There is a category of scholarship that most students never look for, because it does not come from a university. It comes from a government that has decided to pay foreign students to come and study in its country, and the terms are usually better than anything a university offers: tuition waived in full, a monthly allowance you live on, often a dormitory and a flight, sometimes a year of language training before your degree begins.
These are the scholarships behind a lot of the stories on Borderless. Aruzhan from Kazakhstan studies computer science at Pusan National University on the Korean government's scholarship, which she describes as covering everything plus a stipend. Asel from Kyrgyzstan was rejected across the United States, then received a Hungarian government scholarship in July and went to study computer science in Hungary. Mostafa from Egypt turned down the best university in his country for a full ride in Türkiye. Begaim wanted Europe or the United States until she saw the price, which was more than twice her father's yearly income, and ended up studying electrical engineering in Antalya for nothing.
Below are 25 of these programmes, all in the Borderless scholarship database. Every figure, age limit and date was checked on the government's own pages in September 2026. Most are full rides. A few pay a generous stipend without covering tuition, and each entry says which. Four are accepting applications as you read this.
🎓 Governments that fund undergraduate degrees
These twelve take you straight from high school into a full degree. Note the age limits, which are stricter than most students expect.
🇰🇷 Global Korea Scholarship
South Korea funds tuition, one year of Korean language training, an annual allowance and your flight, at roughly 70 designated universities on the embassy track. The allowance is 13,560,000 won a year during language training and 14,400,000 won a year during the degree, which works out at about 1,130,000 and 1,200,000 won a month and covers living costs, accommodation, insurance and a settlement grant together. The 2027 intake has 286 places in total, 156 of them on the embassy track from 74 countries. You must be under 25, so born on or after March 1, 2002, and have a school average of at least 80 percent, or be in the top 20 percent of your class, or hold an equivalent GPA. You and both your parents must hold non-Korean citizenship. The undergraduate embassy track closes on September 30, 2026 at 18:00 Korean time, so there are days left, not weeks. Aruzhan and a Kazakh student who failed her A-levels before getting into Yonsei both wrote about how they applied.
🇯🇵 MEXT Scholarship
Japan's Ministry of Education waives the entrance examination fee, the matriculation fee and tuition in full, pays round-trip airfare, and adds a monthly stipend that depends on your category: ¥117,000 for undergraduates, ¥144,000 for master's students and ¥145,000 for doctoral students, with another ¥2,000 or ¥3,000 a month in designated regions. Undergraduate applicants must be born on or after April 2, 2002. There are two ways in. The embassy route runs through the Japanese embassy in your country, which sets its own window, with first screening between May and August and final results after February 2027. The university route runs through a Japanese university that has a recommendation agreement and follows that university's calendar. One student explained how she applied through Hokkaido University's office in Moscow rather than through an embassy, and another wrote up the master's application in detail.
🇹🇷 Türkiye Scholarships
The Turkish government places you at a university and in a department, then covers tuition, a dormitory, health insurance, a flight at the start and another on graduation, and a year of Turkish language study before your degree begins. Monthly stipends as published are 4,500 lira for undergraduates, 6,500 for master's students and 9,000 for doctoral students, doubled under the merit award. Undergraduates must be under 21 with a 70 percent average, rising to 90 percent for medicine, dentistry and pharmacy. It is the largest programme here: about 5,000 scholarships a year, some 15,000 scholars enrolled, and 121,830 applications from 170 countries in 2024. Applications run annually from January 10 to February 20. Mostafa from Egypt and Begaim in Antalya wrote about choosing it.
