The six biggest fully-funded awards
Every scholarship below covers tuition and a stipend you can actually live on. All are open to international students and admit thousands per year combined.
DAAD (Germany)
Deadline: Oct–Dec (varies by program)- Who qualifies
- Any bachelor's degree, 2+ years work experience for some tracks
- What's covered
- Tuition + €934/month stipend + flights + insurance
Chevening (UK)
Deadline: Early November- Who qualifies
- 2+ years work experience, IELTS 6.5+, return to home country for 2 years
- What's covered
- Full tuition + monthly stipend + flights
Fulbright Foreign Student
Deadline: Feb–Oct (country-specific)- Who qualifies
- Bachelor's degree, strong academics, leadership
- What's covered
- Tuition + living + health insurance + travel
Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters
Deadline: January–February- Who qualifies
- Bachelor's degree, English proficiency, study in 2+ EU countries
- What's covered
- Tuition + €1,400/month + travel + installation
MEXT (Japan)
Deadline: April–May (via embassy)- Who qualifies
- Under 35, bachelor's degree, basic Japanese optional
- What's covered
- Full tuition + ¥143,000/month + flights
Swiss Government Excellence
Deadline: December- Who qualifies
- Master's degree, research proposal, under 35
- What's covered
- CHF 1,920/month + tuition waiver + health insurance
What "fully funded" actually means
A fully-funded scholarship covers three cost buckets: tuition, monthly living expenses, and one-off costs like flights, visas and health insurance. Anything less is a partial award — usually a tuition waiver you still have to fund the rest of yourself. On UniMatch you can filter programs by Fully funded only to skip partial offers.
Cheapest countries when you don't win a stipend
Tuition-free public systems get you 80% of the way to fully funded on their own: