Estonia had 3,954 international degree students in 2024/25, 8.7% of everyone in higher education here. Finland is the largest single source at 16%, ahead of Ukraine 12%, India 5% and Russia 5%.
Two numbers decide most of what follows. A study residence permit needs €880 a month behind it — four times the subsistence level, which rose on 1 January 2026, so anything still quoting €800 is quoting 2025. And when the permit expires you may stay 270 days to find work or another basis, against the 90 days everyone else gets — counted from the expiry of the permit, not from graduation.
The study residence permit
€225 in Estonia, 90 days for a decision, and a permit that lapses 30 days after you fall behind.
🎓Universities and tuition
What each institution charges, who studies free, and the 2026 change that ended non-EU waivers at Tartu.
💼Working as a student
No hour cap, no separate work permit, and the academic condition that actually binds.
🏥Health insurance
Students are not in the state system by default. The three ways in, and what the permit requires.
🏠Housing, transport and money
Dorms from €53, free transport in Tallinn if you register, and the one real student bank card.
A full-time degree taught in Estonian at a public university costs €0, with no nationality test attached — and only 6% of international students take that route. Everything else the decision turns on, from the permit file to the hours you may work, is on the five pages above.