🇭🇺 Stipendium Hungaricum
Hungary exempts you from tuition, pays HUF 43,700 a month at bachelor's and master's level, gives you a free dormitory place or HUF 40,000 a month towards rent, and covers medical insurance with up to HUF 65,000 a year of supplementary cover. Doctoral students receive HUF 140,000 a month for four semesters and HUF 180,000 after that. The catch is the route in: the programme works through bilateral agreements with more than 100 countries, and you need a nomination from your country's designated Sending Partner, usually its education ministry, on top of the online application. The 2026/27 call opened on November 14, 2025 and closed on January 15, 2026, with nominations due by the end of February. The next call has not been published yet, so watch for it in November. Four Borderless students have written about it, including Asel from Kyrgyzstan, Omar from Egypt and Emir, who did his bachelor's in finance in Budapest.
🇨🇳 Chinese Government Scholarship
China waives tuition at 289 designated universities, gives you a free dormitory place or a housing subsidy, pays a monthly stipend of CNY 2,500 for undergraduates, rising to CNY 3,000 for master's students and CNY 3,500 for doctoral students, and adds comprehensive medical insurance. A year of Chinese language study is funded first, or two years for literature, history, philosophy and Chinese medicine. Undergraduates must be under 25. There are two routes in: the Bilateral Program through the authority responsible for overseas study in your own country, and the Chinese University Program direct to a designated university. Applications run from early January to early April, with the exact deadline set by whichever body you apply through. International flights are not covered.
🇹🇼 Taiwan Scholarship
Taiwan's Ministry of Education pays tuition up to NTD 40,000 a semester plus a monthly stipend of NTD 15,000 for undergraduates and NTD 20,000 for graduate students. You pay anything above the tuition cap yourself, so this one is a large subsidy rather than a full ride. Awards run up to four years for a bachelor's degree and are capped at five years across all levels. You apply on paper to the Taiwanese overseas mission accredited to your country, and separately for admission to each university. The 2026 round ran from 1 February to 31 March.
🇮🇳 ICCR Scholarship Schemes
India funds tuition plus a monthly stipend of INR 18,000 for undergraduates, a house rent allowance of INR 5,500 to 6,500 a month, an annual grant for books and a flight home when you finish. The schemes are named after their regions and cover most of the world, from India-Africa Maitri to Mekong Ganga Cooperation to a Quad STEM scheme for four-year engineering degrees. Applicants must be at least 18 and under 35 for a bachelor's degree. Everything goes through one portal, with up to five course choices, and the Indian Mission in your country makes the final selection. Health insurance is your own cost, and medicine, law and integrated courses are excluded.
🇧🇳 Brunei Darussalam Government Scholarship
One of the most complete packages anywhere: tuition waived, return economy airfare, university accommodation, comprehensive insurance, BND 500 a month personal allowance, BND 150 a month for meals, BND 600 a year for books and a baggage allowance on arrival. It covers diplomas, bachelor's and master's degrees at five institutions in Brunei, though not doctorates. Undergraduates must be 25 or under. The form has to be endorsed by your own government or its embassy, which is the step to start early. The last cycle ran from 15 December to 15 February.
🇷🇴 Romanian Government Scholarship
Romania pays full tuition, a monthly allowance published by its embassies as 925 lei for 2026-2027, and a dormitory place where one is available, for citizens of any non-EU country. Bachelor's and master's degrees are taught in Romanian, so most scholars start with a funded preparatory year of the language, skipped if you already have a B1 certificate. Doctoral candidates on a foreign-language programme are exempt. Medicine, dentistry and pharmacy are excluded at every level, and you pay your own airfare and visa costs. The 2026-2027 round ran from 16 February to 31 March through a single national portal.
🇷🇺 Open Doors
Russia's route in is a competition rather than an application. Open Doors is an online olympiad in 14 subject areas, run by the Global Universities Association with the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, and its winners are admitted to a tuition-free place under the government quota with a monthly stipend set by the host university. There are separate tracks for bachelor's, master's, doctoral and postdoctoral study, and more than 16,700 people have won it. Travel, accommodation, insurance and living costs beyond the stipend stay with you. Registration is open now and closes on 1 November 2026.
