€2.25 million in scholarships for Croatians abroad

€2.25 million in scholarships for Croatians abroad

ZAGREB, 6 June (Hina) – The Central State Office for Croats Living Abroad has awarded 1,500 scholarships to Croatian students outside Croatia for the academic year 2023/2024, which is 350 more scholarships than last year, totalling €2,250,000.

The monthly amount of the scholarship is €150, and students will receive a total of €1,500 in a lump sum for ten months.

Of the total number of scholarships awarded, 300 were granted to Croatian students from abroad studying in Croatia – 260 of them are from Bosnia and Herzegovina, 32 are members of the Croatian national minority, and eight are members of the Croatian diaspora.

The Central Office has awarded 1,108 scholarships to Croatian students studying in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 86 to those studying in Serbia and North Macedonia, and one to a Croatian student in Montenegro.

Starting from this academic year, new rankings have been introduced for Croatian students belonging to the Croatian national minority residing in Montenegro, Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Serbia, who have the status of regular students at public higher education institutions in their country of residence.

A new criterion of appropriate scoring for students without appropriate parental care has been added, as they are a particularly vulnerable group of students in need of additional financial support during their education.

There was significant interest among students for scholarships; in the competition announced at the end of December 2023, 2,762 applications were received, of which 2,444 met the formal requirements.