How to study Abroad in free

Set­tling abroad for edu­ca­tion offers stu­dents a gold­en oppor­tu­ni­ty to immerse them­selves in new cul­tures, acquire glob­al­ly rec­og­nized knowl­edge, and build valu­able inter­na­tion­al con­nec­tions. How­ev­er, the path to study­ing in a for­eign land often comes with a hefty price tag, which many aspir­ing stu­dents find unaf­ford­able. With strate­gic plan­ning and the right sup­port, though, study­ing abroad can become a real­i­ty, even for those with lim­it­ed finan­cial means.

The aspi­ra­tion to gain inter­na­tion­al edu­ca­tion is on the rise, dri­ven by the ben­e­fits of aca­d­e­m­ic col­lab­o­ra­tions, expo­sure to diverse per­spec­tives, and enhanced career prospects. Beyond aca­d­e­mics, stu­dents also gain invalu­able cross-cul­tur­al expe­ri­ences, prepar­ing them for a pro­fes­sion­al world that val­ues glob­al think­ing. Unfor­tu­nate­ly, the dream of study­ing abroad remains out of reach for many due to finan­cial con­straints, forc­ing them to miss out on these life-chang­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties.

Scholarships for International Students

Government-Sponsored Programs

1. The Unit­ed States: The Mer­it Schol­ar­ship pro­gram pro­vides finan­cial assis­tance to over 8,000 inter­na­tion­al stu­dents annu­al­ly, mak­ing high­er edu­ca­tion acces­si­ble to tal­ent­ed indi­vid­u­als from across the globe.
2. Euro­pean Union: The Eras­mus Mundus pro­gram is a pop­u­lar choice, enabling more than 17,000 stu­dents world­wide to pur­sue Master’s degrees at pres­ti­gious Euro­pean uni­ver­si­ties.
3. Unit­ed King­dom: The Chevening Schol­ar­ship stands out by sup­port­ing over 1,500 stu­dents from var­i­ous coun­tries each year, fos­ter­ing aca­d­e­m­ic growth and lead­er­ship.

Non-Gov­ern­ment Spon­sored Oppor­tu­ni­ties

1. Uni­ver­si­ty of Oslo, Nor­way: Offers schol­ar­ships that enable inter­na­tion­al stu­dents to attend with­out tuition costs, pro­mot­ing inclu­siv­i­ty and diver­si­ty.
2. Uni­ver­si­ty of Helsin­ki, Fin­land: Extends schol­ar­ships and tuition fee waivers to over 1,400 inter­na­tion­al stu­dents annu­al­ly, eas­ing the finan­cial bur­den for tal­ent­ed indi­vid­u­als.
3. Maas­tricht Uni­ver­si­ty, Nether­lands: Com­mit­ted to recruit­ing glob­al tal­ent, this uni­ver­si­ty pro­vides schol­ar­ships and tuition fee waivers to sup­port inter­na­tion­al stu­dents in their aca­d­e­m­ic pur­suits.

Pri­vate Spon­sor­ship Pro­grams

1. Inter­na­tion­al Stu­dent Schol­ar­ships (ISS): A flex­i­ble finan­cial aid pro­gram offer­ing schol­ar­ships tai­lored to the indi­vid­ual needs of inter­na­tion­al stu­dents, upon request.
2. Rotary Fel­low­ship: A glob­al­ly rec­og­nized ini­tia­tive that pro­vides over 100 schol­ar­ships annu­al­ly for spe­cial­ized stud­ies in peace and con­flict res­o­lu­tion, empow­er­ing stu­dents to make a dif­fer­ence in the world.

Government Funding and Grants

Fed­er­al Stu­dent Aid (FSA) — USA

1. Pell Grant: Specif­i­cal­ly designed to assist under­grad­u­ate stu­dents pur­su­ing their edu­ca­tion abroad, pro­vid­ing essen­tial finan­cial aid for their stud­ies.
2. Gilman Schol­ar­ship: Tar­gets under­grad­u­ate stu­dents, par­tic­u­lar­ly those engag­ing in stud­ies involv­ing crit­i­cal lan­guages, pro­mot­ing cul­tur­al and lin­guis­tic pro­fi­cien­cy.

Canada Student Grants

1. Vanier Cana­da Grad­u­ate Schol­ar­ship: A pres­ti­gious pro­gram sup­port­ing doc­tor­al can­di­dates, encour­ag­ing advanced aca­d­e­m­ic research and inno­va­tion.
2. Bant­i­ng Post­doc­tor­al Fel­low­ship: Aimed at post­doc­tor­al researchers, this grant helps advance cut­ting-edge research and career devel­op­ment.