🇦🇺 Australia Awards Scholarships
Australia funds full tuition, return economy airfare, an establishment allowance for accommodation and textbooks, a fortnightly living contribution, health cover and an introductory academic programme, for citizens of partner countries across Africa, Asia and the Pacific. The department sets the allowance rates and does not publish them. Two conditions shape it: the degree level on offer is decided country by country, so several programmes fund master's study only, and scholars must leave Australia for at least two years afterwards or repay the full cost. The 2027 intake closed on 30 April 2026.
🇳🇿 Manaaki New Zealand Scholarship
New Zealand covers full tuition, a living allowance, an establishment allowance, travel at both ends, and medical and travel insurance, for students from Pacific and Asian countries, with a home visit trip on longer programmes. Amounts are not published. Postgraduate applicants need a year of full-time work experience, waived for recent school leavers, and every scholar commits to returning home for two years afterwards to contribute to their country's development. The tertiary round is currently closed with no reopening date announced.
🏫 A government that funds a year of high school
🇯🇵 Asia Kakehashi Project
Japan also funds high-school students. The Asia Kakehashi Project sends students aged 15 to 18 from 26 partner countries to a Japanese public high school for a semester, with international and domestic airfare, a dormitory place or host family, school expenses and health insurance all covered. You need some Japanese already, at about JLPT N5 level, and you apply through the AFS partner organisation in your country, which sets its own deadline. Three Borderless students have written about it, including Anshika, who applied after watching her cousin come home from Japan different, and Tanisha, who found it through a group chat link.
🎓 Governments that fund master's and doctoral degrees
Keep these twelve for later. Each is worth knowing now, because several expect work experience or a supervisor you would need to line up long before you apply.
🇬🇧 Chevening Scholarship
The UK government funds a one-year master's at any UK university, covering tuition, a monthly living stipend set separately for London, economy travel both ways, your visa fee, and arrival and departure allowances. It is open in more than 160 countries and territories, with around 1,500 awards a year in recent cycles. The requirement that catches people is work experience: 2,800 hours, which is about two years at 35 hours a week, completed before you apply, though part-time work, volunteering and internships all count. Applications for 2027/28 close on October 6, 2026 at 11:00 UTC. Shortlisting follows in mid-February, interviews in March and April, and results from mid-June 2027. Touba wrote about winning it and studying at Cardiff.
🇪🇺 Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters
The European Union pays for a master's taught across at least three universities in different European countries, so you move country each semester or year. The scholarship covers your participation costs at every university in the consortium and pays €1,400 a month for the 12, 18 or 24 months the programme lasts, a figure that bundles living costs, travel, visa and installation. Each consortium runs its own admissions, and most deadlines fall between October and January for a September start. A further 37 joint masters were selected in the latest call and open for applications this autumn for 2027 entry. Elizaveta studies lexicography across three countries on it, and Mira from Kazakhstan is on a double-degree software and data programme.
🇩🇪 DAAD EPOS
Germany's academic exchange service funds master's and doctoral study in development-related fields for graduates from developing and emerging economies, paying €992 a month for master's students and €1,400 for doctoral candidates, plus health, accident and liability insurance and a travel allowance. You need a bachelor's finished within the last six years, results in the top third of your class, and normally two years of relevant work experience. You apply directly to up to three courses from the EPOS list in order of preference, and each course sets its own deadline, with the current list covering 2027 and 2028 entry.
🇺🇸 Fulbright Foreign Student Program
The United States funds graduate students, young professionals and artists from more than 160 countries for master's and doctoral study, research and professional training, with roughly 4,000 foreign students on grants each year. Grants are set by each country and generally include tuition, a living allowance, airfare and health benefits. There is no central portal. You apply through the binational Fulbright Commission or the US embassy in your own country, and 49 countries have their own commission. Cycles open about 15 months before the grant starts, with deadlines about a year ahead, so the application you submit this year is for study that begins in 2028.
