Studying in Qatar

What a year costs

Qatar University charges by credit hour. New rates apply to undergraduates admitted from Fall 2026 onward:

• Arts, Education, Law: QAR 1,200 per credit hour
• Business and Economics, Sciences, Health Sciences, Nursing, Sport Sciences, Foundation: QAR 1,400
• Engineering, Pharmacy: QAR 1,600
• Arabic for Non-Native Speakers: QAR 1,700
• Medicine and Dental Medicine charge annual fees from QAR 45,400 to QAR 149,000 depending on year of study

A 30-credit year in Engineering therefore costs QAR 48,000. Graduate students admitted from Fall 2023 pay QAR 2,200 per credit hour for master's, PhD and PharmD programmes, and QAR 2,600 for the MBA.

HBKU bills graduate tuition per credit, at rates that vary by programme. Its scholarship guidelines list, for example, QAR 4,000 per credit for STEM master's and PhD programmes and QAR 2,000 per credit for the LL.M. Scholarships cover part or all of this:

• Tuition waivers: 100% for STEM PhDs in its Science and Engineering and Health and Life Sciences colleges, 75% for STEM master's, 0% for the LL.M.
• Monthly stipends for international students: QAR 7,000 for master's, QAR 9,000 for PhD
• One inbound and one outbound air ticket for international students

HBKU does not pay for housing: you cover it from the stipend. Other fees: QAR 250 application fee, QAR 350 enrolment fee per college, QAR 1,000 graduation gown fee.

Education City branch campuses charge home-campus prices. Georgetown University in Qatar lists USD 74,520 (QAR 271,998) tuition for 2026-2027, plus insurance at USD 750 a semester and on-campus housing of USD 2,767-3,562 (QAR 10,100-13,002) a semester.

Living costs. None of the official pages we checked publishes a student living-cost budget. HBKU's stipend levels give a sense of what the university considers enough to live on as a full-time student: QAR 7,000-9,000 a month, including rent.

The visa

You do not apply for a student visa on your own. Your university applies to the Ministry of Interior on your behalf and then sponsors your residence permit once you arrive.

At Qatar University, the visa request is part of the admission process, and the final admission decision comes after the visa application is verified. You provide:

• A passport valid for at least one year
• A Financial Sponsorship Declaration from a third party who will pay your costs. The rule is explicit: "students are not allowed to sponsor themselves"
• The sponsor's passport or Qatar ID
• Financial evidence: if the sponsor is in Qatar, a bank guarantee of QAR 20,000, valid for five years (bachelor's and PhD), three years (master's) or one year (Arabic language programmes); if the sponsor is outside Qatar, six months of their bank statements
• A medical evaluation form signed and stamped by a clinic or hospital in your country
• A police clearance certificate
• Parental consent, for undergraduates

At Education City, new non-resident international students acquire sponsorship through Qatar Foundation, arranged by their university's student life office. Georgetown in Qatar also requires a leave notification form, signed by the university and Qatar Foundation, submitted at least five days before each trip out of Qatar.

Visa and residence permit fees are paid through the university, which passes the cost to you. None of the university pages we checked lists the government fee, and we could not load the Ministry of Interior's fee schedule. Ask your admissions office for the current figure.

If you already live in Qatar on a parent's sponsorship, you may be able to stay on it or transfer your residence to the university. Qatar University has a separate residence permit transfer process for enrolled students.

Working while you study

Qatar University's student employment programme allows paid work on campus of up to 20 hours a week. You need active registration, at least 24 completed credit hours and a GPA of 2.5 or above. The hourly rate depends on the job.

We found no official rule that allows off-campus work on a student residence permit. Qatar's labour system ties employment to an employer's sponsorship, and your sponsor is your university. Assume off-campus work is not allowed unless your university's international office confirms otherwise in writing.

HBKU makes students who work more than 40% of full-time hours ineligible for its stipend.

After you graduate

Qatar has no post-study work visa or job-seeker permit. When you graduate, your university's sponsorship ends. To stay, an employer must sponsor you for a work residence permit, and the transfer has to be arranged before your student residence is cancelled. Talk to your university's immigration office early in your final semester about how long you have after graduation.

Language

Education City universities and HBKU teach in English. At Qatar University, the language of instruction varies by college and programme: some teach in English, others wholly or partly in Arabic. The university runs an Arabic for Non-Native Speakers programme for those who need it. Check the language of your exact programme before applying.

Each university sets its own English test requirement. Check the admissions page for your programme and meet the score before the deadline, not after.

English works in daily life in Doha. Arabic is the official language, and government processes are bilingual.

When to apply

Most programmes start in August or September.

• Qatar University (graduate, international applicants), Fall 2026: applications opened 1 December 2025, closed 25 February 2026, documents due 25 May 2026, classes began 23 August 2026. The Fall 2027 timeline was "to be announced" when we checked; expect a similar pattern.
• HBKU, Fall 2027: the deadline for international applicants is 1 February 2027, earlier than for Qatari and resident applicants (15 March 2027).
• Education City branch campuses set their own deadlines; check each one's admissions page.

Because the visa is part of admission, missing a document deadline can cost you the place, not just delay the visa.

What to watch out for

You need a real third-party sponsor. Qatar University will not accept you as your own financial sponsor. The sponsor signs a declaration and, if in Qatar, provides a bank guarantee that must stay valid for three to five years. Line this up before you apply.

Scholarship conditions matter. HBKU's stipend is tied to full-time study and to limits on outside work. Read the scholarship letter in full: waivers vary from 0% to 100% by programme.

Travel needs paperwork. At Education City, leaving Qatar during your studies requires a signed leave notification form submitted days in advance.

Medicine and health degrees. If you plan to practise outside Qatar, check your home regulator's rules for recognising your degree before you enrol, and for US licensing check ECFMG's Recognized Accreditation Policy, which looks at whether your school's accreditor holds recognition from WFME or an equivalent body.

Fees are charged per credit. A heavier load or repeated courses cost more. Qatar University's new undergraduate rates apply only to students admitted from Fall 2026; earlier entrants keep their original rates.

Where these numbers come from

Rules change, sometimes at short notice. Every figure above carries the date we checked it. Check the official source before you rely on it. The government visa and residence permit fee, and any rule on off-campus work for students, were not published in a form we could verify.