic knowledge and good grading. You may know that the most popular video calling software named ‘Skype’ was developed by a group of Estonian Engineers Ahti Heinla, Priit Kasesalu and Jaan Tallin. If you ever think of studying design and engineering subjects, this country could be the best choice. Among many, Information Technology, Interaction Design, Animation, Cyber Security Engineering are very popular programs. Holding an Estonian degree you will undoubtedly be a qualified applicant in International including European job market.
Those of you are dreaming on building career as researcher or teacher, you surely know that PhD can make your dream comes true easily. However, getting a PhD position is quite competitive in most of the countries and expensive as well. Estonia in such a case can be the best destination where you can do your PhD without paying any tuition fees. Yes, to do PhD, you don’t need to budget any money for tuition fees. Rather, Estonian government and its universities spend a large amount of money for research and innovation and therefore international students get a platform to showcase their potentials. Even, in some cases, if after getting admission you can achieve satisfactory academic progress you will be employed as paid part-time lecturer or research assistant in your own university.
It is surprising that you will stay in a European country and lead a high standard of living but with comparatively lower cost. Budgeting merely 250 to 300 Euros could be sufficient amount to meet your monthly demand that will include food, clothes, accommodation and transport as well. Spending little amount in Estonia will serve you a quality life where you will enjoy the combination of modern technology and natural beauties.
International students are free to work during study in Estonian universities. But it is great news for them since they are not restricted to weekly 20 hours. Rather foreign students can work as many hours as they can. The only thing needs to take care is that your study. However, it is not suggested to do overwhelming work that could possibly interrupt your study. To be noted, international students are required to complete at least 22.5 credits in an academic year. If you can complete such credits within time then it’s not a headache for your university or Estonian immigration how many hours you are working. In fine, you are not confined in Estonia like others in many countries when it comes to the question of freedom of work.
After graduation, international students are given six months to look for jobs. During or before that time, most of the graduates receive offers from different Estonian companies. The reason is very simple. The programs in Estonian universities are primarily designed to meet the demand of Estonian and especially European job market. Therefore, the possibility to be employed is always higher for the students who have earned degree from any Estonian institution.
Within a few years of your employment, you can also apply to settle in Estonia permanently if you have already 4 years job experience in any company operating its business in Estonia. Holding permanent residence means you will enjoy all the common facilities offered to Estonians, ranging from free education, free transport, free medical assistance and other social benefits. More importantly, you will become an EU citizen and therefore it will then be your choice in which EU country you want to move, work, study and live without any barriers.
Unlike many other European countries, Estonia does not impose strict rules for international students to study. Rather it warmly welcomes students from outside the EU region to create a diverse culture and share knowledge with them. Therefore, neither Estonian Universities require mandatory IELTS/TOEFL nor Estonian immigration requires presenting a statement of big amount of money. More importantly, students applying for Estonian study visa have lower risk of money since the visa granted to the admitted students is almost hundred percent.