🇨🇿 Czech Government Scholarships
Czechia pays tuition at its public universities, CZK 16,000 a month for follow-up master's students and CZK 24,960 for doctoral students, and funds a year of Czech language study first for the Czech-taught track. It is limited to a list of countries published with each call, currently including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Ukraine, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Zambia, Guatemala and Honduras. Travel to the Czech Republic is explicitly not covered. The current call closes on 30 September 2026, for study starting in 2027/2028.
🇨🇭 Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships
Switzerland pays CHF 2,450 a month for doctoral study and doctoral-level research stays, plus a rental deposit grant, a half-fare travel card, and health insurance and a return flight for holders from outside Europe. Tuition and semester fees are not covered. There is also an arts master's track open to a shorter list of countries. A letter of support from a Swiss academic supervisor is a prerequisite, so that conversation comes first. The portal opened on 20 August 2026 and each Swiss embassy sets its own country deadline. Postdoctoral scholarships end from 2027/28.
🇵🇱 Banach Scholarship Programme
Poland pays PLN 2,500 a month and waives tuition at public universities for a master's degree, with a travel lump sum and a funded preparatory year of Polish. It covers 36 countries from Albania and Armenia to Vietnam and Uzbekistan. Two traps: Poland's academic exchange agency does not arrange your admission, so you apply to the university yourself and prove it, and the call can close before its deadline once each country group hits its application cap. The 2026 round closed on 8 May.
🇵🇱 Poland My First Choice
The same idea for students from high-income countries, which the Banach list excludes. It pays PLN 2,000 a month with a tuition waiver at public institutions and a travel payment banded by distance, from PLN 1,000 for Lithuania to PLN 6,500 for the furthest countries. Master's level only, and again you arrange your own admission. The 2026 round closed on 29 May.
🇮🇹 Italian Government Grants
Italy pays EUR 10,800 over a nine-month grant, in three instalments, with health insurance, for master's degrees, conservatory programmes in art, music and dance, doctorates and research projects. Tuition is the part to check: some universities exempt grant holders and some do not, the ministry refunds nothing, and regional fees are always yours. Age limits are tight at 28 for master's applicants and 30 for doctoral ones. Selection runs by citizenship through the Italian diplomatic mission in your country. The 2026-2027 call closed on 26 March.
🇫🇷 France Excellence Eiffel Scholarship
France pays EUR 1,200 a month for master's students and EUR 2,000 for doctoral candidates, with international travel, a return flight, health cover and an offer of university accommodation. Tuition is not paid by the programme, though holders are exempt from tuition for national diplomas at public institutions. The thing to know is who applies: students cannot. Only a French institution may nominate you, so the first move is contacting the international office of the university you want, well before its internal deadline. The 2026 session closed on 8 January.
🇮🇪 Government of Ireland International Education Scholarship
Ireland funds 60 students a year with a EUR 10,000 stipend and a full waiver of tuition and the registration charge by the host institution, for one year of postgraduate study. You need an offer from an eligible Irish institution as an international fee-paying student before you apply for the scholarship, and applicants from the EU, EEA, Switzerland and the UK are not eligible. The 2026 call closed on 12 March.
🇹🇭 Thailand International Postgraduate Programme
Thailand covers tuition, round-trip airfare, insurance, THB 7,000 a month to live on, an accommodation allowance, a settlement payment on arrival, a yearly books allowance and a thesis allowance, for a master's degree at universities including Chiang Mai and Mahidol. A hundred and one countries get the full package and another 32 get everything except the international airfare. It is aimed at people already working in government or a related field, and nomination by your country's development cooperation focal point is compulsory. The last round closed on 23 February.
Start your own journey
The pattern across all 25 is the same. The money is public, the competition is national rather than global, and the deadline is the part that eliminates most people. Korea and Czechia close this month. Russia closes on 1 November and the UK on 6 October. Most of the rest reopen between January and April, which means the work starts now.
Kai, the Borderless AI college counselor, checks which of these your nationality, age and grades qualify you for, turns each deadline into a task, and works through the application with you. It is free to use.
Start with Kai, and read the stories from students who did it.
