Universities in Košice: three universities in Slovakia's second city

Why Košice works for a student

Košice has a population of about 230,000, sits 20 km from the Hungarian border and 90 km from Ukraine; Bratislava is about 5 hours by train or an hour by plane. The main argument for Košice is money: a dormitory, a room and food cost noticeably less than in the capital, with rent 30–40 % lower. The second argument is work for engineers: the Košice IT Valley cluster, T-Systems and Deutsche Telekom IT, the U.S. Steel plant and the car industry give TUKE students internships from their first years.

TUKE, UPJŠ and UVLF compared

All three are public universities, and full-time study in Slovak is tuition-free for international students. Their profiles barely overlap, so the choice is usually made by field rather than by university.

• IT, engineering, aviation, architecture and design — TUKE.
• Medicine, law, psychology, informatics and data analysis at a classical university — UPJŠ.
• Veterinary medicine, pharmacy, cynology, food safety — UVLF.

Application deadlines: the UPJŠ Faculty of Medicine — by 28 February (test on 24–26 April or 8–12 June); UVLF — around 31 March for bachelor's and long-cycle programmes, 31 May for master's, tests in May in two rounds; most TUKE and UPJŠ faculties — by the end of March or April, with a second round in summer; the TUKE Faculty of Arts — November to December. Check the 2027/2028 dates on the faculty websites.

Dormitories and a budget in Košice

All three universities have their own halls: TUKE — the student campus on Terasa (Jedlíkova, Boženy Němcovej, Ferka Urbánka) next to the teaching buildings; UPJŠ — halls on Medická and Popradská by the medical campus; UVLF — two buildings on Cesta pod Hradovou, a ten-minute walk from campus, with over 400 rooms and internet included. Applications are filed after admission (at UVLF by around 31 July); international students get places on equal terms with Slovaks, and Košice has more dormitory places relative to student numbers than the capital.

An average student with a dormitory spends 350–550 € a month — 50–100 € less than in Bratislava for the same set of expenses; food, insurance and phone cost the same, the saving is on housing and transport. Run your own numbers in the cost calculator; how to get a place and what to do if there is none — in the article on dormitories and the cost of living.

How to apply to a Košice university: in brief

1. Choose a university and programme

   IT and engineering — TUKE, medicine and law — UPJŠ, veterinary medicine and pharmacy — UVLF. The general route is on the page admission after high school.
2. Have your certificate recognised

   By the faculty deadline you need the recognition decision (or proof of filing) and an official Slovak translation — see the nostrification guide.
3. File the application and pay the fee

   e-prihláška on the faculty website: UPJŠ medicine — by 28 February, UVLF — by 31 March, TUKE — by the end of March or April, second round in summer.
4. Sit the exam, if there is one

   Biology and chemistry test for UPJŠ medicine and UVLF veterinary medicine/pharmacy (at UVLF 60 questions per subject, run by SCIO); the talent exam at the TUKE Faculty of Arts. FEI, mechanical engineering, science, law and cynology admit on the certificate.
5. Dormitory and residence permit

   After the admission decision — apply for a place and for temporary residence for the purpose of study. All of this is part of our full admission support.

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