Scholarships to Study in Spain for African Students 2027

Best scholarships to study in Spain

Spain’s own national scheme is MAEC-AECID Scholarships, funded by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation. It funds one level: master. The African track, África-Med Máster, pays €1,500–2,000 per month for one academic year plus health insurance, and on tuition the rule is blunt: none. This is not a scheme for ordinary graduates: you must already be a permanent, non-temporary civil servant or public-sector employee in your own country, with written authorisation from your superior. The 2026/27 call opened 2 July 2026, closed 15 July 2026 and published definitive awards on 10 September 2026; the cycle is 2026/27 — recurring, 2027/28 not yet published. Our MAEC-AECID scholarship guide sets out the file.

The route that pays tuition is Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters, funded by the European Commission. Tuition is covered in full and the stipend is €1,400 per month for the whole programme, which 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 rather than to Spain; see Erasmus Mundus scholarships.

University money in Spain is thinner than students expect, and most of it is a fee reduction rather than a cash award. Complutense runs a tuition reduction for non-EU students in financial need, though its most recently published call was for 2022-23. Autonomous University of Madrid points applicants to Fundación Carolina postgraduate scholarships and to the Learn Africa programme run by Mujeres por África. Granada runs a housing-and-fees convenio for Moroccan students from Spanish schools in Morocco. Private universities give more: IE University grants a merit award automatically with the admission decision, plus partner-funded IE Foundation places, and Navarra runs Becas Alumni and two named master’s awards. Amounts and closing dates sit on our Spanish university pages.

The honest point: what tuition really costs without a scholarship

Public tuition is the reason full scholarships are scarce here: for many applicants the cheaper region beats the scholarship hunt. A public bachelor’s costs €757–8,186 per year and a public master’s €5,044–10,153 per year, and where you study decides which end you pay. Andalusia charges non-EU students the same per-credit price as Spanish nationals, which puts Granada at the floor of that band, while Madrid applies its highest matrícula tier to non-EU entrants from year one. Catalonia sits between the two. Add a one-off new-student admin charge of €28–140; Spain has no recurring semester fee. Private universities are a separate market at €10,380–26,500 per year and €30,000–50,000 per year. See what studying in Spain costs.

Who is eligible from our countries

Erasmus Mundus is open to all nine of our origins: Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Egypt, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Morocco. 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. African applicants are a targeted region for those top-ups: a reserved share for Sub-Saharan Africa, and a Neighbourhood South share covering Egypt and Morocco.

MAEC-AECID is narrower. Egypt is eligible outright. Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Morocco are restricted: they sit on the África-Med Máster country list, but the civil-servant condition disqualifies most applicants before nationality is assessed. Uganda and Zambia are not on that list at all, and reach MAEC-AECID only through the wider Escuela Diplomática track, which funds one diplomacy master’s in Madrid. The published rule: Closed country lists per programme. África-Med Máster names 33 African and Middle Eastern states; the Escuela Diplomática list is wider and adds Latin America, the Philippines and Ukraine. Applicants must not hold dual nationality with Spain or any EU member state, must not hold a Spanish residence permit and must not reside or have resided in an EU country, unless they hold refugee status granted by Spain.

The African base is small and heavily Moroccan. Spain hosted 196,567 international students in 2023/24; the African count is 8,625, or 7.6 per cent, of which 5,151 are Moroccan against 245 Nigerians and 7 Zambians. Country detail starts on our study in Spain from Nigeria page.

Fully funded vs partial — know what you are applying for

“Fully funded” has one honest meaning in Spain, and Erasmus Mundus is the only route that meets it: tuition in full, €1,400 per month for the whole programme, and no application or participation fee for holders.

MAEC-AECID does not meet it, and that is the most common misunderstanding about the scheme: tuition coverage is none, so the monthly allowance is the entire award. Travel is not funded either: Not applicable: neither 2026/27 call funds travel; the award is a monthly allowance plus health insurance only. Nor is housing: Not applicable: no housing allowance or placement; rent is paid from the monthly allowance. There is no family or dependant allowance, and Bank charges arising on transfers to accounts outside Spain are borne by the holder.

University awards are partial by design — a percentage off tuition, a fixed sum, or a first-year fee waiver — and a partial award at a private university still leaves a bill in the €30,000–50,000 per year band.

Eligibility — grades, age, degree level, language

Neither scheme publishes a minimum grade average, and neither call sets an age limit. Both are ranked competitions, so your marks count as a comparison against other files rather than as a threshold.

Degree level is the hard filter. Both schemes fund master study only, so a bachelor’s is not eligible under either. Erasmus Mundus asks for A first higher education degree or a recognised equivalent; final-year bachelor students may apply where the consortium allows it. MAEC-AECID asks for The qualification required for admission to the chosen master's; it is not evidenced at scholarship-application stage. Applicants must also be permanent, non-temporary civil servants or public-sector employees, public school and university staff included.

Language splits the two. Documented knowledge of Spanish, waived only for nationals of Spanish-speaking countries — Equatorial Guinea among the African list. Where the master's is taught in another language, proof of that language is required as well. No CEFR level or named test is published. Erasmus Mundus leaves the certificate and the score to each consortium. Your university admission is the separate gate, with English-medium master’s floors starting around IELTS 5.5; see studying in Spain without IELTS.

MAEC-AECID needs your master’s admission settled first and runs no interview; Erasmus Mundus does not require admission first, though a consortium may test or interview you.

How to apply

1. Autumn 2026 — choose your route. Erasmus Mundus if you want tuition covered; MAEC-AECID only if you hold permanent public-sector employment at home.
2. Autumn 2026 — start document recognition. Apostille needed: yes, but it is valid only for South Africa and Morocco; the other seven origins need consular legalisation, which takes longer.
3. October 2026 to January 2027 — apply to Erasmus Mundus consortia through the EACEA catalogue, marking the scholarship request. Confirm the programme still funds EU scholarships for the 2027 intake first.
4. Winter and spring 2027 — apply for master’s admission in Spain. There is no central portal, and rounds differ: Varies by university, multiple rounds; representative example UCM 2026/27: 28 Jan-20 Feb, 27 Apr-22 May, extraordinary 1-4 Sept. 2027/28 dates not yet published. See our Spain master’s guide.
5. Spring 2027 — for MAEC-AECID, obtain written study-leave authorisation from your hierarchical superior and register in the Carpeta del Ciudadano of the AECID electronic office before the call opens.
6. Around July 2027 — watch the BOE for the call extract; the window opens the day after it appears and closes quickly. The 2026/27 round ran 2 July 2026 to 15 July 2026.
7. Summer 2027 — check the provisional admitted and excluded lists, use the subsanación window to supply anything missing, then accept the award inside the published window.
8. Summer 2027 — apply for the student visa: €90, decided in 1 to 6 weeks. A scholarship award letter counts as proof against the €600 per month requirement; see our Spain student visa guide.