How Much Does It Cost to Study in Malta?
A year at the University of Malta costs a non-EU African student €8,500–10,800 per year in tuition, plus €950–1,600 per month to live. There is no tuition-free route, and a master's costs more again. The catch: Malta checks your money twice at €746–950 per month — the lower figure for the visa, the higher one after you land.
The real cost of studying in Malta (summary)
Malta is English-taught, inside the EU and inside Schengen, and it charges non-EU students full tuition. At the University of Malta a bachelor’s is €8,500–10,800 per year, with arts and business at the bottom of that band and science at the top, and a taught master’s is €10,800–13,400 per year. Living costs run €950–1,600 per month nationally, and in Msida, where that university sits, €1,360–1,630 per month. Health cover is €150–400 per year, billed annually. The student D-visa is €100–150, and the residence permit you apply for after you land adds €50. Private colleges undercut the public university, from €5,750–19,500 per year, but that band is wide and the cheapest end is not the safest end. Tuition and rent decide your total; the visa, the permit and insurance together are small beside them. The rest of the picture is on our study in Malta guide.
Tuition fees in Malta: public and private universities
Malta has 8 recognised institutions in our dataset, and they price in three tiers.
The University of Malta, founded 1592 and ranked #696 (QS 2027), publishes its third-country rates in an official non-EU fee schedule: €8,500–10,800 per year for a bachelor’s, €10,800–14,400 per year for a master’s, the top of that band being the Executive MBA, and €7,400–11,000 per year for a PhD. Medicine is its own market: €26,000 per year at Malta and €39,500 per year for the UK MBBS at the Queen Mary campus in Gozo, which give the national band of €26,000–39,500 per year.
The other two public institutions bill by programme or by semester, not by year. MCAST charges €19,500–26,000 per programme for a whole bachelor’s, three or four years together rather than one, and €7,900–10,000 per programme for a master’s. The Institute of Tourism Studies charges €3,950 per semester and €4,250 per semester.
Private colleges run €5,750–19,500 per year for a bachelor’s and €7,750–20,000 per year for a master’s. Global College Malta is €6,100 per year, St Martin’s Institute €6,696 per year plus a separate one-off non-EU visa administration fee, GBSB Global €6,900 per year, and the American University of Malta €8,000–9,000 per year with €100–200 per semester on top. Application fees are €100 at GBSB, €100 at Global College, €125 at St Martin’s, €150 at MCAST and free at Queen Mary. The per-semester figure quoted on agency sites is the EU part-time evening rate; no African applicant pays it. Course-by-course fees are on our universities in Malta page.
Living costs in Malta
Plan on €950–1,600 per month for rent, food, utilities, laundry, a phone and everyday spending. Rent moves the total, and it moves it a long way. The University of Malta publishes its own student budget for Msida, where its campus is: €1,360–1,630 per month in total, of which a room in a shared two- or three-person flat is €550–700 per month. That is the one figure on this page an institution states for itself; the others are rent-tracker bands with the university’s non-rent costs added.
Valletta is the most expensive place to be a student, €1,510–1,930 per month with a room at €700–1,000 per month. Cospicua, home of the American University of Malta, is €1,460–1,780 per month; Birkirkara €1,310–1,530 per month; Ħamrun €1,260–1,530 per month. Paola, home of MCAST, is €1,210–1,480 per month with rooms from €400–550 per month, and Luqa, home of the Institute of Tourism Studies, €1,210–1,480 per month. Kalkara and the SmartCity campus park are the cheapest on the main island at €900–1,200 per month. On Gozo, Victoria is €1,160–1,430 per month and the island as a whole €1,110–1,430 per month.
The figure immigration uses is none of these: 950 EUR a month excluding tuition, a legal minimum rather than a budget.
Health insurance
Malta checks insurance twice, and the second check depends on where you study. For the D-visa you need Schengen-valid medical and travel cover of at least 30,000 EUR for the whole stay. For the residence permit after arrival, students at the University of Malta, MCAST and the Institute of Tourism Studies are exempt from the private-cover threshold introduced on 1 August 2024; students at every other institution, the named private colleges included, must hold a policy at a far higher sum insured. Maltese insurers sell student cover by the year at €150–400 per year, which is €16–33 per month if you simply divide it. Check which side of that exemption your college falls on before you pay a deposit.
Proof of funds for the Malta student visa
Malta tests your money twice, at two different amounts, and this is where most files fail. The band is €746–950 per month, and the rule behind it is Entry (D-visa): ≥75% of national minimum wage per month of study (2026 NMW €229.44/wk → ≈€746/mo); Residence permit: €950/mo excluding tuition — both confirmed, identita.gov.mt. Proof is documentary: Bank statements (last 3 months) / sponsor bank statement + signed declaration letter. Because the entry figure is pegged to the minimum wage, now €994.24 per month, it rises whenever that wage rises. Fund to the higher of the two numbers: a file that clears the visa can still fall short at the permit desk, and by then you are already in Malta. Insufficient or unverifiable proof of funds is the first refusal reason on Malta’s own list. Our Malta student visa requirements page has the document set, and how to prove funds for a student visa explains what an officer reads for.
Cheapest universities and student cities
By what a non-EU African student actually pays for a first degree, the order runs: Global College Malta at €6,100 per year in SmartCity, Kalkara; St Martin’s Institute at €6,696 per year in Ħamrun; GBSB Global Business School at €6,900 per year in Birkirkara; and the American University of Malta at €8,000–9,000 per year in Cospicua. At master’s level the Institute of Tourism Studies is the cheapest public route at €4,250 per semester for its one full-time MBA, and a whole MCAST master’s is €7,900–10,000 per programme — though MCAST runs master’s part-time by default, and part-time study does not support a student visa.
