How to find and choose a scholarship

Most people start their scholarship search with a single famous name and a vague hope. The applicants who succeed usually work the other way round: they begin with their own profile, look for programmes that were designed for people like them, and spend their effort on a short list of realistic options. This guide explains that method step by step.

Start with your profile, not with the programme

Before you open a single website, write down five facts about yourself. They decide which scholarships are open to you at all:

• Citizenship. Many government scholarships are open only to citizens of listed countries. Where you live does not always count; your passport usually does.
• Study level. Bachelor's, master's, PhD, postdoctoral research or a short professional course. A programme for master's students will not consider a bachelor's applicant, however strong.
• Field. Some awards are open to every subject, others only to priority areas such as public policy, engineering or health.
• Work experience. Several well-known programmes require one to three years of work after your first degree. Count your months honestly.
• Age and timing. Some programmes have age limits by level, and almost all of them recruit once a year, often nine to twelve months before the course starts.

With these five facts you can rule out most programmes in seconds, which saves you from the most common waste of time: preparing an application you were never eligible for.

Where to look

Three kinds of sources are worth your time.

1. Official government programmes. Many countries fund international students through a ministry or a national agency. Examples on this site include the Chevening Scholarships, Türkiye Scholarships, Stipendium Hungaricum and the Japanese Government (MEXT) Scholarship.
2. University and consortium scholarships. Universities fund places through their own schemes, and groups of universities run joint programmes such as Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters, where the scholarship comes with the admission decision.
3. Foundations and international organisations. These often target a region, a profession or a cause and may be smaller and less crowded.

Use our scholarship list with the filters for nationality and level, or open the pages by nationality, for example scholarships for citizens of Tajikistan or for citizens of Uzbekistan. Every listing links to the official page, which is the only place where you should apply.

Read the official call the right way

When you find a promising programme, do not start writing. First read the official call and answer four questions:

• Am I eligible on every point? Nationality, level, field, experience, age, language. One "no" ends it.
• What does it cover? Tuition only, or also a monthly allowance, travel, insurance and visa costs? Our guide on fully funded and partial scholarships explains the difference.
• What must I submit, and by when? List every document, including the ones that take weeks: transcripts, translations, recommendation letters and language test results.
• How are candidates selected? Essays, interviews, an admission offer from a university, a nomination by your own ministry? This tells you where to put your effort.

Write the answers down in one place. A simple table with one row per programme is enough.

Build a realistic shortlist

Aim for three to six programmes per year, not twenty. A good shortlist mixes:

• one or two competitive, well-known awards where you meet every requirement;
• two or three programmes with a narrower audience (your region, your field, your profession), where fewer people apply;
• one option you could fund partly yourself, such as a tuition waiver in a country with low living costs.

Check that the deadlines on your list do not all fall in the same two weeks. Our closing soon page shows what is due next.

Plan backwards from the deadline

Take each deadline and count back. Recommendation letters need three to four weeks of notice. Official translations and certified copies can take two weeks. An English test needs a booking and a few days for results. Essays need several drafts. A sensible plan starts eight to twelve weeks before the deadline.

Our guides on the motivation letter, the academic CV, recommendation letters and the document checklist help with each part.

Signs that a programme is not worth your time

Walk away when a "scholarship" asks you to pay an application or processing fee to an agent, promises guaranteed acceptance, or has no official page on a government or university website. Our guide on scholarship scams lists the warning signs.

A short checklist

• Your five profile facts are written down.
• Each programme on your list has been checked against the official call.
• You know what each award covers and what you would still pay.
• Every document has a date by which it must be ready.
• You apply only on official websites.

Requirements change from one year to the next, so always read the current call on the official site before you rely on anything written here or elsewhere.