Fully funded scholarships for African students: the 2027 guide

Information checked on 2 November 2026.

A fully funded scholarship pays for four things: tuition fees, a monthly allowance to live on, travel and health insurance. For African students, these scholarships exist mainly at master's and doctoral level, from foreign governments, universities, foundations and African organisations. At bachelor's level they are rare and highly selective. This guide explains how to recognise them, compares the most accessible ones in our scholarship directory (in French) by level, and gives the calendar of an application year for the 2027 intake. Remember one rule: to leave in September 2027, many files are decided before the end of 2026.

What "fully funded scholarship" means

The phrase has no official definition. A body may use it for a simple fee reduction. So read the rules item by item.

Four traps come up in the rules:

The four big families of scholarships

Foreign governments

These are the most numerous: Eiffel (France), Chevening and Commonwealth (United Kingdom), DAAD (Germany), Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships, MEXT (Japan), GKS (South Korea), the Chinese government scholarship, Türkiye Bursları, Stipendium Hungaricum. They often work with country quotas and go through an intermediary: the host country's embassy in your country (MEXT, GKS, China), or the host institution (Eiffel, where only French institutions submit files).

Universities

Some universities fund international students themselves. The University of Toronto's Lester B. Pearson scholarship pays tuition, books, incidental fees and residence for four years to about 37 school leavers a year, nominated by their school. The Pasteur-Paris Université doctoral programme employs around fifteen doctoral students a year at 2,000 euros a month. The common rule: you must be admitted first, or apply for admission at the same time.

Foundations

The Mastercard Foundation is the largest private funder for young Africans. Its Scholars Program covers tuition, housing, books, a return ticket if needed, with mentoring and support. The foundation reports more than 58,000 scholarships committed and aims for 100,000 young people in higher education by 2030. You do not apply to the foundation but to a partner university, mostly in Africa. Doctorates are not covered. Our guide to the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program details each partner. Other foundations target a specific group: the Ashinaga Foundation, for example, funds orphans from French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa.

African and international organisations

Studying in Africa is often the least crowded route. AIMS's master's in mathematical sciences (South Africa, Senegal, Ghana, Cameroon, Rwanda) awards a full scholarship to admitted students, according to AIMS Ghana. The African Union's Pan African University and the European Union's Intra-Africa mobility scheme fund master's and doctoral studies on the continent. Outside Africa, Erasmus Mundus master's programmes offer full scholarships to the best candidates worldwide.

The most accessible fully funded scholarships, by level

"Accessible" here means: open to most African countries, with no special network, with a published procedure. None is easy. Each name links to its page (in French), which gives conditions, dates and sources.

Bachelor's

Master's

Doctorate

A partial scholarship can also be enough if it combines with an exemption: Université Paris-Saclay pays 10,000 euros a year for a master's, Quebec 20,000 Canadian dollars a year for a research master's with exemption from the higher international fees. Then read the cumulation rule: many scholarships forbid it.

Typical calendar of an application year

For a September 2027 start, the season begins in summer 2026. Here is how it unfolds, with the dates published for this cycle.

The consequence is simple: start twelve to fifteen months before the target intake. Anyone who discovers Chevening in November has already missed the year.

Preparing your file a year ahead

The documents of an application look alike from one scholarship to the next. Prepare them before calls open:

• diplomas and transcripts, translated and certified when the scholarship requires it;
• a recent language test: our comparison IELTS, TOEFL or Duolingo helps you choose;
• a motivation letter specific to each scholarship: see how to write a motivation letter for a scholarship;
• two or three recommendation letters, requested a month ahead: see the recommendation letter for a scholarship;
• a valid passport, which sometimes takes months to obtain.

Also choose your starting level clearly: our article leaving for a bachelor's or a master's compares the two options, and the one on the cost of a year of study by country puts figures on what a scholarship must cover.

Missing nothing with Compatri

Compatri's scholarship directory brings together 120 scholarships checked on official websites, filterable by nationality, level and destination. Your country's page, for example scholarships for Beninese students (in French), shows only those open to you.

• Alerts (subscribe, in French): you confirm your address with a six-digit code, then receive at most one email a week (approaching deadline, call opening, new page) and a final reminder ten days before closing. Only dates confirmed on the official page trigger a reminder.
• Application tracking (my applications, in French): the "Candidater" button on a page opens step-by-step tracking on your account. It goes through your details, the conditions, the official website, each step, submission, the deadlines for your nationality, then the answer. As long as submission is not ticked, a reminder goes out fourteen days, seven days and two days before the deadline, then on the day itself.
• Mentors (find a mentor): diaspora members, often former scholars, review a project on a voluntary basis.

Compatri awards no scholarship and does not replace official rules: only the funder's page is authoritative.

Spotting a fake scholarship

A public scholarship is never paid for. Be wary of a message demanding "reservation fees", a free email address posing as a ministry, or a scholarship offer without an application. Our guide to scholarship scams shows the signs to check.

The other guides in the scholarship series

• Scholarships to study in France from sub-Saharan Africa, and for the Maghreb, scholarships for Algerians, Moroccans and Tunisians
• Scholarships to study in Belgium: ARES, WBI, VLIRUOS
• Scholarships to study in Canada and Quebec
• Scholarships from China, Korea and Japan: CSC, GKS, MEXT
• Scholarships from Türkiye, Morocco and Egypt
• Scholarships in Germany: DAAD and foundations
• Scholarships for school leavers after the baccalaureate
• Scholarships for women in science

Sources

• Campus France: Eiffel excellence scholarship programme, 2027 session
• Commonwealth Scholarship Commission: master's scholarships
• Chevening: application timeline
• European Commission: Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters scholarships
• Türkiye Bursları: calendar
• Stipendium Hungaricum: apply
• SERI: Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships
• Mastercard Foundation: Scholars Program
• University of Toronto: Lester B. Pearson scholarship
• Institut Pasteur: PPU doctoral programme
• Sciences Po: Émile Boutmy scholarship
• Fonds de recherche du Québec: PBEEE 2027-2028