Latvia is known as the land that sings and Latvians claim that their country is a symphony of sounds, sights and experiences. The Latvian government has laid special emphasis on education and have made several educational reforms that have made it an ideal study abroad destination.

Latvia has both fee paying as well as state financed higher education opportunities in universities. For scholarship schemes a careful process of student selection is carried out so as to offer government aid to the most deserving students. There are two types of higher education programs offered in Latvia: Professional and Academic. Latvian universities offer both these programs, but there are several non-university type institutes in Latvia that offer only professional education to students.

The Bologna System is followed in higher education, which is divided into three distinct levels – the Bachelor’s studies, the Master’s studies and the Doctoral studies. A bachelor degree is awarded are either three or four years of regular study. A master’s degree on the other hand can be achieved only after receiving the Bachelor’s and completing further one or two years of study. In Doctoral studies, the students should have a master’s degree or an equivalent diploma. Doctoral studies can take anywhere from three to four years and involve advanced studies and the preparation of a Doctoral thesis.

The major reason why you should study in Latvia is the affordable education. The tuition fees and other living costs are lower as compared to several western nations. Engineering study in Latvia is very popular and the universities here are famous for producing high quality engineering and IT graduates. Latvia also has EU membership, so a degree from here is equivalent to that from any other EU country.

So you can still get an education in a European country with considerably cheaper living costs and other expenses.