study in Jelgava
A small city south-west of Riga built around Latvia's life sciences university — the place to be if your subject is veterinary medicine or agriculture.
Jelgava is about forty kilometres from Riga and is dominated by the Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies. Its veterinary faculty is the country's, and it teaches agricultural sciences, food technology, forestry and engineering alongside.
For a Nepali student interested in veterinary medicine specifically, this is a genuinely relevant option: an EU veterinary degree at a fraction of what the same qualification costs in western Europe, and well below the medical fees at Rīga Stradiņš.
The city is small and quiet, with a baroque palace as its landmark. Riga is close enough to reach easily, which softens the smallness considerably.
Latvia's life sciences university, including its veterinary faculty.
Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies
Veterinary medicine, agriculture, food technology, forestry and engineering, with English-taught provision.Jelgava costs less to live in than Riga and its veterinary programme is substantially cheaper than medicine at RSU — which makes it one of the better-value routes to an EU professional qualification in this guide, for the narrow set of students whose subject it is.
Against the other cities we cover in Latvia, Jelgava is one of the cheaper. That is our reading of this country’s own spread, not a published index.
Living costs across Latvia run roughly €350–850 a month — with Riga at the upper end and dormitories far below the private market anywhere.
The practical texture of the place — what a week actually looks like.
Climate
The same Baltic pattern as Riga — long cold winters, short summers.
Getting around
A small city you can walk across, with frequent trains and buses to Riga in well under an hour.
Housing
Student housing and a cheap private market. Below Riga on both.
Working
Twenty hours a week nationally, but a small local market — most students who work commute to Riga or work on campus.
Language
Latvian dominates. Less English than Riga outside the university.
Scale
Small and quiet. The proximity to Riga is what makes that workable rather than isolating.
Latvia's higher education is concentrated in the capital — Riga holds the medical university, the technical university and the largest general university — most of Latvia's higher education is in one city
What Jelgava offers instead: roughly €350–850 a month
Be clear about why you would choose Jelgava: because your subject is here. Veterinary medicine and agricultural science are taught at this university and not in Riga, and for those students the lower costs and the short commute to the capital make it a straightforwardly good option. If your subject is medicine, engineering or business, there is no reason to be in Jelgava — those are Riga's.
Jelgava is one of 3 cities we cover in Latvia. Tap any pin to compare — the city you pick moves your total cost more than almost any other choice you make.