How to Fund a Master's Abroad: Scholarships That Pay

A small group of government and EU-funded programs, DAAD in Germany, Erasmus Mundus across the EU, MEXT in Japan, Chevening in the UK, and the Fulbright Foreign Student Program in the US, can fund most or all of a master's degree abroad, but a genuine full ride is rare and competitive. Most international students end up combining one of these with university-specific aid rather than relying on a single 100% scholarship.

Can You Get a Full Scholarship for a Master's Degree Abroad?

Yes, full scholarships that cover a master's degree abroad exist, but they are rare and highly competitive, awarded to a small share of applicants on the most selective programs each cycle. Most international students end up combining a partial scholarship with university-specific aid, a teaching or research assistantship, or personal savings, rather than winning a single award that pays for everything.

That combination, not a guaranteed full ride, is the realistic starting point for planning how to fund a master's degree abroad, and it shapes how the rest of this article is organized: the major government and EU-funded scholarship programs first, then how to close the gap if none of them covers the full cost.

Which Government and EU-Funded Scholarships Cover a Full Master's Abroad?

Five government and EU-funded scholarship programs make up the backbone of full or near-full funding for a master's degree abroad: Germany's DAAD, the EU's Erasmus Mundus Joint Master's, Japan's MEXT scholarship, the UK's Chevening scholarship, and the US Fulbright Foreign Student Program. Each is open to international applicants, each is administered by a public body rather than a university trying to fill its own seats, and each covers a different combination of tuition, living costs, and travel.

Germany's DAAD Scholarships

DAAD, Germany's public academic exchange organization, pays master's-level scholarship holders a monthly living stipend of EUR 992, plus an annual study allowance of EUR 460, and includes health, accident, and liability insurance for the duration of the award. Funding runs for up to 24 months, matching the length of most German master's programs.

The scholarship itself does not include a tuition waiver, since most German public universities already charge little to no tuition for master's programs, so the monthly stipend is designed to cover living costs rather than an additional cost of the education itself. DAAD administers thousands of individual scholarship listings through its own database rather than a single blanket program, so eligibility, subject focus, and application windows are set at the level of each specific listing rather than by one universal DAAD rule.

The EU's Erasmus Mundus Joint Master's

The EU's Erasmus Mundus Joint Master's scholarship, funded through the European Commission's Erasmus+ program, pays EUR 1,400 a month for the full length of the program, 12, 18, or 24 months depending on the specific joint degree, for a potential total of up to EUR 33,600 over a 24-month course.

Unlike DAAD, the scholarship includes a full tuition waiver, paid directly to the consortium of universities delivering the joint degree, on top of the individual monthly living stipend, and it also covers travel and installation costs. Because an Erasmus Mundus scholarship is tied to one specific joint master's program taught jointly by several universities in different countries rather than to a single university, applicants apply to the joint program itself, not to a general Erasmus Mundus scholarship pool.

Japan's MEXT Scholarship

Japan's MEXT scholarship, run by the country's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, pays a regular master's-level recipient a monthly stipend of JPY 144,000 for the 2027 intake, according to the official 2027 application guidelines for research students published on the Study in Japan website. A supplemental regional allowance of JPY 2,000 or 3,000 a month is added for students studying in specially designated regions, and the ministry notes that the amount may change each fiscal year. The rate that applies to a given intake is the one published by the ministry on the Study in Japan website or by the Japanese embassy handling the application. Tuition and enrollment fees are covered directly by the host university rather than paid to the student, and round-trip airfare between the recipient's home country and Japan is covered under conditions set by the specific program track.

MEXT republishes its monthly rate each academic cycle, so a candidate applying more than a year ahead should treat these figures as recent reference points rather than numbers fixed indefinitely, and should check the current published rate before finalizing a budget.

The UK's Chevening Scholarship

The UK's Chevening scholarship, funded by the UK government, covers tuition in full for a standard one-year taught master's degree, plus a monthly living stipend, arrival and departure travel to and from the UK, and the cost of a UK visa application. No single confirmable stipend figure applies to every Chevening recipient, so this section describes what the award covers rather than quoting an amount.

Chevening is one of the scholarships that can realistically fund an entire master's degree abroad, which is also part of why it is so competitive: it is open to candidates from a wide range of countries and typically draws far more applicants each cycle than it can fund.