Cities cut the same way. Kalkara and SmartCity are €900–1,200 per month, Gozo €1,110–1,430 per month and Luqa €1,210–1,480 per month, against Valletta at €1,510–1,930 per month. A low private fee does not buy the public institutions’ insurance exemption or their standing with a visa officer, so weigh fee and risk together. Compare destinations on our cheapest countries in Europe page.
How to cover the costs
There is no broad Maltese government scholarship for students applying from abroad. The one national scheme our dataset records as open to all nine origin countries is Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters, the EU joint master’s programme, applied for separately from any Malta admission. MCAST waives the final year of its bachelor’s under its own scholarship fund for eligible students, the largest published discount in the country. Otherwise the money comes from family sponsorship or savings.
Work rights are real but small. The cap is 20 hours/week — from 1st year for full-time MQF-recognised higher-ed students; after first 3 months for other MQF5+ courses (confirmed), the same in holidays, and a Jobsplus employment licence is required first. Against a minimum wage of €994.24 per month for full-time work, part-time hours cover groceries and a phone bill, never tuition and never the funds you must prove before you fly. See our Malta scholarships page for what is genuinely open.
Malta at a glance — key figures
| Public tuition — bachelor's (non-EU) | €8,500–10,800 per year — University of Malta non-EU: €8,500 arts/business, €10,800 science (excl. |
|---|---|
| Public tuition — master's (non-EU) | €10,800–13,400 per year — UM non-EU: €10,800 arts/business, €13,400 science; |
| Private tuition (typical) | €5,750–19,500 per year |
| Medicine | €26,000–39,500 per year |
| Living costs | €950–1,600 per month |
| Health insurance | €16–33 per month |
Last verified 2026-09-10 against official sources (nso.gov.mt · um.edu.mt · identita.gov.mt · ec.europa.eu · maltaexpat.com).
What works in your favour
- Fees are published per level and hold for the year: €8,500–10,800 per year at bachelor’s, €10,800–13,400 per year at master’s, so the whole degree can be costed before you apply.
- Private colleges can undercut the public rate — €6,100 per year at Global College Malta, €6,696 per year at St Martin’s — and application fees stay small, from free at Queen Mary to €150 at MCAST.
- Insurance is a minor line: €16–33 per month, or €150–400 per year bought as a policy. The visa costs €100–150 and the residence permit €50.
- Term-time work is legal with a permit, against a statutory minimum wage of €994.24 per month — enough to cover part of the rent, not the fees.
The honest downsides
- Nothing here is free. A public bachelor’s is €8,500–10,800 per year, so Malta costs a multiple of tuition-free Germany and buys you a much smaller university system.
- Rent on a small island is unforgiving. Valletta runs €700–1,000 per month for a room, and even the cheapest towns start at €300–500 per month.
- The money bar is going up. The proof-of-funds floor of €746–950 per month is pegged to the minimum wage, and a further rise is legislated for January 2027 — the exact amount is not yet published.
- You will be a rare student there. Of 8,252 international students in 2023/24, 502 were African, 6.3 per cent.
- The calendar is tight. Applications close at 1 July 2026, 14:00 (confirmed, Oct 2026 intake; 2027/28 date not yet published), and the D-visa takes 3 to 9 weeks.
Our core guidance is free, because universities pay us a commission when you enrol. We shortlist institutions whose real cost fits your budget rather than the one on the brochure, check whether your college carries the residence-permit insurance exemption, and vet every document — bank statements, sponsor declaration, MQRIC evaluation, apostilles — before it reaches the university or the visa centre. If you want the whole application built and run for you, that is our optional paid Premium Placement service. We never sell guaranteed admission or a guaranteed visa.
Frequently asked questions
At the University of Malta, budget €8,500–10,800 per year for a bachelor's or €10,800–13,400 per year for a master's, plus €950–1,600 per month to live. Add health cover at €150–400 per year, the D-visa at €100–150 and the residence permit at €50 once you arrive.
No. Malta charges third-country nationals full tuition, €8,500–10,800 per year at the public university. The cheap per-semester figure that circulates on agency sites is the EU part-time evening rate and does not apply to you. The nearest thing to a discount is MCAST waiving the final year of its bachelor's for eligible students.
Plan €950–1,600 per month. Msida, home of the University of Malta, is €1,360–1,630 per month on the university's own budget, with a shared room at €550–700 per month. Kalkara and SmartCity are cheapest at €900–1,200 per month; Valletta is dearest at €1,510–1,930 per month.
€746–950 per month, checked twice. The entry D-visa uses the lower figure, tied to the national minimum wage, for every month of study; the residence permit after arrival uses 950 EUR a month excluding tuition. You prove it with three months of bank statements, or a sponsor's statements plus a signed declaration letter.
€150–400 per year, sold as an annual policy rather than monthly, which works out at €16–33 per month. For the visa itself you need Schengen-valid cover of at least 30,000 EUR. University of Malta, MCAST and ITS students are exempt from the higher residence-permit threshold; private-college students are not.
Global College Malta at €6,100 per year, St Martin's Institute at €6,696 per year, GBSB Global at €6,900 per year and the American University of Malta at €8,000–9,000 per year. All four are private; the public University of Malta starts at €8,500–10,800 per year.
Partly, and only after a Jobsplus employment licence. The cap is 20 hours/week — from 1st year for full-time MQF-recognised higher-ed students; after first 3 months for other MQF5+ courses (confirmed), with no separate holiday allowance. Full-time minimum wage is €994.24 per month, so part-time hours cover living costs at best, never tuition or proof of funds.
The national minimum wage rises again in January 2027, the last step of the government's four-year low-wage agreement. Because the D-visa and residence-permit thresholds are pegged to it, today's €746–950 per month will be higher for 2027/28 applicants. The exact amount is not yet published, so budget above the current floor.