Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters for African Students (2027)
Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters is the European Union's fully funded master's award: the consortium covers tuition in full and pays you €1,400 per month for the whole degree, which you spend at more than one European university. African applicants face no nationality bar for the 2027/28 cycle. Each consortium runs its own contest, and the places are few.
What is the Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters?
The European Commission funds it through Erasmus+, and its agency EACEA runs the call. The money goes to a consortium of at least three higher education institutions, which designs one master’s programme and admits students to it together. You move between partner campuses on a single enrolment and graduate with the consortium’s joint award.
The level is master only. Programmes run 12, 18 or 24 months (60, 90 or 120 ECTS); the scholarship runs for the full programme duration. Subject coverage is wide: All subject areas; each consortium defines its own field. 219 joint master programmes were listed in the EACEA catalogue on 2026-09-10.
There is no central Erasmus Mundus application: the scholarship is awarded by the consortium you apply to, not by Brussels. Ten of the twelve destinations we cover host these programmes: Germany, Ireland, Malta, Cyprus, Hungary, Poland, Spain, France, Italy and Austria.
What does it cover?
For a scholarship holder, tuition is covered in full and the consortium pays a living contribution of €1,400 per month. Consortia may charge scholarship holders neither an application fee nor tuition fees or other mandatory participation costs. That monthly amount is the whole package — your flight, the visa, settling into each city and day-to-day living all come out of it, so there is no separate travel or installation payment on top. Payment runs for the programme’s full length.
A separate insurance line, a family allowance or a hardship top-up is not published in the Erasmus+ Programme Guide; where a consortium arranges insurance it does so from its own project budget, so read the finance page of each programme. Support for dependants is not published. Fees for a non-scholarship place are set by the partner universities, not by the scheme, and differ from programme to programme.
Who can apply from our countries?
All nine of our origin countries are eligible: Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Egypt, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Morocco. None is restricted, and none is excluded. 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 also a targeted region: the EU’s external instrument NDICI funds extra scholarships for Sub-Saharan Africa, and its Neighbourhood South window covers Egypt and Morocco.
On the degree: A first higher education degree or a recognised equivalent; final-year bachelor students may apply where the consortium allows it. On language: Set by each consortium: the teaching language, the accepted certificate and the minimum score are published by the individual programme. If the certificate is your obstacle, read our IELTS alternatives for African applicants before you shortlist.
Admission first: no — the one application you send the consortium covers both the study place and the funding. One award per person: A student who has already held an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master scholarship may not receive a second one. Age limits and work-experience rules are not published centrally, so any you meet belong to that consortium alone.
Deadline and timeline for 2027/28
There is no single closing date. Each consortium sets its own, and the Commission gives October to January as the usual window for a September start. The masters selected in the 2026 call open to applicants in autumn 2026 for the 2027/28 intake, so shortlisting in September 2026 is not early.
Because the dates are set per programme, write down the exact deadline for every programme on your list; they will not match. The consortium then ranks applicants, publishes a main list and a reserve list, and asks the selected students to sign a student agreement.
Decision dates are not published centrally. The stipend begins once you are enrolled and that agreement is signed, on the schedule the consortium sets. Leave room after the offer for the embassy: our proof of funds guide explains what a scholarship letter does and does not replace.
How to apply for the Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters
- Search the EACEA Erasmus Mundus catalogue by field, country and duration, and shortlist three to five programmes that fit your bachelor’s subject. The catalogue is at https://www.eacea.ec.europa.eu/scholarships/erasmus-mundus-catalogue_en.
- Open each programme’s own website and confirm it still offers EU scholarships for the 2027/28 intake. A catalogue entry can belong to a project whose funded intakes have already been filled.
- Read the consortium’s entry requirements, language rules and document list, and check which partner university you would start at, because that country issues your first visa.
- Prepare certified transcripts, the degree certificate or proof that you are in your final year, and the language certificate the programme names. Add a CV, a motivation letter written for that programme, a passport copy and reference letters where the consortium requires them.
- Submit one application to the consortium and mark the scholarship request inside it. One form covers admission and funding; there is no separate scholarship portal and no central EU application to file.
- Take part in any interview or additional test the consortium runs. Some assess subject knowledge, some only the motivation letter.
- Await the ranked selection and the reserve-list decision. A reserve place can turn into an award when a selected student declines.
- Accept the offer, sign the student agreement, then start the visa process for the country where you begin, using the consortium’s admission and funding letters.
Which universities and programmes
Our dataset records partners in four of our destinations. In Germany, the University of Freiburg is a partner in the MSc European Forestry. In Poland, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń hosts part of GOALS and of CLIDE; SGH Warsaw School of Economics takes part in QEM in quantitative economics and EMLE in law and economics; the University of Silesia coordinates BIOVERTE in biodiversity and ecosystem management, first intake 2027/28; the University of Warsaw waives the fee on its Global Environment and Development MA for Erasmus Mundus holders.
In Spain, Pompeu Fabra hosts a joint master in artificial intelligence, Barcelona co-hosts sustainability and public policy programmes, Granada partners on colour science, imaging and vision computing, and Valencia on work, organisational and personnel psychology. In France, Strasbourg partners on ChEMoinformatics+. Several of these university pages state neither the amount nor the deadline, so confirm both on the consortium’s own site. Our Poland scholarships page lists the national alternatives alongside them.