Australian Government Scholarships

1. Aus­tralia Awards Schol­ar­ships: A com­pre­hen­sive pro­gram offer­ing finan­cial sup­port for both under­grad­u­ate and post­grad­u­ate stu­dents pur­su­ing stud­ies in Aus­tralian insti­tu­tions.
2. Endeav­our Post­grad­u­ate Schol­ar­ship: Designed to facil­i­tate post­grad­u­ate research and aca­d­e­m­ic explo­ration in Aus­tralia, enabling schol­ars to con­tribute to glob­al advance­ments.

Work-Study Programs

International Student Work Programs

1. USA: Offers oppor­tu­ni­ties such as Cur­ric­u­lar Prac­ti­cal Train­ing (CPT) and Option­al Prac­ti­cal Train­ing (OPT), allow­ing inter­na­tion­al stu­dents to gain prac­ti­cal work expe­ri­ence along­side their stud­ies.
2. Cana­da: The Work Study Pro­gram enables inter­na­tion­al stu­dents to work part-time on cam­pus or in approved roles to sup­port their edu­ca­tion and liv­ing expens­es.
3. Aus­tralia: Through the Work Inte­grat­ed Learn­ing (WIL) pro­gram, stu­dents can engage in work place­ments rel­e­vant to their field of study, enhanc­ing their pro­fes­sion­al skills.

Volunteer Programs

1. Vol­un­teer For­ev­er: Pro­vides schol­ar­ships and vol­un­teer­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties for those eager to con­tribute to social and com­mu­ni­ty projects while explor­ing dif­fer­ent cul­tures.
2. Inter­na­tion­al Vol­un­teer HQ: Spe­cial­izes in cost-effec­tive vol­un­teer pro­grams, mak­ing it acces­si­ble for stu­dents to engage in mean­ing­ful glob­al ini­tia­tives.

Language Assistant Programs

1. Lan­guage Assis­tant Pro­gram (Spain): The Span­ish Min­istry of Edu­ca­tion offers teach­ing assist­ant­ships for lan­guage stu­dents, enabling them to gain teach­ing expe­ri­ence while improv­ing their Span­ish lan­guage skills.
2. Teach­ing Assis­tant Pro­gram (France): Man­aged by the French Min­istry of Edu­ca­tion, this pro­gram allows stu­dents to work as teach­ing assis­tants while immers­ing them­selves in French cul­ture and lan­guage.

Research Grants

1. Nation­al Sci­ence Foun­da­tion (NSF) — USA: The Grad­u­ate Research Fel­low­ship Pro­gram sup­ports stu­dents pur­su­ing advanced STEM research, fos­ter­ing inno­va­tion and sci­en­tif­ic explo­ration.
2. Euro­pean Research Coun­cil (ERC): The ERC Start­ing Grant is designed to assist ear­ly-career researchers in estab­lish­ing their aca­d­e­m­ic careers through ground­break­ing research projects.

Countries with Free or Low-Cost Education

Ger­many

• Tuition Fees: Free at pub­lic uni­ver­si­ties, with minor admin­is­tra­tive costs.
• Liv­ing Costs: Approx­i­mate­ly €800–€1,200 per month.
• Pro­grams Offered: Bach­e­lor’s, Mas­ter’s, and Ph.D. degrees across var­i­ous fields.
• Schol­ar­ships Avail­able: DAAD (Deutsch­er Akademis­ch­er Aus­tausch­di­enst) and Eras­mus Mundus sup­port inter­na­tion­al stu­dents.

Norway

• Tuition Fees: Free at pub­lic uni­ver­si­ties for both domes­tic and inter­na­tion­al stu­dents.
• Liv­ing Costs: Around NOK 10,000–NOK 12,000 per month (~€850–€1,000).
• Pro­grams Offered: Bach­e­lor’s, Mas­ter’s, and Ph.D. pro­grams, many avail­able in Eng­lish.
• Schol­ar­ships Avail­able: Nor­we­gian Quo­ta Scheme, Eras­mus+.

Finland

• Tuition Fees: Free for EU/EEA stu­dents; afford­able for oth­ers (start­ing at €6,000 annu­al­ly).
• Liv­ing Costs: €700–€1,200 per month.
• Pro­grams Offered: Bach­e­lor’s and Mas­ter’s degrees in diverse fields, many in Eng­lish.
• Schol­ar­ships Avail­able: Uni­ver­si­ty-spe­cif­ic schol­ar­ships and Fin­land Gov­ern­ment Schol­ar­ships.

