Estonia

Basic Information about Estonia

Estonia is the smallest of the three Baltic Countries. Situated on the north eastern coast of the Baltic Sea, Estonia borders with Latvia in the south and with the Russian Federation in the east and has strong cultural and linguistic ties with Finland. The capital of the country is Tallinn and is only about 85 km south of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. Sweden is Estonia's nearest western neighbour across the Baltic Sea. The country has a population of about 1.4 million people.

The Higher Education System

In Estonia, the higher education system consists of two branches – an academic branch and a professional higher education. Thus, one can choose between the two types of institutions – universities and professional higher education institutions.

The academic branch of Estonian higher education follows the Bachelors-Masters – Doctoral model. For Bachelor’s degree, the length of study is usually three – four years (180 ECTS). The Master's level qualification lasts normally 2 years (120 ECTS) and is a prerequisite for the commencement of doctoral studies. The length of doctoral studies is 3-4 years.

Professional higher education institutions offer non-academic first cycle higher education aimed at providing skills and knowledge required to work in a certain profession or continue studies at a master's level. The length is 3-4 years (180-240 ECTS).

Further information and a list of higher education institutions are available at www.smartestonia.ee.

Scholarships

Since January 1, 2005 the Archimedes Foundation is responsible for technical coordination of scholarships/internships offered to Estonian students and researchers by our foreign partners and for scholarships offered by the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research to foreign students and researchers.

Archimedes Foundation participates in the selection process of the candidates, distributes information about scholarship and placement opportunities to Estonian and foreign students, provides consultations for all interested parties and organizes communication between Estonian and foreign institutions.

For more information: www.archimedes.ee