The aim of this research was to gain insight into the knowledge of rare diseases by students of several faculties of the University of Zagreb. The research was conducted on a sample of 100 students. For research purposes, students completed an online survey on knowledge of rare diseases. The results obtained by this research indicate a poor knowledge of rare diseases and leave room for improvement. Although 86% of students had heard of the term "rare diseases", 53% did not know how to name one rare disease on their own. They also showed poor knowledge of various rare diseases. 89% of the total number of students have never heard of bullous epidermolysis, 76% of achondroplasia, 65% of them have never heard of osteogenesis imperfecta. Also, a small percentage of students chose the correct answer to questions about the incidence of rare diseases (4%), the number of rare diseases (13%), the chronological age of occurrence of rare diseases (28%), the number of patients worldwide (5%), the percentage of rare diseases genetic origin (23%), the number of patients in Croatia (21%) and the marking day of rare diseases (21%). Furthermore, when asked about the name of drugs for the treatment of rare diseases, 10 out of 100 study participants answered correctly. Recommendations for students are various workshops, debates, quizzes and sharing life stories by patients with students. I believe that this way young people could be encouraged to think more and learn about rare diseases, in order to raise awareness of the general public and ensure the best possible quality of life for the sick.