Scholarships to Study in Italy for African Students 2027

Best scholarships to study in Italy

Italy runs one national scheme for foreign students, the Italian Government Scholarship, awarded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and known by its initials, MAECI. It pays €1,200 per month for nine months, from 1 November to 31 July, in three instalments; a shorter three-month version funds an intensive Italian language and culture course. Tuition is only partly covered — some universities exempt grant holders from enrolment and tuition fees, others do not, and no exemption reaches the regional tax. There is no travel allowance and no housing allowance. You apply through the Study in Italy portal rather than to a university. The last published call, for 2026/27 — the 2027/28 call had not been published as of 2026-09-10, closed on 26 March 2026. Our Italian Government scholarship guide follows the call.

The route that funds a whole qualification is Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters, paid by the European Commission. Tuition is covered in full, the stipend is €1,400 per month for the entire programme, and Consortia may charge scholarship holders neither an application fee nor tuition fees or other mandatory participation costs. You apply to a consortium of universities in at least three countries, not to Italy. See Erasmus Mundus scholarships.

Two further layers sit below the national schemes. Regional right-to-study grants (diritto allo studio) are run region by region — ER.GO in Emilia-Romagna, LazioDiSCo in Lazio, EDISU in Piedmont, DSU Toscana, ADiSURC in Campania — and pair a cash grant with a fee exemption, subsidised meals and a residence place. They are income- and merit-based, with annual calls published mostly between June and September. Universities add their own awards: need-based tuition waivers and a Sub-Saharan Africa scholarship at Bocconi, merit awards at Politecnico di Milano, Padua, Turin and Pisa, and Invest Your Talent in Italy, which pairs a fee waiver with a company internship. Amounts and dates sit on our Italian university pages.

The honest point: what tuition really costs without a scholarship

Italy is inexpensive at public universities, which is part of why full scholarships are scarce. A public bachelor’s costs €200–4,200 per year and a master’s the same, €200–4,200 per year, because the fee is set by a country-income band rather than by degree level. All nine of our origin countries fall in a reduced or middle band, never the top one, so the realistic figure sits near the bottom of that range. Add the regional right-to-study tax and stamp duty, €140–160 per year. Living costs are the real bill: €900–1,300 per month nationally, from €750–1,150 per month in Pisa to €1,050–1,550 per month in Milan, plus health cover at €135–700 per year. Private universities are a separate market, at €7,280–18,550 per year for a master’s. Our Italy cost breakdown has the city detail.

Who is eligible from our countries

Both national schemes are open to all nine origins we work with. Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Egypt, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Morocco are recorded as eligible for the Italian Government scholarship and for Erasmus Mundus. None is restricted and none is excluded.

That is the starting point, not the whole rule. MAECI is citizenship-based: each call publishes an eligible-countries list, and each Italian diplomatic mission applies its own jurisdiction list on top of it. The Italian Embassy in Pretoria’s 2026/27 call, for example, covered South Africa alongside several neighbouring countries. The list that decides your application is your embassy’s, not a continent-wide one. Dual nationals who also hold Italian citizenship must apply under the other nationality, and applicants with several foreign citizenships choose one beneficiary country.

Erasmus Mundus carries no nationality restriction at all. One cap applies: no more than a tenth of a project’s scholarships may go to applicants of a single nationality. That cap excludes the extra scholarships funded from the EU’s external instrument, NDICI, and Sub-Saharan Africa and the Neighbourhood South region covering Egypt and Morocco are both targeted for those top-ups.

Regional right-to-study grants work differently again. Our dataset records no per-country rule for them, because they are decided on income and merit rather than on passport, and each region assesses your family income through an ISEE-equivalent calculation after you have a place.

Fully funded vs partial — know what you are applying for

Only Erasmus Mundus is fully funded in the ordinary sense of the phrase: tuition covered in full, €1,400 per month for the whole programme, and no application or participation fee charged to holders. That monthly amount is one unit cost meant to cover travel, visa, installation and subsistence together, so no separate flight or settling-in payment follows.

MAECI is partial, and the word matters. The stipend of €1,200 per month runs for nine months. Tuition relief depends on the university agreeing to exempt grant holders, the regional tax stays payable at €140–160 per year, and the call provides neither travel nor housing money. Budget for the flight, the visa, the residence permit and the first month yourself. Regional grants and university awards are partial by design too: a fee exemption, a subsidised room, a percentage off tuition — useful, but not a package that replaces your own funds.

Eligibility — grades, age, degree level, language

MAECI sets an age limit of 40. Entry rules differ by grant type: master’s applicants must already hold the qualification that gives access to the course, PhD applicants must attach a full admission letter — a pre-admission letter is never accepted — and research applicants need a supervisor’s invitation letter and a project description. You do not need a university place before applying, recorded in the dataset as no. Shortlisted candidates are interviewed by the diplomatic mission, which then publishes its own merit ranking.

Language is the part applicants underestimate. MAECI asks for B2 in the language of the course, Italian or English. Applicants from English-speaking countries, or with a degree taught entirely in English, may self-declare B2 English; Duolingo is accepted for English only, and any certificate must state the CEFR level. Language courses need A2 Italian. Universities set their own English floors, commonly around IELTS 6 for a master’s, and there is no national rule. Our Italy without IELTS page lists the accepted alternatives.

Erasmus Mundus asks for a first higher education degree or a recognised equivalent, and some consortia accept final-year bachelor’s students. Each consortium sets its own language requirement. You may not hold a second Erasmus Mundus scholarship.

How to apply

1. Now to December 2026 — choose the route. Erasmus Mundus for a funded master’s, MAECI for a stipend, a regional grant once you hold a place. One of them is your main plan; the others are backup.
2. October 2026 to January 2027 — apply to Erasmus Mundus consortia for the 2027/28 intake. One application per consortium, marking the scholarship request, plus any interview or test the consortium runs.
3. Winter 2026/27 — prepare and legalise documents. Transcripts, degree certificate, passport copy, language certificate, CV and motivation letter. Italy needs an apostille (yes) and a consular Dichiarazione di Valore, or a CIMEA Statement of Comparability instead.
4. Spring 2027 — file the MAECI application on the Study in Italy portal: register while the call is open, name up to three courses of the same type, upload the certificates and submit. The 2026/27 call closed 26 March 2026 at 14:00 Italian time, so plan for a similar March window.
5. Spring to summer 2027 — sit the mission interview and wait for the ranking of winners and reserves, which each embassy publishes itself.
6. Summer 2027 — apply for admission and complete Universitaly pre-enrolment at https://www.universitaly.it/. Open-access bachelor’s and single-cycle master’s courses also need the B2 certificate at this step.
7. By 31 October 2027 — file the visa application. It costs €50 and takes 6 to 13 weeks; an awarded scholarship counts towards the €10,179.85 per year you must prove. Our Italy student visa guide lists the file.
8. On arrival — apply for the residence permit, at €116.46.