Apply for scholarships to study abroad, explained simply
Free guides for international students working this out on their own. How to get a scholarship to study abroad, which full scholarships for international students really pay for everything, what a country actually costs, and where you stand on IELTS. Written in plain words, because nobody should need a lawyer to read a university fees page.
- 🔓 No account
- 📝 No forms
- 🙈 We store nothing
- 💚 Free, always
Pick where you want to start
Study abroad programs, scholarships and free mock tests — every guide is a few short pages, not one endless article. The dots show how long it is.
Fully Funded Scholarships
3 pagesScholarships that pay your tuition, your flight and your rent. We say plainly who each one is for, so you don't spend a month on one you can't win.
See the 12How to Apply, Step by Step
5 pagesWhat goes in an application, in the order you should do it. Including the small mistakes that get good students rejected before anyone reads their essay.
Start hereFree Practice Tests
6 testsIELTS, TOEFL, PTE, GRE, GMAT and SAT. Ten real-format questions, marked as you go, with your estimated band at the end. Takes about ten minutes.
Pick a testTop Universities
15 countriesThe six universities worth applying to in each country, with the entry grades they actually accept and how many international students they take.
Browse countriesWhat It Really Costs
15 countriesTuition, rent, the bank balance the embassy wants to see, and the fees nobody warns you about — added up per country, in the money you'll be paying.
Compare costsLoans Without Collateral
4 pagesHow to borrow for a degree when your family has no property to pledge and nobody abroad to sign for you — and what you would really pay back each month.
Read the guideWhere do you want to go?
The figure on each card is what an international student pays — not the local price. Every one is sourced and dated inside.
Also worth a look
Shorter guides for the questions that come up once you’ve picked a country.
Online Degrees & Certificates
2 pagesRecognised degrees you can finish from home, and how employers actually treat them.
ReadWork Visas & Staying On
2 pagesWhat happens after you graduate: how long you can stay, and which routes lead to residency.
ReadConvert Your Grades
Instant toolTurn your WAEC, CBSE, Bagrut or Baccalauréat result into the GPA a university will read.
ConvertAm I Eligible?
5 questionsAnswer five questions about your degree, your country and your English score, and we will show you only the awards you actually qualify for.
Check meWhy trust anything here?
Fair question. Most sites in this corner of the internet are shopfronts for agents.
🔗 Every number has a link
Tuition, visa balances, work-hour limits — each one comes from the university, the ministry or the immigration service, with the link and the date we last checked it. If a country changes its fees, the page says so.
🙅 We’ll tell you when it’s a no
A scholarship you can’t win is worse than none, because it costs you a month. Each one says who it’s really for, and the eligibility check will happily tell you something isn’t a fit.
🗣️ Plain words, on purpose
Where a term is unavoidable — ISEE, OPT, blocked account — we explain it right there, in the sentence. No glossary to go hunting for.
📶 Built for a slow phone
Pages are a fraction of the usual size and load on 3G. Most of the people reading this are on mobile data that costs them money, so speed was a requirement, not a nice-to-have.
Questions students ask us most
How do I apply for a scholarship to study abroad?
You apply directly to the body giving the money — never through an agent, and never through us. The usual order catches people out: pick your course first, then apply for scholarships that fund it. Most fully funded scholarships want proof you have a university place, or at least an application already in progress.
Start your course applications several months before the scholarship deadline. Chevening, for instance, wants an unconditional offer in hand by July.
Which scholarships for international students are open right now?
Look at the badge on each card. We work it out from today’s date, so any scholarship available now is marked open, and a closed one tells you which month it reopens. Nothing here is a stale list from three years ago.
How to apply for a scholarship, step by step
One: shortlist courses you meet the entry requirements for. Two: check which of the twelve awards funds that country and level. Three: get your references and transcripts translated early — this is what delays most people. Four: write the application around what you will do after the degree, not what you have done. Five: submit well before the deadline, because the portals fall over on the last day.
There are scholarships for students at every level here, but almost all of them assume you already have a course in mind.
Is an abroad education scholarship the same as a study abroad scholarship?
Yes — people use both, along with “international scholarship” and “overseas scholarship”, for the same thing: money from a government, university or foundation to study outside your own country.
The distinction that actually matters is fully funded versus partial. A partial award might waive 20% of tuition and leave you to find rent, flights and the rest. Everything on this page is fully funded.
Are there scholarships for college students at undergraduate level?
Fewer than for postgraduates, and that is worth knowing early — most of the big money goes to masters and PhD study. Scholarships for college students doing a first degree here are the Global Korea Scholarship, MEXT, Australia Awards, Manaaki New Zealand and the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program.