France

• Tuition Fees: Min­i­mal at pub­lic uni­ver­si­ties (€170/year for Bach­e­lor’s, €243/year for Master’s).
• Liv­ing Costs: €700–€1,200 per month.
• Pro­grams Offered: Bach­e­lor’s, Mas­ter’s, and Ph.D. degrees, with increas­ing Eng­lish-taught options.
• Schol­ar­ships Avail­able: Eif­fel Excel­lence Schol­ar­ships, Eras­mus+.

Austria

• Tuition Fees: Free for EU/EEA stu­dents; ~€1,500/year for oth­ers.
• Liv­ing Costs: €850–€1,200 per month.
• Pro­grams Offered: Bach­e­lor’s, Mas­ter’s, and Ph.D. pro­grams in Ger­man and Eng­lish.
• Schol­ar­ships Avail­able: OeAD Schol­ar­ships, Eras­mus+.

Countries with Free or Low-Cost Education

Coun­try	Tuition Fees	Liv­ing Costs	Pro­grams Offered	Schol­ar­ships Avail­able
Ger­many	Free (pub­lic uni­ver­si­ties)	€800–€1,200/month	Bach­e­lor’s, Mas­ter’s, PhD	DAAD, Eras­mus Mundus
Nor­way	Free (pub­lic uni­ver­si­ties)	NOK 9,000–12,000/month (~€850–€1,200)	Bach­e­lor’s, Mas­ter’s, PhD	Nor­we­gian Quo­ta Scheme, Eras­mus+
Swe­den	Free for EU/EEA stu­dents	SEK 8,000–12,000/month (~€750–€1,100)	Bach­e­lor’s, Mas­ter’s, PhD	Swedish Insti­tute Schol­ar­ships, Eras­mus+
Den­mark	Free for EU/EEA stu­dents	DKK 6,000–10,000/month (~€800–€1,350)	Bach­e­lor’s, Mas­ter’s, PhD	Dan­ish Gov­ern­ment Schol­ar­ships, Eras­mus+
Fin­land	Free for EU/EEA stu­dents	€800–€1,200/month	Bach­e­lor’s, Mas­ter’s, PhD	Fin­land Gov­ern­ment Schol­ar­ships, Eras­mus+
Ice­land	ISK 75,000–150,000/semester (~€500–€1,000)	ISK 80,000–120,000/month (~€550–€800)	Bach­e­lor’s, Mas­ter’s, PhD	Ice­landic Gov­ern­ment Schol­ar­ships, Eras­mus+
Aus­tria	€363–€726/semester	€800–€1,200/month	Bach­e­lor’s, Mas­ter’s, PhD	OeAD Schol­ar­ships, Eras­mus+

Scholarship Programs

Ful­bright Schol­ar­ship (USA)

• Award: Cov­ers full tuition and pro­vides a liv­ing stipend.
• Eli­gi­bil­i­ty: Open to inter­na­tion­al stu­dents pur­su­ing grad­u­ate stud­ies.
• Dead­line: Appli­ca­tions are typ­i­cal­ly accept­ed from Octo­ber to Decem­ber.

Eras­mus Mundus Schol­ar­ship (EU)

• Award: Includes full tuition cov­er­age and a gen­er­ous liv­ing stipend.
• Eli­gi­bil­i­ty: Avail­able to both EU and non-EU cit­i­zens for joint Master’s pro­grams.
• Dead­line: Appli­ca­tions are usu­al­ly open from Jan­u­ary to March.

Chevening Schol­ar­ship (UK)

• Award: Cov­ers full tuition fees along with a liv­ing stipend.
• Eli­gi­bil­i­ty: Offered to inter­na­tion­al stu­dents demon­strat­ing lead­er­ship poten­tial.
• Dead­line: Appli­ca­tions are accept­ed between Novem­ber and Decem­ber annu­al­ly.

DAAD Schol­ar­ship (Ger­many)

• Award: Pro­vides full tuition cov­er­age and a month­ly stipend for liv­ing expens­es.
• Eli­gi­bil­i­ty: Open to inter­na­tion­al stu­dents for post­grad­u­ate pro­grams in Ger­many.
• Dead­line: Dead­lines vary depend­ing on the pro­gram and insti­tu­tion.

