Pay­ing for col­lege or uni­ver­si­ty abroad is tough. This issue impacts many stu­dents in so-called devel­op­ing coun­tries. It is espe­cial­ly a chal­lenge for many stu­dents in African coun­tries. While these stu­dents would like to fur­ther their edu­ca­tion and careers through study abroad pro­grams, they are often lim­it­ed by the huge costs and expens­es involved in study­ing abroad. Some of the coun­tries that offer study abroad pro­grams to stu­dents from African coun­tries include the Unit­ed States, Aus­tralia, Cana­da, South Korea, Ukraine, and Japan. 

Some of the schol­ar­ships for inter­na­tion­al stu­dents list­ed here are designed to make it eas­i­er for stu­dents to qual­i­fy for reduced aca­d­e­m­ic expens­es in pur­su­ing an edu­ca­tion abroad. In many cas­es, the expens­es are ful­ly paid by for­eign gov­ern­ments and the aca­d­e­m­ic insti­tu­tions where the study takes place.

We pulled some of these resources direct­ly from the web­sites of the orga­ni­za­tions offer­ing the schol­ar­ships. We hope they are help­ful to you.

International Student Scholarships

• The Aga Khan Foun­da­tion Inter­na­tion­al Schol­ar­ship pro­vides schol­ar­ships to stu­dents from select devel­op­ing coun­tries who have no oth­er source of finan­cial help for their grad­u­ate stud­ies. The schol­ar­ships are 50 per­cent grant and 50 per­cent loan.
• The Amer­i­can Asso­ci­a­tion of Uni­ver­si­ty Women offers fel­low­ships for non-Amer­i­can women who want to earn a Master’s or doc­tor­ate in the USA. Pri­or­i­ty is giv­en to women who can demon­strate com­mit­ment to the advance­ment of women and girls, and the schol­ar­ship may be reap­plied every year of the program.
• The Civ­il Soci­ety Lead­er­ship Awards offers full schol­ar­ships for Master’s stu­dents from spe­cif­ic coun­tries who are ded­i­cat­ed to fos­ter­ing social change.
• Cona­cyt pro­vides schol­ar­ships for Mex­i­can stu­dents pur­su­ing post-grad­u­ate stud­ies in insti­tu­tions abroad.
• Col­Fu­turo pro­vides schol­ar­ships for Colom­bian stu­dents pur­su­ing post-grad­u­ate stud­ies abroad.
• For­eign Ful­bright Stu­dent Pro­gram offers schol­ar­ships for grad­u­ate stu­dents from around the world (as well as young pro­fes­sion­als and artists) to study in the USA.
• Inter­na­tion­al Stu­dent has a com­pre­hen­sive and search­able data­base of grants, schol­ar­ships, loan pro­grams, and oth­er infor­ma­tion for inter­na­tion­al students.
• The Joint Japan/World Bank Grad­u­ate Schol­ar­ship Pro­gram pro­vides com­pre­hen­sive finan­cial cov­er­age, includ­ing tuition, a month­ly stipend, air­fare, health insur­ance, and trav­el allowance, to stu­dents from devel­op­ing coun­tries who have pro­vid­ed sup­port to their home country’s devel­op­ment and who are apply­ing for a devel­op­ment-relat­ed Master’s program.
• MPOWER Financ­ing offers schol­ar­ships for inter­na­tion­al and DACA stu­dents. Its Glob­al Cit­i­zen Schol­ar­ship Pro­gram has the broad­est eli­gi­bil­i­ty cri­te­ria and is offered through­out the year, and niche schol­ar­ships are also available.
• The P.E.O. Inter­na­tion­al Peace Schol­ar­ship awards schol­ar­ships to women from oth­er coun­tries who are earn­ing their grad­u­ate degree in the USA.