Scholarships for Zimbabwean Students in Europe (2027)

Best scholarships for Zimbabwean students

Chevening Scholarships is the UK route. Tuition is covered in full, with a monthly living allowance, economy return flights, one entry-clearance application and a TB-test contribution, for One academic year — a full-time taught master's starting in the autumn term. The filter that removes most applicants is work, not grades: At least 2,800 hours acquired after the undergraduate degree and over a minimum of two years — roughly two years of full-time work at 35 hours a week; full-time, part-time and voluntary work and paid or unpaid internships count, entered as up to 15 employment periods. The 2027/28 round opened 4 August 2026 and closes 6 October 2026. See our Chevening scholarship guide.

DAAD Scholarships funds study in Germany at €992–1,400 per month, with tuition waived by university, health insurance included and a lump-sum flight. Zimbabwe sits on the OECD DAC list that EPOS and the Helmut-Schmidt-Programme run on. Applications go to the German master’s course itself; files sent to a DAAD office are not forwarded. The Helmut-Schmidt round for 2027/28 closed 31 July 2026 and decides in December 2026 to January 2027; EPOS courses each set their own date. See DAAD scholarships.

Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters pays €1,400 per month for 12, 18 or 24 months (60, 90 or 120 ECTS); the scholarship runs for the full programme duration. You study in at least two countries and apply to the consortium, not to a government. Sub-Saharan Africa is a targeted region for extra EU-funded scholarships. See Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters.

Three more are open. Türkiye Bursları (Türkiye Scholarships) funds bachelor’s as well as master’s study: full tuition, a dormitory place, flights both ways and TRY 4,500–9,000 per month, with 5,000 awards a year. Italian Government Scholarships for Foreign Students (MAECI) pays €1,200 per month for nine months, tuition exemption depending on the university. OeAD / Ernst Mach Grants pays €1,300 per month for 1 to 9 months (Ernst Mach worldwide); 4 to 10 months at a university of applied sciences; the grant must be consumed by the end of 2028 — a research stay in Austria, not a degree.

What is NOT open to Zimbabwean students (or only partly)

Three schemes on the usual listicles are closed. Commonwealth Scholarships: no — Zimbabwe is on no Commonwealth Scholarship Commission eligible-country list, so there is nothing to apply to. See Commonwealth Scholarships for who does qualify. Stipendium Hungaricum: no — Zimbabwe is not a Sending Partner, so there is no nomination pipeline. Poland’s Banach NAWA programme: no.

Two are open only in part. Eiffel is restricted: you cannot apply yourself, and files sent by foreign institutions are rejected — a French university must present you, so you secure the master’s place first and then ask its international office to file. MAEC-AECID is restricted: Zimbabwe is on the 2026/27 África-Med Máster country list, but only permanent, non-temporary public-sector employees may apply, with written authorisation from a superior, and there were 41 awards.

Fully funded vs partial — know the difference

Three of the six pay for everything. Erasmus Mundus covers tuition in full plus €1,400 per month, and consortia may charge holders neither an application fee nor tuition. Chevening covers tuition in full plus living costs, flights and the visa. Türkiye Bursları adds the rarest item, Place in a state student dormitory provided by the scheme.

The rest are stipends with conditions. DAAD’s €992–1,400 per month works because tuition is waived by university and German public tuition is free anyway. The Italian grant is Partial — the call states that some universities exempt grant holders from enrolment and tuition fees. The exemption depends on the institution, does not cover regional taxes and does not apply to Italian language courses. Eiffel pays a stipend but its tuition cover is None — tuition fees are not covered by the programme. Read the coverage line before the deadline: a stipend against a fee you still owe is not a funded degree.

Scholarships by destination

United Kingdom. Chevening only, and it matters, because a taught master’s costs £9,000–30,000 per year. Budget the TB test whatever happens: US$165 at IOM Harare Migration Health Assessment Centre, 10 Duthie Road, Alexandra Park.

Germany. DAAD, plus the fact that public tuition is free at bachelor’s and free at master’s level — you pay a semester contribution of €100–400 per semester. See German scholarships.

