Every year, thousands of students in Nigeria, India, and beyond miss out on fully funded study abroad opportunities — not because they weren’t qualified, but because they found the scholarship a week after it closed. This guide fixes that. Below, we break down the biggest fully funded scholarships open to students in Nigeria, India, the USA, and Europe for the 2027 intake — current deadlines, direct application links, and exactly what to do if a window has already closed.
Bookmark this page. We’ll flag which scholarships are open right now, and which ones you should start preparing for ahead of their next cycle.
1. Commonwealth Scholarship (UK) — Open Now for Nigeria
Status: 🟢 OPEN | Deadline: October 20, 2026, 4:00 PM BST
The Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan (CSFP) is funded by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and is built specifically for students who could not otherwise afford postgraduate study in the UK. It funds a one-year taught master’s degree or up to three years of PhD study at eligible UK universities, with the 2027/2028 cohort beginning studies in September or October 2027.
Who can apply
- Be a citizen of, or hold refugee status in, an eligible Commonwealth country (Nigeria qualifies)
- Be permanently resident in that country
- Hold a first degree of at least Upper Second-Class (2:1) honours by September 2027 (2nd Class Lower is accepted for PhD applicants)
- Be unable to afford UK study without the scholarship — this is a genuine eligibility criterion, not a formality
- Have no age limit
- Not already hold a UK Master’s degree or a prior Commonwealth Master’s Scholarship
What it covers
- Full tuition fees
- A monthly living allowance (£2,000/month for scholars in the London metropolitan area; a lower rate applies outside London — confirm the current figure on the CSC site)
- Return airfare to the UK
- A study travel grant for approved research-related travel
Nigeria-specific requirements (on top of the CSC’s own criteria)
- A National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge or exemption certificate
- At least two admission offers from UK universities at the time of application
- PhD applicants must attach a supporting statement from their UK host university
- The application is completely free — no fees are charged at any stage
How to apply (Nigeria)
- Register on the Federal Ministry of Education’s Electronic Application System (EAS) — this is Nigeria’s national nominating channel, run alongside the CSC’s own process
- Complete the online application form
- Upload: a scanned passport photograph, university transcripts, birth certificate, and admission letters from your UK institution(s)
- Submit everything online on or before October 20, 2026
- Generate and save a PDF copy of your completed application
- Print one hard copy to bring to your interview
References must be uploaded before the deadline — they cannot be added afterward, so line up your referees early. Selection is scored on three things: academic merit, the quality of your study plan, and your potential contribution to Nigeria’s development — so your personal statement should explicitly connect your proposed course of study to a development priority (energy, health, governance, agriculture, education, etc.), not just your career goals.
The Federal Ministry of Education forwards Nigeria’s nominated candidates to the CSC by December 2026, with final outcomes expected around July 2027.
🔗 Apply: Commonwealth Master’s Scholarships – CSC · Commonwealth PhD Scholarships
2. Chevening Scholarship (UK) — Open Now for Nigeria & India
Status: 🟢 OPEN | Deadline: October 6, 2026, 11:00 UTC
Chevening is the UK government’s flagship global scholarship, funding a one-year master’s degree at any UK university for early-to-mid-career professionals. Unlike Commonwealth, Chevening isn’t primarily need-based — it’s built around leadership potential.
Who can apply
- Citizen of a Chevening-eligible country (both Nigeria and India qualify — India runs the largest Chevening cohort in the world)
- At least 2,800 hours (roughly two years) of work experience after your undergraduate degree
- An undergraduate degree equivalent to UK upper-second-class (2:1) honours, completed at least two years before the deadline
- Willingness to return to your home country for at least two years after the award ends
What it covers: Full tuition, monthly living stipend, and travel costs for one academic year in the UK.
🔗 Apply: chevening.org/apply
3. Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters (Europe) — Rolling Deadlines
Status: 🟢 OPEN (varies by programme) | Most deadlines: October 2026 – January 2027
Erasmus Mundus is EU-funded but works differently from a single national scholarship: there’s no one application or deadline. Instead, you apply directly to a specific joint master’s programme run by a consortium of 2+ European universities, and each one sets its own deadline. Open to applicants of any nationality, including Nigeria and India.
What it covers: Full tuition, a monthly stipend of roughly €1,400, travel, and insurance for the 1–2 year joint degree.
How to apply: Browse the EU’s official Erasmus Mundus catalogue, shortlist 3–5 programmes matching your field, and apply directly to each consortium — they do not share one portal.
🔗 Browse programmes: Erasmus Mundus Catalogue
4. DAAD Scholarships (Germany) — Rolling Deadlines
Status: 🟢 OPEN (varies by programme) | Most deadlines: August – December 2026
The DAAD EPOS programme targets professionals from developing countries — Nigeria and India both qualify — for development-related master’s and PhD study at German universities in fields like engineering, economics, agriculture, public health, and environmental science. German public universities are tuition-free, so this scholarship mainly covers your living costs and insurance rather than tuition.
