Application fees add up quickly: five applications at €100 each cost €500, and none of it comes back if you are turned down. But some good universities charge nothing at all, a few give the money back when you enrol, and several of the best-known waive their fee for applicants who cannot pay. Here is where, country by country, for applications made from autumn 2026.
Universities that charge no application fee
| University | Country | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Ghent University | Belgium | No application fee, and low tuition: €2,297.40 or €7,079.40 for a non-EEA master's year in 2026–27 |
| Wageningen University | Netherlands | Its application steps and cost table list no application fee; most other Dutch research universities charge €100 |
| University of Vienna | Austria | No fee, except €50 for bachelor's and diploma programmes with an entrance exam or aptitude test |
| University of Twente | Netherlands | Only master's programmes in three faculties (BMS, EEMCS and ET) charge €100 |
| Colby College | USA | No application fee for anyone, and full demonstrated need met for international students |
| Berea College | USA | Free application, and no tuition for admitted students |
| Saxion University of Applied Sciences | Netherlands | No application fee in its cost table; €9,360 a year for a non-EU bachelor's in 2026–27 |
Two more are close to free. Maastricht University charges €100 but refunds it once you start your studies there, and the University of Geneva deducts its CHF 65 fee from your first semester's tuition if you enrol. In Germany, some universities pay the uni-assist fee for their applicants; uni-assist marks this in your selection list.
Waivers at universities that do charge
A waiver means the university lets you apply without paying. The rules are strict, and almost all of them have one thing in common: you must ask before you pay, because a fee already paid is not given back.
- Oxford waives its £75 fee (£20 for research courses) for residents of a list of low-income countries, and for refugees and displaced people.
- Cambridge waives its £85 fee automatically for nationals of a list of countries who have lived there since birth. African applicants to the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program who are not on the list can request a waiver by 20 November 2026.
- The Oxford and Cambridge lists are mostly the world's poorest countries, such as Ethiopia, Malawi, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Uganda and Zambia. Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya are not on either list.
- UBC in Canada waives its CAD 168.25 graduate fee automatically when your citizenship and address are both in one of the UN's least developed countries.
- Harvard, MIT, Yale and Princeton waive their fee for undergraduate applicants who cannot afford it, international applicants included. Ask in the Common App, or in MIT's own application; MIT says asking has no effect on your chances.
- Imperial College London considers waivers for applicants in financial difficulty.
Some universities never waive the fee: ETH Zürich (CHF 150), the University of Toronto's graduate school (CAD 135 from September 2027), McGill's graduate office and the University of Twente all say so on their own pages.
What everyone else charges
| Country | Typical application fee | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | €100 with a non-Dutch degree | UvA, VU, Leiden, Utrecht, Groningen, TU Delft, TU Eindhoven |
| Germany | €75 through uni-assist, plus €30 for each extra programme | Universities that use uni-assist to check foreign certificates |
| Belgium | €90 to €120, but none at Ghent | KU Leuven €120, VUB €90 |
| Switzerland | CHF 65 to CHF 200 | Geneva CHF 65, Basel CHF 100, ETH and EPFL CHF 150, Lausanne CHF 200 |
| Italy | €50 to €60 | Politecnico di Torino €50, Padova €60, Politecnico di Milano €50 until 1 December, then €150 |
| United Kingdom | £34.50 through UCAS; £60 to £90 for postgraduate | Oxford £75, Cambridge £85, Imperial and UCL £90 |
| Ireland | €50 to €55 for postgraduate | Trinity College Dublin €55, University College Cork €50 |
| Canada | CAD 130 to 170 | Toronto graduate CAD 135, McGill undergraduate CAD 140.16, UBC graduate CAD 168.25 |
| United States | $50 to $90 | Vanderbilt $50, Amherst $75, Brown $80, Dartmouth and Duke $85 |
How to keep the cost down
- Use fees that cover several programmes. One payment covers up to four programmes at VU Amsterdam, all your master's applications for the year at the University of Amsterdam, and two programmes in the same term at McGill. Utrecht's fee stays valid for three years. UCAS covers five choices for one £34.50 fee.
- Watch for fees charged per programme. Erasmus School of Economics, TU Eindhoven, KU Leuven, VUB and ETH Zürich charge again for every programme you apply to.
- Apply early where the fee rises. Politecnico di Milano charges €50 until 1 December and €150 after that.
- Send the full amount. TU Eindhoven and Twente only process your file once the whole fee arrives; bank charges for an international transfer come on top, so pay by card where the university accepts it.
- Pay only the university. Real scholarships never ask you to pay a "processing fee" to an agent or a Facebook page. Read our guide to spotting scholarship scams.
An application fee is the smallest cost of studying abroad. For what tuition, proof of funds and living costs add up to, read what "free tuition" in Europe still costs.