Aus­tralia Awards Schol­ar­ship (Aus­tralia)

• Award: Cov­ers full tuition, air­fare, and liv­ing allowance.
• Eli­gi­bil­i­ty: Open to stu­dents from devel­op­ing coun­tries pur­su­ing under­grad­u­ate or post­grad­u­ate stud­ies.
• Dead­line: Appli­ca­tions typ­i­cal­ly close in April.

Rotary Peace Fel­low­ship (Glob­al)

• Award: Cov­ers full tuition, hous­ing, and intern­ship expens­es.
• Eli­gi­bil­i­ty: For stu­dents pur­su­ing peace and con­flict res­o­lu­tion stud­ies world­wide.
• Dead­line: Appli­ca­tions usu­al­ly close by May.

Vanier Cana­da Grad­u­ate Schol­ar­ship (Cana­da)

Dead­line: Nom­i­na­tions typ­i­cal­ly occur between Sep­tem­ber and Novem­ber.

Award: CAD 50,000 per year for three years.

Eli­gi­bil­i­ty: Open to doc­tor­al stu­dents in fields such as health, engi­neer­ing, and nat­ur­al sci­ences.

Pro­grams

Bach­e­lor’s Degree

• Dura­tion: Typ­i­cal­ly 3–4 years.
• Fields of Study: Includes Busi­ness, Engi­neer­ing, Arts, Sci­ences, and oth­er dis­ci­plines.

Mas­ter’s Degree

• Dura­tion: Gen­er­al­ly 1–2 years.
• Fields of Study: Avail­able in Busi­ness, Engi­neer­ing, Arts, Sci­ences, and oth­er spe­cial­ized areas.

PhD (Doc­tor­al Degree)

• Dura­tion: Usu­al­ly 3–5 years.
• Fields of Study: Encom­pass­es a wide range of sub­jects across var­i­ous aca­d­e­m­ic and pro­fes­sion­al domains.
•  

Asian Devel­op­ment Bank Schol­ar­ship:

The Asian Devel­op­ment Bank (ADB) Schol­ar­ship is a high­ly esteemed oppor­tu­ni­ty designed to assist excep­tion­al stu­dents from devel­op­ing nations in pur­su­ing advanced stud­ies in Asia and the Pacif­ic. Spon­sored by the Asian Devel­op­ment Bank, the schol­ar­ship focus­es on enhanc­ing eco­nom­ic devel­op­ment, social progress, and human resources in emerg­ing economies.

Eli­gi­bil­i­ty Cri­te­ria:

• Must be a cit­i­zen of an ADB bor­row­ing mem­ber coun­try
• Pos­sess a bach­e­lor’s degree or its equiv­a­lent
• Show aca­d­e­m­ic excel­lence and poten­tial for suc­cess in high­er edu­ca­tion
• Meet the Eng­lish lan­guage pro­fi­cien­cy require­ments (e.g., IELTS or TOEFL scores)
• Apply for a mas­ter’s or PhD pro­gram at a uni­ver­si­ty approved by the ADB

Schol­ar­ship Ben­e­fits:

• Com­plete cov­er­age of tuition fees
• Month­ly stipend rang­ing from $1,000 to $1,500
• Round-trip air­fare to the host coun­try
• The­sis grant for research stu­dents
• Trav­el grant for attend­ing con­fer­ences and work­shops

Appli­ca­tion Process:

• Choose an ADB-approved uni­ver­si­ty and pro­gram
• Com­plete and sub­mit the online appli­ca­tion via the ADB web­site
• Pro­vide all nec­es­sary doc­u­ments, such as tran­scripts, CV, and rec­om­men­da­tion let­ters
• Ensure sub­mis­sion by the appli­ca­tion dead­line, usu­al­ly in Octo­ber or Novem­ber

Key Dates:

• July-Sep­tem­ber: Schol­ar­ship appli­ca­tion peri­od opens
• Octo­ber-Novem­ber: Appli­ca­tion sub­mis­sion dead­line
• Jan­u­ary-Feb­ru­ary: Inter­view and selec­tion process
• March-April: Noti­fi­ca­tion of schol­ar­ship awards
• May-June: Start of the aca­d­e­m­ic pro­gram

ADB-Approved Uni­ver­si­ties:

• Uni­ver­si­ty of Tokyo (Japan)
• Nation­al Uni­ver­si­ty of Sin­ga­pore (Sin­ga­pore)
• Uni­ver­si­ty of Hong Kong (Hong Kong)
• Aus­tralian Nation­al Uni­ver­si­ty (Aus­tralia)
• Uni­ver­si­ty of Auck­land (New Zealand)