The analysis was done by the Central State Office for Demography and Youth.
Eighty-four percent of cities and 77% of municipalities co-finance the transport of high school and university students, while Brod-Posavina, Osijek-Baranja, Požega-Slavonija, Split-Dalmatia, and Vukovar-Srijem counties offer free rail transport for university students.
According to the Croatian Union of Municipalities, the average municipal scholarships have been raised from HRK 500-600 a month a few years back to HRK 700-1,000. Recently, many municipalities have been awarding more, notably for shortage occupations.
According to the Association of Cities, Rijeka, Opatija and Šibenik are examples of good scholarship practice.
Rijeka has been awarding scholarships to talented high school and university students since 1993, to students studying for shortage occupations since 2010, and to socially vulnerable high school students since 2014.
This year the northern Adriatic city has set aside HRK 1.3 million for scholarships, while in the past 28 years, it has paid HRK 30 million for 3,619 scholarships for talented high school and university students.
If a student goes to school in Rijeka, they receive a HRK 850 monthly scholarship, while receiving HRK 1,100 if they study outside the city.
In Opatija, a high school scholarship amounts to HRK 500 a month and a university scholarship twice that. The northern Adriatic resort also awards a one-off post-graduate scholarship of HRK 10,000. Last year, Opatija awarded 46 high school scholarships, 61 university scholarships, and one post-graduate scholarship.
In Šibenik, a university scholarship amounts to HRK 1,000. For the school year 2022-23, the coastal city will award 40 university scholarships.
Cities and municipalities have been increasing scholarship amounts also due to inflation and the COVID crisis. The City of Sisak, for example, will raise the amount for university scholarships from €93 to €140 as of 1 January 2023.
The City of Zagreb will award the highest number as well as amount of scholarships, almost 1,000 in the school year 2022-23. A high school scholarship amounts to a net HRK 2,700 a month and a university scholarship to HRK 3,800.
(€1 = HRK 7.5)