Transfer from the University of Zagreb Faculty of Veterinary Medicine: Where to Continue in 2026

What is the University of Zagreb Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and what does it teach in English?

The University of Zagreb, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, in Zagreb, Croatia, was founded in 1919 and is the only veterinary faculty in the country. It runs a six-year integrated programme leading to the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree, and that programme is genuinely offered in English as well as in Croatian.

The English-taught stream is small by design. For the 2024/2025 academic year the faculty lists 30 places for European Union citizens and 5 places for non-European Union citizens, so roughly 35 students per intake. The first four years carry the foundational and pre-clinical subjects; the last two are dominated by clinical work, and students choose one of three tracks: farm animals and horses, household pets, or hygiene and technology of animal foodstuffs with veterinary public health. Around a fifth of the coursework is elective.

The programme is state-accredited, and Croatia joined the European Union in 2013.

Can you transfer from the University of Zagreb Faculty of Veterinary Medicine to another veterinary faculty?

Yes. A student enrolled at the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, in Croatia can continue veterinary medicine at another veterinary faculty in Europe, entering a higher year rather than starting again. Medschool Experts specialises in exactly this kind of move and has done so for more than 500 students across medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and veterinary medicine.

The practical question is never whether transfers exist. It is where your own record lands. Completed subjects, ECTS credits and the order in which a curriculum places anatomy, physiology, parasitology and clinical rotations all feed into the answer, and they differ between faculties. That is the work we do for you: we hold your transcript against the curricula of our official partner faculties and come back with the concrete places that can take you, and in which year.

One rule matters more than any other. Stay enrolled in Zagreb until your new place is confirmed in writing. Nobody should give up a seat they still hold.

Why do students transfer from Zagreb veterinary medicine?

Students leave the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, in Croatia for reasons of fit and planning, not because anything is wrong with the faculty. Cost, exam format, personal or organisational circumstances, and the country they want to work in afterwards are the four that come up in almost every consultation we hold.

• Annual cost. At 10,500 EUR per academic year for 2024/2025, Zagreb sits in the upper half of the European field. Several partner veterinary faculties charge considerably less, and over three remaining years the gap adds up.
• Exam format and pace. Some students pass everything except one or two specific subjects. A faculty whose examination rhythm and resit structure suit them better solves a problem that more revision alone often does not. We are specialists in precisely this situation.
• Personal or organisational reasons. Family circumstances, health, a partner in another country, or simply a working relationship that has stopped functioning. These are ordinary human reasons and they are treated as such.
• Career country. A graduate who intends to practise in another European country, or who is aiming at licensure in the United States, may want the remaining years to sit in a country whose calendar, language of teaching and placement network already point that way.

None of these is a complaint. They are planning questions with concrete answers.

Where can Zagreb veterinary students transfer to?

Veterinary students transfer to other veterinary faculties, never to a general medical faculty. A transfer to another veterinary faculty is possible, and Medschool Experts offers exactly that. We work with 25+ partner universities in Europe specifically for students in this situation, including English-taught veterinary faculties inside the European Union with a lower annual fee, a different exam format or a calendar that suits your career country. Which of them suits you depends on your transcript and your goal, so we check every profile individually and free of charge.

We do not publish lists of universities that accept transfer students. Places, entry years and credit recognition change from semester to semester, and a list would promise something only your own record from Zagreb can decide. Where a fee is not published for the coming year, we ask the faculty directly rather than print a guess.

A study transfer is a complex undertaking. Our experts have almost 10 years of experience in study transfers worldwide, which is why they plan and carry it out confidently. The consultation is free.

How much can a Zagreb veterinary student save by transferring?

Tuition at the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, in Croatia is 10,500 EUR per academic year for a single payment (2024/2025). English-taught Veterinary Medicine at our European partner universities starts from 3,000 EUR tuition per semester.

A student who leaves Zagreb after three years and continues at a partner faculty starting from 3,000 EUR per semester pays from 18,000 EUR instead of 31,500 EUR for the three remaining years, up to 13,500 EUR less in tuition alone. The saving is real, but it is not the only number that counts. A year lost costs more than a fee saved. That is why we look at the entry year first and the price second.

Which year can you enter after leaving Zagreb veterinary medicine?

There is no fixed cap. Medschool Experts frequently achieves high placements for veterinary students leaving the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, in Croatia, often into year 4 or year 5. Every case is reviewed individually against the receiving faculty's curriculum, and the aim is the highest possible entry with no or minimal loss of time.

As a rule of thumb, usually no more than two exams may still be outstanding, and their ECTS volume has to stay below a maximum. That is a working guideline, not a verdict on your file. Two students with the same number of semesters behind them can land in different years, simply because of which subjects each of them has completed and how the receiving curriculum is sequenced.

How does a transfer from Zagreb veterinary medicine work with Medschool Experts?

Four steps, in this order: a free consultation, a review of your academic record, a placement offer naming faculty and entry year, and then the switch itself with a plan and dates. Throughout, you stay enrolled at the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, in Croatia until your new place is confirmed.

We do not publish document lists or deadlines here, because they change by faculty and by year and a stale list is worse than none. Send us your profile instead. We check it against our partner network and tell you what is actually open to you.

What do EU recognition and accreditation mean for a Zagreb veterinary degree?

Croatia has been a member of the European Union since 2013, so a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine awarded by the University of Zagreb falls under Directive 2005/36/EC on the recognition of professional qualifications, where veterinary surgeons are listed in Annex V point 5.4.2. The same Directive covers degrees from every other European Union veterinary faculty.

In practice that means a transfer inside the European Union does not change your legal position in any member state: the diploma remains automatically recognised, and the licence to practise is issued by the competent national authority. Outside the European Union it works differently. For the United States, graduates of veterinary schools outside the US and Canada usually take one of two certification pathways, ECFVG or PAVE. Both end in a certificate, and licensure itself still comes from the individual state board. If the United States is your plan, confirm that your target jurisdiction accepts your chosen pathway before you build a timetable around it.

Accreditation is a separate question from recognition. The programme in Zagreb is state-accredited, and we check the current accreditation position with you for each faculty on your shortlist. More on the mechanics in our guide to veterinary transfers within Europe, and on the Croatian side in our guide to changing university in Croatia without losing time.

When should Zagreb veterinary students start planning a transfer?

As early as the thought is serious. A student at the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, in Croatia who starts the conversation a full semester before the intended move keeps far more faculties and entry years in play than one who begins in August. Early planning is what protects the entry year.

Two moments are natural. The end of an academic year, when your Transcript of Records is complete and a whole year of credits is documented. And the point at which one or two subjects have started to dominate your planning, because that is exactly the situation where a different exam format often resolves in one semester what another year of the same format would not.

There is no cost to finding out. A free consultation gives you a factual picture of which veterinary faculties could take you and in which year, and you can still decide to stay in Zagreb afterwards. Plenty of students do. The point is to make that choice with numbers in front of you.