Who can apply: Graduates with at least two years of relevant professional experience (academic teaching roles generally don’t count toward this).
What it covers: Monthly stipend (€992–€1,400 depending on degree level), health/accident/liability insurance, and a travel allowance.
How to apply: Each participating course sets its own deadline — search the DAAD scholarship database by country and subject to find yours.
🔗 Search: DAAD Scholarship Database
5. GREAT Scholarships (UK) — Open at Several Universities
Status: 🟢 OPEN at select universities | Deadlines vary (May – November 2026)
Jointly funded by the UK’s GREAT Britain Campaign and the British Council, this award gives up to £10,000 toward a one-year postgraduate course at any of 60+ participating UK universities. Both Nigeria and India are named eligible countries (alongside Ghana, Kenya, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and others).
How to apply: There’s no central application — each university runs its own competition and deadline. Some, like the University of Hull, are open until mid-November 2026 for a January 2027 start.
🔗 Find a scholarship: study-uk.britishcouncil.org/scholarships-funding/great-scholarships
6. Fulbright Foreign Student Program (Nigeria → USA)
Status: 🔴 CLOSED for this cycle | Deadline was June 1, 2026
This is Nigeria’s route into Fulbright-funded doctoral research in the United States, aimed at faculty members already at least two years into a PhD at a Nigerian university. It’s administered by the U.S. Mission in Nigeria and funded by the U.S. Department of State.
Next window: Expect the next call to open around February 2027, with a deadline around June 1, 2027. Start preparing now — line up your research proposal, TOEFL score, and institutional endorsement so you’re ready the moment it reopens.
🔗 Programme page (bookmark for reopening): ng.usembassy.gov/the-fulbright-foreign-student-program
7. Fulbright-Nehru Fellowships (India → USA)
Status: 🔴 CLOSED for this cycle | Deadlines were July 1 and July 15, 2026
Administered by the United States-India Educational Foundation (USIEF), this covers Doctoral Research, Postdoctoral Research, and Academic & Professional Excellence Fellowships for Indian citizens to research or teach at U.S. institutions. Government of India civil servants are not eligible, but researchers at centrally funded institutions (IITs, IISc, ICAR, DRDO, ISRO, ICMR) are.
Next window: The 2028/2029 cycle typically opens around February 2027 and closes around July 2027. Use the months ahead to secure a U.S. host institution affiliation — USIEF strongly recommends applicants arrange this themselves before applying.
🔗 Programme page (bookmark for reopening): usief.org.in
8. ICCR Scholarships / India-Africa Maitri Scheme (Nigeria → India)
Status: 🔴 CLOSED for this cycle | Deadline was April 15, 2026
India’s Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) offers Nigerian and other African students access to 131 Indian universities for diploma, undergraduate, postgraduate, and PhD study, fully funded, through the India-Africa Maitri Scholarship Scheme. A major advantage: places are allocated by country-specific quota, so you compete only against other Nigerian applicants, not a global pool.
Next window: The portal typically reopens around late February 2027 and closes mid-April 2027. Bookmark the portal now so you’re not searching for it again next year.
🔗 Portal (bookmark for reopening): a2ascholarships.iccr.gov.in
The Strategy: How to Actually Win One of These
Applicants who get funded consistently do five things differently:
- Build a rolling deadline calendar, not a one-time search. These awards cluster into two seasons — an August–October wave (Chevening, Commonwealth, DAAD, GREAT) and a February–July wave (Fulbright, ICCR, catch-up Erasmus Mundus rounds). Set a reminder 90 days before each opens, not before it closes.
- Secure your university admission offer before the scholarship deadline where it’s required. Commonwealth and Chevening both reward — or require — having an offer, or an active application, from an eligible university at the time you apply. Start your degree application 2–3 months ahead of the scholarship deadline.
- Identify your national nominating body first. Commonwealth (Nigeria: Federal Ministry of Education), Fulbright (Nigeria: U.S. Embassy Public Affairs Section; India: USIEF), and ICCR (High Commission of India) all route through a national gatekeeper before the international body sees your file. If a deadline isn’t published, contact that office directly.
- Write to the funder’s actual priorities, not a generic essay. Commonwealth scores development impact. Chevening scores leadership and influence. DAAD’s EPOS track wants a clear link to development work in your field. Reusing one personal statement across all of them reads as generic to every reader.
- Apply to more than one, deliberately. Because the criteria differ (Chevening = leadership; Commonwealth = development impact; DAAD = professional relevance; Erasmus Mundus = fit with a specific consortium), applying to 3–4 in parallel is standard practice — and each draft sharpens the next.
Find Your Perfect Scholarship
Deadlines move every year, so treat this as a starting point, not a final answer — always confirm dates on the official portal before you apply. Zejimo tracks fully funded scholarships, financial aid programs, and fellowship deadlines across the world’s top universities. 🔗 Search scholarships on Zejimo →
Have a scholarship you’d like added to this guide, or a question about eligibility? Leave a comment below.