About Us

Our History

2022

Balassi Education Programs
Scholarship programs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
2016
Balassi Institute integrates into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFA-Balassi)

2016
2007

Balassi Institute (BI)
2002
Balassi Bálint Institute

2002
1997

Hungarian Language Institute
Magyar Nyelvi Intézet (MANYI)
1994
Kodolányi János Institute

1994
1992

Kodolányi János Hungarian Language Preparatory Institute
1967
Hungarian Pre-university Institute for Foreign Students
Nemzetközi Előkészítő Intézet (NEI)

1967
1957

University preparatory for foreign students
1964–66 ELTE International Preparatory Institute
1952
Beginning of Hungarian language preparatory courses

1952

Balassi Scholarship Programmes (and its legal predecessor training) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has been operating in the Hungarian education system since 1957.

Students attend 24,000 Hungarian language lessons per year in our accredited courses. Lecturers teach approximately 16,000 lessons per academic year in the most diverse field of Hungarian culture (literature, history, geography, linguistics, ethnography, etc.), as well as in the subjects required for further study at universities in Hungary.

No other educational institution in Hungary has so many Hungarian language classes: students from more than 40 countries around the world are taught by our teachers who have degrees in Hungarian as a foreign language.

Our educational programme is wide-ranging: we offer learning opportunities for foreigners from language courses to Hungarology studies, furthermore university preparatory programmes and summer university.

During the academic year, you can choose from our normal (12 hours per week), intensive (20 hours per week) and afternoon (6 hours per week) language courses. But in the summer, you can also enrol in the four-week Balassi Summer University, which has been welcoming 70-90 students a year for more than 10 years.

Our educational offer includes 6 types of scholarship programmes in addition to self-funded language courses. Find detailed descriptions of the programmes on the Study Programmes page.

About Us

Our History

2022

2016

2016

2007

2002

2002

1997

1994

1994

1992

1967

1967

1957

1952

1952

Our Past