Lowest-cost universities in Turkey (published tuition, 2026)

The table below is built from the price lists universities publish to us, and it updates whenever a new list arrives. For each degree (associate, bachelor's and master's) and each currency, it shows the universities with the lowest tuition — and only each university's lowest-cost programme at that level. So if your major is not in the table, that does not mean the university doesn't offer it; the full list of programmes and fees is on the pricing page.

Before you build a family budget on any figure, keep these points in mind:

Tuition is only one of the costs of studying. The table below lists the costs that are most often forgotten. To add them all up for the whole degree, see our article on the total cost of a degree in Turkey; for rent, food and transport, see the student living-costs guide.

The prep year can change a budget more than anything else, so look at it closely. If the programme is taught in Turkish and you have no Turkish certificate, the university may send you to its Turkish language centre (TÖMER) for a year first. If the programme is taught in English and your English certificate is not enough, you face an English prep year (hazırlık), and some universities charge a full year's tuition for it — at Fenerbahçe University in Istanbul, for example, the English prep year costs a full year's tuition. A four-year bachelor's can therefore mean five years of tuition.

If a special offer is active right now, its card appears after this section, and each card states exactly what the amount covers and which conditions apply.

An associate degree (ön lisans) in Türkiye takes two years and is usually taught at the university's own vocational school (meslek yüksekokulu). In our list, the lowest annual fees usually belong to associate rows, and because the programme lasts two years, the total for the whole degree is lower too. If you are on a tight budget and want a university qualification sooner, or a practical skill, it is a short, low-cost route.

An associate degree is still on-campus study. An on-campus associate student at a licensed university in Türkiye can apply for a student residence permit under article 38 of Law No. 6458, on the same terms as a bachelor's student: you must stay an active student, and universities report inactive students to the migration authority; Göç İdaresi (the migration authority) decides on the permit; and work is possible only with a separate work permit and only after the first year. The law sets no upper age limit for a student permit.

Routes that may look cheaper give no student permit: open education (açıköğretim), distance programmes and special-student status (özel öğrenci). A Turkish language course on its own is not a student permit either; it gives a short-term permit at most twice, and only to someone who entered Türkiye on a study or language-course visa. So an Iranian who entered visa-free cannot use that route.

Two more things to know before you choose. Moving on from an associate degree to a bachelor's is not automatic; the receiving university sets the conditions. And recognition of an associate degree in Iran, like any other degree, is assessed separately, case by case. If residence is your main goal, read our student residence page first: the permit lasts only while you study, student years count only at half toward the 8-year long-term permit, and student residence does not count toward citizenship.

Some rows in the table belong to universities in North Cyprus and carry a "North Cyprus" label under the city name. Some of them have low tuition, but before you compare them with Türkiye, know that North Cyprus is not part of Türkiye and has its own higher-education system and its own residence rules.

Universities in North Cyprus operate under North Cyprus's own higher-education council (YÖDAK). Student residence there is issued by the North Cyprus Ministry of Interior through its own system and conditions, and it is not Turkish residence: it gives you no right to live in Türkiye, and Turkish Law No. 6458 does not cover it. The status of these universities' degrees in Iran is also checked separately, university by university.

If your goal is simply to study for less, North Cyprus can be a serious option; if you want to live in Türkiye, look at the Türkiye rows. Our guide to studying in North Cyprus has more detail.

The table above is a good place to start, not to finish. Low tuition only helps if everything else fits your goal too. Before you decide, weigh these:

If you'd rather not go through hundreds of price rows yourself, send us your grades, intended major, language and budget. From the more than fifty private universities we can reach through official agency agreements, we prepare a short list of low-cost programmes that fit you — with the teaching language, whether you will need a prep year, and what you should know about each university before you decide.

This service is free for the student. The university pays our fee, and you pay tuition directly to the university, with a receipt in your own name. HOMA STUDY is a new company, founded by Homa Yaghoubian, and our team brings more than eight years of experience inside the education system.