Odds, and what to do if you miss it
The scheme publishes no single annual total of awards; each project funds a limited number spread across several intakes, so a well-known programme may still hand out only a handful in your year. The per-nationality cap described above keeps any one country from dominating a project, which helps applicants from smaller pools and limits large ones.
Plan for a reserve-list answer as well as a refusal. If it does not come off, DAAD scholarships and Stipendium Hungaricum run on their own timetables, and our scholarships index shows which schemes your country is eligible for.
What works in your favour
- No nationality restriction: all nine of our origin countries are eligible. The rule reads: 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.
- Africa is a targeted region, so NDICI money adds scholarships beyond a project’s standard allocation, and those extra places sit outside the per-nationality cap.
- You need no offer before you apply, so one application decides both questions.
- Cost of applying is contained: Consortia may charge scholarship holders neither an application fee nor tuition fees or other mandatory participation costs.
- Choice is wide: All subject areas; each consortium defines its own field. 219 joint master programmes were listed in the EACEA catalogue on 2026-09-10.
The honest downsides
- There is no central deadline to plan around. Each consortium sets its own dates inside the October-to-January window, and you must track every one separately.
- One amount covers everything. €1,400 per month has to absorb your flight, visa, deposits and rent in cities that differ sharply in price, and there is no travel payment on top.
- Language rules are set programme by programme, so the certificate that satisfies one consortium may fall short at the next.
- Several university pages in our dataset confirm participation but publish no amount and no deadline, which means extra verification work for you.
- It is a one-time award. A student who has already held an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master scholarship may not receive a second one.
Our core guidance is free, funded by commission from partner universities: we shortlist consortia that match your degree and subject, map the deadlines you must meet, and tell you plainly where your profile is weak. We vet your transcripts, language certificate, CV and motivation letter before you submit, so nothing is rejected on a formality. Premium Placement is an optional paid service for applicants who want the whole file handled. We never sell guaranteed admission — see [how to spot a fake agent](/spot-a-fake-agent/).
How to apply for an Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters scholarship from Africa
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Shortlist programmes
Search the EACEA Erasmus Mundus catalogue by field, country and duration. Shortlist three to five joint masters that match your bachelor's subject.
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Confirm the scholarship is open
Open each programme's own website and confirm it still offers EU scholarships for the 2027/28 intake. Some catalogue entries belong to projects whose funded intakes are filled.
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Read the consortium rules
Read the entry requirements, language rules and document list, and note which partner university you start at, because that country issues your first visa.
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Prepare the documents
Gather certified transcripts, the degree certificate or final-year proof, the language certificate, a CV, a programme-specific motivation letter, a passport copy and any reference letters.
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Submit one application
Send one application to the consortium and mark the scholarship request inside it. One form covers admission and funding; there is no separate scholarship portal.
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Attend the interview or test
Take part in any interview or additional test the consortium runs. Some assess subject knowledge, others discuss only your motivation letter.
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Await the ranked selection
Wait for the consortium's ranked selection and its reserve-list decision. A reserve place can become an award when a selected student declines.
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Accept and apply for the visa
Accept the offer, sign the student agreement, then start the visa process for the country where you begin, using the admission and funding letters.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Tuition is covered in full and you receive €1,400 per month for the programme's full length. That single amount also has to cover your travel, visa, installation and daily living, so there is no separate flight or relocation payment. Consortia may charge scholarship holders no application fee and no mandatory participation costs.
Yes, all nine are eligible. 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. Sub-Saharan Africa and, for Egypt and Morocco, Neighbourhood South are targeted regions with extra NDICI-funded places.
The scheme funds master's study only. A first higher education degree or a recognised equivalent; final-year bachelor students may apply where the consortium allows it. Holding a master's already does not bar you in itself, but you cannot take the award twice: a student who has held an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master scholarship may not receive a second one.
There is no central deadline. Each consortium publishes its own, and the Commission gives October to January as the usual window for a September start. The masters chosen in the 2026 call opened to applicants in autumn 2026 for the 2027/28 intake. Check the exact date on every programme page you shortlist.
No, and this is the most common misunderstanding. You apply to the consortium that runs the programme, through its own system, and tick the scholarship request inside that same form. EACEA publishes the catalogue and funds the projects, but it does not receive student applications and cannot review or appeal a consortium's ranking.
Set by each consortium: the teaching language, the accepted certificate and the minimum score are published by the individual programme. Some programmes teach partly in French, Spanish or Italian and ask for that language instead. Read the language section of each programme page before you book a test, because an accepted certificate at one consortium may be refused at another.
Yes. No prior offer is needed: the application you send the consortium is assessed for the study place and the scholarship together. You do not need a prior offer, a nomination from your home university or a government endorsement. Final-year bachelor students may apply where the consortium allows it, using proof of expected completion.
Ask whether you are on the reserve list, since declined offers move places down it. Apply to more than one programme within each consortium's rules for the next cycle. If you lack the degree or certificate now, finish it and use the year for the language test, then compare DAAD, Stipendium Hungaricum and the other schemes on our scholarships index.