Türkiye. Türkiye Bursları, applied for through the TBBS portal — no embassy accepts a file. Only 210 Zimbabweans were studying there in 2023, so the country quota is not crowded from your side. Public tuition without an award is US$1,600–2,400 per year. See Türkiye scholarships.

Italy. The MAECI grant, decided by the Italian embassy whose jurisdiction covers you rather than by a continent-wide list. Public tuition is income-tiered at €200–4,200 per year and Zimbabwe falls in a reduced band.

Austria. Ernst Mach, for research stays and doctoral work rather than a full degree; tuition otherwise runs €726.72 per semester. Only 9 Zimbabweans studied in Austria in 2023.

France. Eiffel, filed by the university. Public master’s tuition is €255–3,950 per year, and many universities waive the non-EU rate.

Spain. MAEC-AECID, for public-sector staff. Otherwise public tuition is €757–8,186 per year.

Poland. No scheme is open to you, yet 3,598 Zimbabweans study there — because tuition is €2,000–6,500 per year. Poland is a low-fee destination, not a funded one.

Eligibility & how to win

Level first. Chevening, Erasmus Mundus and MAEC-AECID fund master’s study only. DAAD’s development programmes are postgraduate. Türkiye Bursları and the Italian grant reach bachelor’s level; OeAD reaches doctoral and postdoctoral researchers. If you are finishing A-levels, Türkiye is the realistic funded route.

Grades. Zimbabwe’s degree scale maps cleanly: NUST: First Division ≥75%; Upper Second (2:1) 65–74%; Lower Second (2:2) 60–64%; Pass 50–59%. DAAD wants Above-average result in the first academic degree — upper (top performance) third of the cohort; Türkiye Bursları sets a floor of 70%; Chevening’s grade minimum is Not published: Chevening sets no minimum grade — the test is a degree that qualifies for the chosen UK master's and an unconditional offer from that university.

Age. Türkiye Bursları and OeAD cap at 35, the Italian grant at 40. Chevening, DAAD and Erasmus Mundus publish no age limit — DAAD instead requires a first degree A first university degree (bachelor, normally a four-year course) in a relevant subject, normally not more than six years old at the time of application — for the 2027 Helmut-Schmidt intake, issued not before 1 January 2020.

Language. English is Zimbabwe’s official language of instruction, and IELTS sits at British Council Harare (IELTS), British Council Bulawayo (IELTS). Chevening dropped its own English test; the university’s requirement still applies.

Odds are set by the scheme, not by effort: Türkiye Bursları makes 5,000 awards worldwide, OeAD 1024, Eiffel 433, MAEC-AECID 41. Two well-built applications beat six rushed ones.

Zimbabwe’s own funding

There is no state scholarship for study abroad. ZIMDEF and the cadetship scheme, run by the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development, are no for overseas study: they fund apprentice training, institutional grants and equipment, and bonded cadetships inside Zimbabwe. The “Joshua Nkomo Scholarship Fund” is widely named online as a government study-abroad fund; we could not verify it as a real fund, and treat it as likely not genuine.

That leaves three sources: an international scheme from the list above, family or diaspora money, and low-fee destinations. Anyone who offers to secure Zimbabwean government funding for a foreign degree, for a fee, is selling something that does not exist. Our guide to spotting a fake agent sets out the current patterns.

Deadlines to watch

The 2027/28 cycle is already running. Chevening opened 4 August 2026 and closes 6 October 2026 — the nearest live deadline. OeAD Ernst Mach closes 1 December 2026. Türkiye Bursları last ran 10 January 2026 to 20 February 2026, and its cycle is recurring — 2027/28 cycle dates not yet published; the dates given are the last published (2026) cycle. Eiffel’s last session closed 8 January 2026, filed by the university, with the 2026 session — the 2027-session dates were not yet published as of 2026-09-10. The Italian call closed 26 March 2026 for 2026/27 — the 2027/28 call had not been published as of 2026-09-10. Erasmus Mundus consortia set their own dates, mostly October to January, and DAAD EPOS courses do the same.