International Scholarships for Nigerian Students

A scholarship is a stipend or award given to a student to help them pay for their education, based on academic or other achievements. Academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic ability, and financial constraint are some of the considerations used to give scholarships. Scholarship criteria usually reflect the donor’s or award’s founder’s goals and aspirations.

While scholarship beneficiaries are not expected to repay their rewards, they may be expected to meet certain conditions throughout their time of sponsorship, such as sustaining a particular grade point or participating in a specific task. For Nigerian students, there are two (2) major categories of scholarships; Nigerian Scholarships for undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral degrees and international scholarships. This article focuses on International scholarships tailored for Nigerian students to study abroad.

Chevening Scholarship:

Chevening is a global scholarship program run by the UK government that provides future leaders with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study in the UK. It is one of the international scholarships eligible for Nigerian students. Exceptional professionals from all around the world are given these scholarships to study a one-year master’s degree in any field at any UK university. The United Kingdom is home to some of the world’s most prestigious and diverse universities. By the time you submit your application, you should have completed all components of an undergraduate degree that will allow you to enroll in a postgraduate program at a UK university. In the United Kingdom, this is normally equivalent to an upper second-class 2:1 honors degree, but it may differ based on your study and university of choice.

Benefits: Tuition fee, monthly stipend, costs of travel to and from the United Kingdom, an allowance for when you arrive, a stipend for returning home, cost of single visa application, and a grant to attend Chevening activities in the United Kingdom. Click here to apply.

Fulbright Scholarship:

The Fulbright Program provides funding to qualified Nigerian graduate students who intend to pursue research in the United States of America for a duration of nine months. The Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant (FLTA) Program is open to both students and teachers. It is one of the international scholarships for Nigerian students. Nigerian scholars are eligible to apply for the Fulbright Visiting Scholar Program, which allows them to pursue post-doctoral research in the United States. Scholars can also participate in the Fulbright Researcher Program. Applicants for the Fulbright Scholarship for Nigerians must be Nigerian citizens or nationals, or permanent residents with a valid passport issued by the Nigerian government, and doctoral students who conducted research in their home institution. Candidates must meet the host institution’s requirements and be acceptable to them. For acceptance to programs in the US. colleges and institutions, Fulbright candidates to the United States may be required to submit test results, such as GRE scores for graduate programs and GMAT scores for business programs.

Benefits: Applicants for Fulbright scholarship must meet the language conditions for their proposed study, research, or teaching assignment, as well as to adapt to life in the host country.

Click here to learn more about the program. Please note that the deadline for the 2021/2022 academic session for the Fullbright scholarship has passed. However, I advise you to head to the site linked within to get information about the important documents needed. This will enable you to prepare early enough. Applications are usually accepted between February to June of every year.

Clarendon Fund Scholarships at the University of Oxford:

The Clarendon Fund is a prominent graduate scholarship program at Oxford that awards roughly 140 new scholarships yearly. Clarendon Scholarships are awarded at the graduate level at the University of Oxford-based on academic performance and prospects in all graduate program areas. Clarendon Scholarships are given to graduate students from all around the world who have demonstrated exceptional academic merit and potential. Scholarships are available in all subject areas and are available to individuals who apply for a new master’s or doctoral program before the deadline in January 2022.

Benefits: All Clarendon Scholarships pay the full cost of tuition and college expenses. Scholars enrolled in a full-time program are eligible for a high yearly living allowance, which will be at least 15,009 Pounds in 2020-21. Part-time students will get a study support stipend to help with non-fee expenses. Part-time students will get a study support stipend to help with non-fee expenses. Part-time DPhil (which is the Cambridge equivalent for PhD.) scholars should expect at least 2,502 Pounds, while part-time Master’s students should expect at least 5,003 Pounds. Scholarships are often granted for the duration of your obligation to pay tuition fees to the university, which is usually the same as the duration of your program. There is no additional documentation required for the Clarendon Scholarships, and no different scholarship application form exists. If you want to be eligible for the scholarship, you must apply for your course before the January deadline which is 7 January 2022. Click here to apply.

