Slovenia eases Zois scholarship rules by dropping public funding requirement

Slovenia has amended its Scholarship Act to remove the requirement that competitions counted towards a Zois scholarship be co-financed from public funds. The change is contained in the Zakon o spremembah Zakona o štipendiranju (ZŠtip-1D), published in the Uradni list Republike Slovenije no. 1507/2026 of 26 September 2026 under document number 2026-01-2167. The law takes effect the day after publication, that is, on 27 September 2026.

What the amendment changes

The law’s single substantive article rewrites the first paragraph of Article 24 of the Zakon o štipendiranju (Uradni list RS, nos. 56/13, 99/13 – ZUPJS-C, 8/16, 61/17 – ZUPŠ, 31/18, 54/22 – ZUPŠ-1, 122/23 and 100/25 – ZUPŠ-2). In detail:

• The wording “co-financed from public funds” is deleted from the first and second indents.
• In the third and fourth indents, “co-financed from public funds of the ministry responsible for education” is replaced by “selected by the ministry responsible for education”.
• The fifth and sixth indents are deleted outright.
• The former seventh to twelfth indents are renumbered as the fifth to tenth.

Pending procedures and the 2026/2027 school year

Article 3 of the law addresses cases already in the pipeline. Administrative and judicial procedures for granting or continuing a Zois scholarship that began before the law took effect and are not yet final will be concluded by applying the amended first paragraph of Article 24.

For the 2026/2027 school and study year, and for earlier school and study years, an achievement obtained at national level in a selection or interest competition will also count as an exceptional achievement — provided that the competition was designated as suitable for claiming an exceptional achievement in the public call valid for the year in which the application was filed. The exceptional achievement is determined according to the number of points in force for that school or study year.

Harmonisation deadline and adoption

Article 2 requires two implementing rules to be aligned with the amended Article 24 within 15 days of the law’s entry into force:

• The Pravilnik o dodeljevanju Zoisovih štipendij (Uradni list RS, nos. 35/14, 43/16, 32/17, 44/18, 53/24 and 45/25).
• The Pravilnik o opredelitvi in uveljavljanju izjemnih dosežkov za dodelitev Zoisovih štipendij na področju visokega šolstva (Uradni list RS, nos. 52/24 and 1277/26).

The law was adopted by the Državni zbor Republike Slovenije under number 603-01/26-1/15 in Ljubljana on 18 September 2026, signed by its president Zoran Stevanović, with the legislative references EVA 2026-2190-0005 and EPA 233-X. It was promulgated by the Ukaz o razglasitvi Zakona o spremembah Zakona o štipendiranju (ZŠtip-1D) no. 003-02-1/2026-193, issued by the President of the Republic, Nataša Pirc Musar, on 26 September 2026.

Impact

The amendment widens the pool of competitions that can support a Zois scholarship application and gives relief to applicants whose cases are still open, affecting secondary-school pupils and students as well as the ministry and the schools that administer the scheme.

Source: Uradni list Republike Slovenije, no. 1507/2026, 26 September 2026, section I (official reference: 2026-01-2167).