The Fulbright Foreign Student Program (United States)

The Fulbright Foreign Student Program does not set one global monthly stipend either: funding is determined on a country-by-country basis by the local Fulbright commission or the US embassy responsible for the applicant's home country, rather than by a single central Fulbright office. Depending on the country and the specific award, a Fulbright grant can cover tuition, a living stipend, health insurance, and travel to and from the United States.

Because the exact package differs by country, an applicant researches funding coverage through their own country's Fulbright commission rather than assuming the same terms apply everywhere Fulbright operates.

Comparing the Major Scholarships at a Glance

The five programs above cover different combinations of tuition, stipend, and travel, over different funding windows, which makes a side-by-side comparison more useful than reading about each one in isolation.

How Can You Fund a Master's Abroad Without Winning a Full Scholarship?

Most graduate students who study abroad without a full scholarship combine several smaller sources instead of relying on one, and that combination, not a single large award, funds the majority of master's degrees taken outside a student's home country.

University-specific aid is one starting point: many graduate schools offer their own partial scholarships, tuition waivers, or fee reductions to admitted international students, on top of, and separate from, the government and EU-funded programs above. These awards are typically need-based, merit-based, or a mix of both, and the exact mix and amount is set by each school individually rather than by one universal rule, so checking directly with the graduate admissions or financial aid office of each shortlisted program is the only reliable way to know what is on offer.

A teaching or research assistantship is a second common source of partial funding, particularly for programs with a strong research component: in exchange for a set number of hours supporting a course or a research project, the university typically waives some or all tuition and pays a stipend for living costs. Assistantship availability and terms vary by program and department, and they are usually awarded separately from admission itself, so they are worth asking about specifically once an offer is in hand rather than assumed as automatic.

The most common funding pattern among international graduate students combines a partial scholarship, a smaller externally awarded grant, and a teaching or research assistantship, rather than a single scholarship that covers 100% of the cost. Building a funding plan around this kind of stacking, applying to several smaller and mid-sized sources in parallel rather than waiting on one large award, is a more realistic strategy for most candidates than counting on a single full scholarship to come through. Studying in a country with little or no tuition reduces how much funding is needed in the first place, as shown in where a master's degree is still free or low-cost.

Is a 100% Scholarship to Study a Master's Abroad Realistic?

A 100% scholarship for a master's degree abroad is realistic for a small number of candidates each cycle, not for the majority: Erasmus Mundus, MEXT, and Chevening are three concrete examples of programs that can cover the full cost of a master's degree, including tuition and living expenses, but all three are among the most selective scholarships covered in this article.

Being realistic about the odds is not the same as ruling it out. Applying to one or more of the full-coverage programs above alongside a backup plan built around the partial funding described in the previous section gives a candidate a genuine shot at a full scholarship without leaving the rest of the budget unplanned if that specific award does not come through. For most applicants, the honest answer to "is a 100% scholarship realistic" is that it is possible, but it should not be the only plan. To see what the funding has to cover, check how much a master's degree actually costs.

What Scholarship Options Are Open to Students Applying From India?

Students applying from India can apply to the same international scholarship programs covered above, DAAD, Erasmus Mundus, MEXT, and Chevening, on the same terms as any other international candidate, and India also has its own dedicated channel into the Fulbright Foreign Student Program. Search interest in scholarships to fund a master's abroad is actually higher from India than from the United States for this exact search term, which reflects how large a share of prospective applicants for this kind of funding come from the Indian market.

Fulbright-Nehru Master's Fellowships are the India-specific channel into the Fulbright Foreign Student Program, administered by the United States-India Educational Foundation (USIEF), the official bi-national body that runs the Fulbright program for Indian applicants. Eligibility is reserved for candidates who are residing in India at the time of application, since Indian citizens who are already abroad are not eligible for this specific fellowship. Applicants also need a bachelor's-equivalent degree with a minimum 55% average, an IELTS score of at least 6.0 or an equivalent English test result, and at least three years of relevant professional experience, and funding runs for up to two years. Current employees of the Indian government, at both the central and state level, are not eligible for Fulbright-Nehru.