Reach Oxford Scholarships (for undergraduates):

A number of Oxford universities offer Reach Oxford Scholarships to undergraduate students who are unable to study for a degree in their home country due to political or financial constraints. Nigeria is one of the eligible countries for this scholarship. To be considered for the scholarship, you must have submitted a UCAS (an acronym for Universities and Colleges Admissions Service. It is the centralized service which students apply to universities) application to the University by the 15th of October 2021 and been accepted. After that, you will need to fill out a second scholarship application. Reach Oxford Scholarships are not available to all universities every year. If you are admitted to an institution that is not part of the program, you will still be eligible to apply for and receive a scholarship. If your application is accepted, plans will be made to transfer you from one college to another. Details on how to apply for 2022 entry will be made available on their website in January 2022.

Benefits include tuition fees, a stipend for living expenses, and one round-trip flight ticket every year. The deadline for the Reach Scholarship application is February 2022. Click here for more information.

Gates Cambridge Scholarships for International Students:

Each year, Gates Cambridge awards approximately 80 full-fee scholarships to outstanding students from outside the United Kingdom who wish to pursue a full-time postgraduate degree at the University of Cambridge in any discipline. PhD students will be eligible for about two-thirds of the grants, with approximately 25 awards available in the US round and 55 awards available in the international round. The Graduate Application Portal is where applicants submit their applications for admission and financing (Gates Cambridge and other funds). To be considered for a Gates Cambridge Scholarship, you must first apply for admission to a program and a University, then complete the Gates Cambridge section of the funding area. The application deadline for the Gates Cambridge scholarship is early December 2021 or early January 2022 (depending on the program).

Benefits: A Gates Cambridge Scholarship covers the entire cost of education for Cambridge, including tuition, living expenses, travel expenses, visa fees, and so on. It also provides discretionary cash for academic growth, family allowance, fieldwork, and other activities. Click here for more information on how to apply.

UNIL Master’s Grants in Switzerland for Foreign Students:

Nigerian students who intend to study for a Master’s Degree at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland are eligible for the UNIL Master’s Grants, which are awarded on a competitive basis.

Benefits: The scholarship is for the minimum statutory length of the student’s program of choice. With the exception of cases of decisive failure after the first year, it amounts to CHF 1,600 each month from 15 September to 15 July (or 10 months per year) for the entire duration of the masters (one and a half years or two years depending on the course). Scholarship recipients are excluded from the required registration fees for the courses, which is CHF 80.00 due each semester.

Candidates must mail their full application, along with all relevant documents, to the university’s address, unbound. The deadline for applications is November 1, 2021, for those who want to start a master’s degree the following academic year, either in the autumn semester or the spring semester, depending on the program. The data sent will be attested by the postmark. Click here for more information on this scholarship.

Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships for Foreign Students:

The Swiss Confederation provides Government Excellence Scholarships every year to encourage international interaction and research collaboration between Switzerland and over 180 other nations. The research fellowship is open to post-graduate researchers from any field (with a master’s degree or higher) who would like to go to Switzerland to conduct doctoral or post-doctoral research or studies. Only candidates who have been recommended by an academic mentor at one of these universities will be considered.

Benefits: The award includes a monthly stipend, tuition fee waivers, health insurance, airline travel, and housing allowance, among other things. Visit here for more information on the requirements and how to apply.

AAUW International Fellowships for Women:

The American Association of University Women (AAUW) grants International Scholarship opportunities to women who are neither citizens nor permanent residents of the United States for full-time study or research in the United States. Graduate and postgraduate education at approved colleges and universities are also funded. Women who have demonstrated a prior engagement to the promotion of women and girls through civic, community, or professional activities are given priority. An applicant must have the intention to return to her native country and seek a professional career.

Benefits: Fellowship for a Master’s or Professional Degree: $18,000 Fellowship for Doctoral Studies: $20,000 Fellowship for postdoctoral research: $30,000. The application deadline is November 15, 2021. Click here for more details on how to apply.

Kindly note that this is not the official scholarship information, it is just a summary to guide and inform you of the available scholarships for which Nigerian students are eligible. Kindly visit the official websites linked in the body of this article for the scholarship you are interested in, to get more information on how to apply.