study in Riga
The Baltic's largest city and the centre of Latvian higher education — three major universities, the country's only real international job market, and its highest costs.
Riga is where Latvian higher education happens. Rīga Stradiņš University teaches medicine and dentistry in English and is the reason most international students come to the country. Riga Technical University covers engineering and computing; the University of Latvia is the largest general institution.
It is also the only place in Latvia with a meaningful English-language job market — a technology and shared-services sector that hires internationally, which matters given students have twenty hours a week of work rights.
The old town is a UNESCO world heritage site and the city has the largest collection of art nouveau architecture in Europe, which makes it a genuinely pleasant place to spend a degree. Costs sit at the upper end of a narrow national range.
Three major universities, covering most of what Latvia offers international students.
Rīga Stradiņš University
Medicine, dentistry and health sciences in English, with broad international recognition and two intakes a year.Riga Technical University
Engineering, computing and architecture, with English-taught programmes at a fraction of medicine's cost.University of Latvia
The largest general university; sciences, business, humanities and social sciences.Riga is the most expensive place to study in Latvia, though the national range is narrow enough that the gap is modest. Dormitory accommodation is markedly cheaper than the private market and is the main lever you control here.
Against the other cities we cover in Latvia, Riga is one of the more expensive. 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
Baltic — long, dark, genuinely cold winters and short mild summers. The darkness is the adjustment students from Nepal underestimate.
Getting around
Trams, buses and trolleybuses with student discounts, in a city compact enough to walk much of.
Housing
University dormitories are far cheaper than the private market. Apply as soon as you are admitted.
Working
Twenty hours a week with no separate permit. Riga's technology sector is where the English-language work is.
Language
Latvian and Russian are both widely spoken; English is common among younger people and in technology. Latvian helps most for local employment.
The city
A UNESCO old town, Europe's largest art nouveau district, and a big covered market. Small enough to know quickly.
For most students there is not really a choice to make: Riga holds the medical university, the technical university and the largest general university — most of Latvia's higher education is in one city
And what no city changes: the residence permit, the subsistence figure and the twenty-hour work right are all national — no Latvian city changes any of them
We would rather say this plainly than build a comparison that does not exist. Latvia is a small country and Riga holds nearly all of its higher education — if you are studying medicine, engineering or a general subject, you are studying in Riga, and the city question resolves itself. The exceptions are genuine but narrow: veterinary medicine and agriculture at Jelgava, and a cheaper regional option at Daugavpils. Spend your comparison effort on institutions and, for medicine, on the Nepal Medical Council's list.
Riga 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.