For a market this size, comparing master's programs ranked by country alongside the funding options above is a more useful starting point than looking at a single destination in isolation, since eligibility for DAAD, Erasmus Mundus, MEXT, and Chevening does not depend on which country the applicant is applying from.

When Should You Apply for Scholarships to Fund a Master's Abroad?

Most government and EU-funded scholarships for a master's abroad open their application cycle well ahead of the funded intake, generally 12 to 18 months before departure, which means the scholarship search has to start well before a program application itself, not after an offer is already in hand.

DAAD's own funding structure illustrates why starting early matters: since a DAAD scholarship funds up to 24 months of study, working backward from a target start date using that maximum funding window, rather than from a single fixed deadline, is a concrete way to plan the timeline for this specific program. Deadlines for Erasmus Mundus, MEXT, Chevening, and Fulbright are set individually by each program, joint degree consortium, or national commission rather than on one shared calendar, so the only reliable scholarship deadline for any of them is the one published on that program's own current cycle, not a date carried over from a previous year. The visa and application steps that follow an offer are covered in the step-by-step process of earning a master's degree abroad.

Funding a master's degree abroad rarely comes down to winning one large scholarship: the more realistic path for most candidates combines one of the major government or EU-funded programs above, university-specific aid, and, where available, a teaching or research assistantship, built around a timeline that starts well over a year before departure. Best Masters ranks general management programs worldwide, among dozens of other specialized rankings across 137 countries, for readers ready to compare specific programs once a funding plan is in place.

Frequently Asked Questions About Scholarships for a Master's Abroad

How can I get a scholarship to study a master's abroad?

Start with the government and EU-funded programs open to international applicants: DAAD, Erasmus Mundus, MEXT, Chevening, and the Fulbright Foreign Student Program. Check the specific eligibility criteria, subject focus, and deadline for each one directly, since none of them share one universal application or one shared calendar. If none of these covers the full cost for a specific program, complete the funding plan with university-specific aid, a teaching or research assistantship, or a smaller external scholarship, rather than assuming a single full-scholarship application is the only path forward.

Can you get a full scholarship for a master's degree abroad?

Yes. Several programs can cover the full cost of a master's degree abroad, including tuition and living expenses: Erasmus Mundus, MEXT, and Chevening are three concrete examples covered in this article. These are also among the most selective scholarships in this field, so recipients are a small share of a much larger applicant pool each cycle. Most international students end up combining a partial scholarship with other funding rather than winning one of these full awards outright.

Can I get funding for a master's degree abroad if I don't win a full scholarship?

Yes. Most international students fund a master's degree abroad by combining several smaller sources rather than a single scholarship: a partial scholarship, university-specific aid such as a tuition waiver or fee reduction, and a teaching or research assistantship that covers part of tuition plus a living stipend in exchange for a set number of work hours. Applying to several of these in parallel, rather than waiting on one large award, is the realistic funding strategy for the majority of candidates.

Is it possible to get a 100% scholarship to study abroad for a master's degree?

It is possible, but it is rare: a small number of candidates each cycle receive one of the full-coverage programs covered in this article, such as Erasmus Mundus, MEXT, or Chevening, out of a much larger pool of applicants. For most candidates, the more realistic plan combines a partial scholarship with university-specific aid or an assistantship rather than counting on a single 100% award to come through.

What scholarships can Indian students apply for to fund a master's abroad?

Students applying from India can apply to the same international programs as any other applicant: DAAD, Erasmus Mundus, MEXT, and Chevening. India also has a dedicated channel into the Fulbright Foreign Student Program, Fulbright-Nehru Master's Fellowships, administered by the United States-India Educational Foundation (USIEF) specifically for candidates residing in India at the time of application. Eligibility for Fulbright-Nehru includes a bachelor's-equivalent degree with a minimum 55% average, an IELTS score of at least 6.0 or an equivalent test result, and at least three years of professional experience.

When should I start applying for scholarships to fund a master's abroad?

As early as possible, generally 12 to 18 months before the intended start date. Most government and EU-funded scholarship programs open their application cycle well ahead of the academic year they fund, rather than a few months before, and deadlines are set individually by each program rather than on one shared calendar. Starting the scholarship search at the same time as researching programs, rather than after choosing one, avoids missing a deadline that has already passed by the time an application is ready.