Scholarships to Study in Hungary for African Students 2027

Best scholarships to study in Hungary

Stipendium Hungaricum is the national scheme, run by Tempus Public Foundation for the Hungarian state. It covers tuition in full, pays HUF 43,700–180,000 per month depending on level, includes health insurance and adds a dormitory place or a monthly housing contribution. It funds bachelor, master, phd, short-course, language-course, and the choice is wide — All fields offered by the Hungarian host institutions; about 900 full-degree programmes in the 2026/27 call. Art and music applicants submit a portfolio. You do not need a university offer first, but you do need your own government to nominate you: the route is mixed, one application to the Hungarian portal and a parallel one to your national sending partner. Our Stipendium Hungaricum guide sets out the paperwork.

The second fully funded route is Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters, paid by the European Commission and open at master’s level only. Tuition is covered in full, the stipend is €1,400 per month, and the award runs 12, 18 or 24 months (60, 90 or 120 ECTS); the scholarship runs for the full programme duration. You apply to a consortium of universities in at least three countries, so Hungary is often one stop of two or three rather than your whole degree.

Universities add their own money, and nearly all of it is partial. Corvinus runs the Corvinus Scholarship, a WIPO scholarship attached to its intellectual property master’s and a monthly study grant. The Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences has the MATE International Scholarship Programme and an FAO-Hungarian Government scheme. Debrecen has the UD International Scholarship, Pannonia a faculty study scholarship, and Pécs reduces pharmacy tuition by academic ranking from the third active semester. Several universities also administer the Hungarian Diaspora Scholarship, which is only for people of Hungarian descent. Amounts and deadlines sit on our Hungarian university pages.

The honest point: what tuition really costs without a scholarship

Hungary charges international students tuition, so a scholarship here removes a bill you genuinely owe. A public bachelor’s costs €3,000–8,000 per year and a public master’s €5,000–8,000 per year. Private universities charge €5,000–9,800 per year at bachelor’s level and €5,000–9,000 per year at master’s. Medicine in English is the outlier at US$16,900–20,900 per year, billed in dollars by most faculties. On top of the fee you fund living costs of €500–600 per month nationally, or €600–900 per month in Budapest, insurance from about €300 per year and the residence permit fee of €110. A full award is worth several years of that, which is why the January deadline is worth planning a year ahead for. The full breakdown is on our cost of studying in Hungary page.

Who is eligible from our countries

Stipendium Hungaricum runs on bilateral agreements, not on grades alone. Citizens of countries and territories holding a valid bilateral educational cooperation agreement with Hungary, nominated by their national sending partner; over 100 sending partners on five continents. Hungarian citizens, including dual nationals, and holders of Hungarian refugee or long-term resident status are excluded.

Of the countries we serve, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Egypt, South Africa and Morocco are sending partners, so their citizens can apply. Uganda is listed but restricted, so confirm with the national sending partner what it will actually nominate before you build a plan on it. Zambia and Zimbabwe are not sending partners: their nationals cannot apply, whatever their results. If you hold a Zambian or Zimbabwean passport, put the effort into university tuition awards and Erasmus Mundus instead, and compare countries on our scholarships to study in Europe page.

Erasmus Mundus has no such barrier. Open worldwide with no nationality restriction. No more than 10 per cent of a project's scholarships may go to applicants of one nationality, a cap that excludes the targeted-region top-ups funded from NDICI and IPA III. All nine of our origin countries qualify.

Hungary already teaches 6,029 African students, 13.2 per cent of the 43,653 international students enrolled in 2025/26: 1,167 from Nigeria, 521 from Kenya and 378 from Ghana. Zimbabwe has 157 and Zambia 11, so studying in Hungary without the national scheme is done every year.

Fully funded vs partial — know what you are applying for

Fully funded means the package, not just the fee. Stipendium Hungaricum covers tuition, the monthly stipend, insurance and accommodation: HUF 40,000 per month — Free dormitory place subject to institutional capacity; otherwise a contribution of HUF 40,000 a month for the whole scholarship period. It also includes Two semesters of Hungarian language study free of charge for bachelor and master scholarship holders. Erasmus Mundus is comparable at master’s level, and Consortia may charge scholarship holders neither an application fee nor tuition fees or other mandatory participation costs.

Partial is everything else. A university tuition waiver or merit discount cuts the fee and leaves you the €500–600 per month in full, plus insurance and the permit. Read the coverage line before you spend six weeks on a form: a discount on a medical fee of US$16,900–20,900 per year still leaves a large bill.

Eligibility — grades, age, degree level, language

Degree level decides which scheme you can enter. Secondary school leaving certificate for bachelor and one-tier master; bachelor degree for master; master degree for doctoral. Erasmus Mundus asks for A first higher education degree or a recognised equivalent; final-year bachelor students may apply where the consortium allows it. Neither scheme publishes an age limit.

Language rules come from the university, not the immigration office. Set by the host institution for each programme; English-taught programmes require proof of English, Hungarian-taught programmes require Hungarian at B2 or the one-year preparatory course. In practice the English floors are IELTS 5.5 for bachelor’s and 6 for master’s; if you were taught in English, some universities accept a medium-of-instruction letter, covered on our Hungary without IELTS page.

Your certificates must survive checking. Apostille is required (yes) and recognition runs through the University + Hungarian Equivalence Centre. No APS certificate is needed (no) — that is a German requirement with no role here. Selection ends with an academic test: the host institution interviews or examines candidates (yes), and medicine, dentistry and pharmacy add a written entrance exam.

How to apply

The 2027/28 Stipendium Hungaricum call is not published yet. On the pattern of the last cycle, expect the call in autumn 2026, the portal in mid-November and the deadline in mid-January 2027, for a September 2027 start. Intakes in Hungary are September, February (some).

1. Confirm your country is a sending partner before anything else. Zambia and Zimbabwe are not, and no agent can change that.
2. Shortlist up to two programmes from the call’s eligible study programmes annex, checking the language of instruction and the entrance exam for each.
3. Contact your national sending partner — usually the education ministry — and note its own deadline, which falls earlier than the Hungarian one.
4. Prepare documents from September: certified translations, transcripts, the apostille, passport copy, motivation letter, medical certificate on the official template, and a portfolio for art or music.
5. Register on the portal at https://stipendiumhungaricum.hu/ when it opens and complete the profile, education, language and motivation sections for each choice.
6. Submit before the January deadline, and submit the parallel national application. Timing to plan against: SH 2026/27 cycle closed 15 Jan 2026 (for Sept 2026 start); 2027/28 cycle not yet published as of 2026-09-08 (expect ~mid-Jan 2027); self-funded rolling to ~June
7. Sit the host institution’s entrance exam or interview in spring, then wait for nomination and the award decision. Accept in the system within a week of notification.
8. Apply for the residence permit at the embassy: €110, 6 to 9 weeks, set out on our Hungary student visa page.