Malta is the only EU country on our list where English is an official language. That removes an entire category of risk — you are not betting on learning Italian or Finnish well enough to find work, and every office you deal with operates in English. It is also, straightforwardly, one of the more expensive of the nine, and the funds requirement is the highest after Denmark.
Both of those things are true at once, and a Malta decision is the trade between them.
The first-year total
| Line | Low | High | What moves it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tuition | EUR 5,000 | EUR 11,000 | Programme and institution |
| Living, twelve months | EUR 7,200 | EUR 10,800 | Accommodation, above everything else |
| First-year total | EUR 12,200 | EUR 21,800 | |
| Funds to evidence | about EUR 11,400 | EUR 950 for each month of stay |
The EUR 950 a month rule
Malta does not name a single annual figure. It requires EUR 950 in evidenced funds for every month of your intended stay, which for a twelve-month permit works out at about EUR 11,400.
Three consequences worth understanding:
- 1A longer stay means a larger number. The requirement scales with the permit length, so a fourteen-month first period asks for more than a twelve-month one.
- 2It is money you show, not money you hand over. There is no blocked account in Malta, unlike Germany or Austria. You evidence that the funds exist and are available.
- 3It is higher than Hungary, Greece or Bulgaria by a wide margin. Against Hungary's working figure of about EUR 6,000, Malta asks for nearly double. For many Bangladeshi families that gap, rather than the tuition, is what decides the country.
The documents behind it are the standard set — see proof of funds for a European student visa and how embassies verify your financial documents.
A month of living, by line
| Item | Per month | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Accommodation | EUR 280-500 | The island's rental market is tight and seasonal |
| Food | EUR 180-280 | Most food is imported, which is why this is high |
| Transport | EUR 26-40 | Public buses; the student card is cheap |
| Phone, books, personal | EUR 80-150 | |
| Total | EUR 600-900 |
Malta is a small island with a tourism economy, so rent has a season. Arriving in late September, when the summer lets are turning over and every student is looking at once, is the worst possible timing and the most expensive. Fixing accommodation before you fly is worth more here than in most of Europe.
What you spend before you fly
| Item | Typical | When |
|---|---|---|
| File opening fee | about EUR 200, or BDT 25,000 | At the start |
| University application fee | EUR 350-400 | At application |
| First-year tuition | EUR 5,000-12,000 | Before the visa |
| Health insurance, minimum EUR 30,000 cover | Varies | Before the visa |
| Visa fee plus VFS service charge | EUR 70-100 and up | At submission |
| Consultancy fee, if you use one | Varies by agency | Ours is payable only after the visa |
The work rule, stated properly
Students may work 20 hours a week — but not immediately. A qualifying period applies first, normally around 13 weeks. So, as in Cyprus, roughly a full first semester has to be funded without earnings.
And the honest version of the part-time story: because Malta operates in English, the jobs that exist are genuinely open to you in a way they are not in Helsinki or Milan. The catch is that the graduate job market is small, concentrated in a few sectors — tourism, hospitality, gaming, financial services — and a small market means limited options rather than no options.
Where the number comes down
Malta's scholarship landscape is thinner than Italy's or Hungary's, and honestly so: there is no Maltese equivalent of Stipendium Hungaricum open to a Bangladeshi student. What exists is mostly institutional — merit discounts and a small number of national schemes with specific eligibility. The realistic assessment is in Malta scholarship schemes explained.
The other lever is programme choice. Malta is a small country with a compact higher-education sector, so if your field is niche, check that it is taught here at all before building a plan around it. The programme list is on the university matcher.
What we cannot tell you
We do not publish a visa success rate for Malta, or for anywhere else, because no authority publishes one that could be verified. What we can do is point at Identita Malta's own published requirements, which is where the EUR 950 figure comes from and where any change to it will appear first.
What to do next
- 1Multiply EUR 950 by the number of months on the permit you are actually applying for, not by twelve out of habit.
- 2Fix accommodation before you fly. September on a small island is the worst month to arrive without a room.
- 3Check that your subject is taught in Malta at all using the university matcher.
- 4If it is English-medium study you are after rather than Malta specifically, read Cyprus versus Malta before deciding.
Official sources — check for yourself
Rules and figures change. We review these articles periodically and show the date above, but always confirm the current requirement with the official source before you act on it.
Common questions
How much money do I have to show for a Malta student visa?+
EUR 950 for each month of your intended stay, which comes to about EUR 11,400 for a twelve-month permit. It scales with the length of the permit rather than being a fixed annual figure. There is no blocked account in Malta — you evidence that the money exists and is available to you, you do not hand it over.
What does a year in Malta actually cost?+
Roughly EUR 12,200 to 21,800 in real spending: tuition of EUR 5,000-11,000 plus EUR 600-900 a month to live. Food is expensive because most of it is imported, and accommodation is the biggest single swing. That total is before the EUR 11,400 or so you must separately evidence for the visa.
Can I work in Malta while studying?+
Yes, 20 hours a week, but only after a qualifying period of roughly 13 weeks — so plan to fund the first semester with no income. Because English is an official language, the jobs that exist are genuinely accessible to you, unlike in most of continental Europe. The market itself is small, so options are limited rather than absent.
Is Malta in the Schengen area?+
Yes. Malta is a member of both the European Union and the Schengen area, so a Maltese student residence permit allows travel within Schengen under the usual limits. That is a genuine difference from Cyprus, which is in the EU but outside Schengen, and it is worth checking rather than assuming for any country.
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