Fully Funded Scholarships in Europe for African Students

What does “fully funded” actually cover?

“Fully funded” is a marketing phrase before it is a funding category. Each scheme publishes its own coverage list, and the gaps are where students lose money they had not budgeted for.

• Tuition. Stipendium Hungaricum, Erasmus Mundus, Türkiye Bursları and Banach NAWA pay it in full. DAAD has the university waive it, which costs little because German public tuition is free. Eiffel and MAEC-AECID pay none.
• Stipend. €1,400 per month on Erasmus Mundus, €992–1,400 per month on DAAD, HUF 43,700–180,000 per month on Stipendium Hungaricum, PLN 2,500 per month on Banach, £1,712–2,000 per month on Commonwealth.
• Housing and insurance. Türkiye Bursları gives a state dormitory place and Stipendium Hungaricum a dorm place or a housing contribution; both include health cover. Chevening, Commonwealth and OeAD provide none, and OeAD no insurance.
• Flights. Türkiye Bursları pays a ticket out and home, Chevening economy return travel, Commonwealth an approved return airfare, DAAD a lump sum. Stipendium Hungaricum and the Italian government grant pay nothing.

Dependants are almost never funded; Commonwealth is the exception, with a child allowance for single parents and a spouse allowance on the PhD scheme. No scheme pays you before you arrive, and Stipendium Hungaricum, Türkiye Bursları and Banach all restrict or cancel funding if you hold a second award.

Which fully funded scholarships can African students actually win?

Five routes carry most African applicants, and each has one gate that decides eligibility before grades matter.

• Stipendium Hungaricum, Hungary. Bachelor to PhD, with tuition, stipend, insurance and housing. Your national sending partner must nominate you: thirty-three African countries qualify, including Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Egypt, South Africa, Uganda and Morocco, but not Zambia or Zimbabwe. The 2026/27 call closed 15 January 2026.
• DAAD, Germany. Mostly master’s and PhD. All nine origin countries are on the DAAD lists, so the gate is the age of your first degree and, on EPOS, professional experience. The 2027/28 round closed 31 July 2026, results December 2026 to January 2027.
• Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters, two or more countries. Full tuition and €1,400 per month, open worldwide with no nationality restriction, and African applicants are a targeted region for extra EU-funded places. Each consortium sets its own deadline.
• Türkiye Bursları, Türkiye. The most complete package here: tuition, TRY 4,500–9,000 per month, a state dormitory, insurance and flights both ways. Open to every nationality except Turkish, with an age ceiling of 35 and a grade minimum of 70%. Applications go only through the TBBS portal.
• Banach NAWA, Poland. Master’s only: full tuition plus PLN 2,500 per month. The gate is citizenship: of our nine origin countries only Nigeria and Kenya are on the Banach list. The other seven are excluded.

For the UK, Chevening closes 6 October 2026 for 2027/28 and Commonwealth closes 20 October 2026, funding 800 scholars a year. Commonwealth follows Commonwealth membership, so Egypt and Morocco are excluded, and Zimbabwe is not on the 2027/28 list.

Fully funded scholarships by destination country

Hungary — low living costs and a full tuition waiver

Living costs run €500–600 per month, so the stipend goes further here than a larger one does elsewhere. Students may work 30 hours/week, the most generous rule on this list, and stay 9 months afterwards on a job-search permit.

Germany — free tuition with or without DAAD

Public tuition is free, so DAAD mainly buys you the stipend. Without it you still show €11,904 per year in a blocked account for the visa, against living costs of €850–1,200 per month, and work is capped at 140 full days or 280 half days per year (≈20 h/week).

EU-wide — Erasmus Mundus

You study in two or more countries, so there is no single visa or rent to plan against. That is part of why the allowance is €1,400 per month, above most national stipends, and runs for the whole programme rather than one academic year.

Türkiye — flights, a dormitory, and a year of Turkish

Türkiye Bursları covers more of the real cost than anything else here, against living costs of TRY 12,000–35,000 per month. The trade is a compulsory year of Turkish to C1 before the degree starts, even when it is taught in English. You are also expected home within a year of finishing.

Poland — check the country list before anything else

Banach excludes seven of our nine origins, so Poland is a self-funding destination for most readers. Public master’s tuition is €2,500–7,500 per year against living costs of PLN 1,500–2,500 per month, and full-time students at qualifying institutions work with no hours cap.

France, Italy, Spain and Austria run schemes that are not fully funded: Eiffel pays €1,200–2,100 per month but no tuition, and the Italian government grant pays €1,200 per month while exempting fees only at some universities.

Who qualifies for a fully funded scholarship?

• Your country. This ends more applications than grades do. Check the eligible-country list for the cycle you are applying to, not last year’s.
• Level. DAAD, Chevening, Commonwealth, Erasmus Mundus and Banach fund master’s and above. Bachelor’s places exist on Stipendium Hungaricum and Türkiye Bursları.
• Grades. Türkiye Bursları sets 70%. Commonwealth wants an upper second-class honours degree. DAAD looks for the top third of your cohort.
• Age, and the age of your degree. 35 on Türkiye Bursları, Eiffel and OeAD; 40 on the Italian government grant. DAAD’s qualification bar: 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.
• Work experience. Chevening requires 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. Stipendium Hungaricum, Türkiye Bursları and Erasmus Mundus ask for none.

Application timeline — what is open now for 2027/28

Students miss these awards on the calendar, not on the file. As of September 2026, the 2027/28 cycle stands like this.

1. Chevening, until 6 October 2026. Opened 4 August 2026, closes 6 October 2026, results Mid-June 2027 onwards. No university offer is needed, and interviews are held in your own country.
2. Commonwealth, until 20 October 2026. Closes 20 October 2026, results By July 2027. You apply through a nominating body, not direct.
3. OeAD Ernst Mach, until 1 December 2026. Closes 1 December 2026. Research stays in Austria, not a full degree.
4. Erasmus Mundus, consortium by consortium. Each programme publishes its own deadline for the 2027/28 intake.
5. DAAD, closed. That round shut on 31 July 2026; your next chance is the following cycle.
6. Six schemes with no 2027/28 dates yet. Plan against their last windows: Türkiye Bursları ran 10 January 2026 to 20 February 2026, Banach 13 April 2026 to 8 May 2026. Stipendium Hungaricum, Eiffel, the Italian grant and MAEC-AECID are also unpublished.

Start the slow parts now: the English test, transcripts, certified translations and referees who answer their email. A call opening in November then costs you a fortnight, not a year.