Lists of fully funded scholarships for international students usually rank them by prestige, which is the least useful way to order them. These programmes are not competing for the same applicants. Each was set up to do a particular job, and your odds depend far more on matching that job than on how impressive the name is.
They also do not mean the same thing by “fully funded.” Below is what each one selects for, what its own page says it covers, how you actually apply, and where the next deadline stood when we last checked. Every programme links to its directory entry, which carries the date we verified it and the official link.
At a glance
| Programme | Level | You apply through | Next deadline (as last checked) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chevening | Master’s, UK | Chevening directly | 6 October 2026 |
| Knight-Hennessy | Graduate, Stanford | Knight-Hennessy plus Stanford | 6 October 2026 |
| Gates Cambridge | Master’s and PhD, Cambridge | The Cambridge course application | 8 December 2026 or 6 January 2027, by course |
| Yenching Academy | Master’s, Peking University | The Academy | 30 November 2026 |
| Erasmus Mundus | Master’s, Europe | Each programme | Set by each programme, mostly October to January |
| Fulbright | Master’s and PhD, US | Your country’s commission or US embassy | Set by each country |
| MEXT | Graduate, Japan | Japanese embassy in your country | Next round expected around April 2027 |
| Swiss Government Excellence | PhD and research, Switzerland | Your country’s list | Varies by country; earliest 13 October 2026 |
| Rhodes | Postgraduate, Oxford | Your constituency | Set by constituency; many for 2027 have closed |
| Commonwealth Master’s (CSC) | Master’s, UK | A nominating body in your country | Set by the nominator |
| Queen Elizabeth Commonwealth | Two-year master’s | QECS, plus the host university | Two cycles a year; next not yet announced |
Government programmes with a diplomatic purpose
These are the largest and best known, and they exist to build relationships between countries. That shapes selection more than anything else.
Chevening is the UK government’s award for a one-year taught master’s at any UK university. It wants people with at least two years’ work experience after their degree (2,800 hours) who commit to returning to their country for at least two years afterwards. The 2027/28 round closes on 6 October 2026, but notice the second deadline: you must hold at least one unconditional UK university offer by 8 July 2027. A strong academic record without a clear leadership story tends not to succeed here.
Fulbright is the United States’ equivalent, and the detail most people miss is that there is no single Fulbright. You apply through the binational commission or US embassy in your own country, which sets its own deadline, priorities and funding package. If your country is not listed on the Fulbright apply page, you are not eligible. Dual US citizens are excluded.
Commonwealth Scholarships are UK-funded and have a development focus. For the main Master’s programme, the Commission does not accept direct applications: you apply to a nominator, usually your country’s national nominating agency, which runs its own selection and may set its own earlier closing date. That internal date is the one that binds you. The separate Queen Elizabeth Commonwealth Scholarships fund a two-year master’s at an ACU member university, with the host countries and universities changing every cycle.
MEXT is Japan’s programme, open from undergraduate to doctoral level. At graduate level you apply through the Japanese embassy in your country, which sets its own deadline; for the 2027 intake those calls ran from around April 2026 and have closed. It pays a monthly allowance of 144,000 yen for master’s students and 145,000 yen for doctoral students, waives tuition and fees, and provides an economy flight to Japan. In principle, applicants must have been born on or after 2 April 1992.
Other national schemes follow the same logic with different terms. Türkiye Scholarships places you directly into a university and adds a year of Turkish language study, with the main application window usually 10 January to 20 February. Stipendium Hungaricum works through a “Sending Partner” authority in your own country, which alone can nominate you. The Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships are for research and PhD candidates, need a Swiss supervisor’s letter of support before you apply, and have a separate deadline for each of 183 countries.
Supranational funding
Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters is funded by the European Commission and works unlike anything else here. There is no central application. The Commission funds a catalogue of joint master’s programmes run by groups of at least three institutions in at least three countries, and you apply directly to the programme. The scholarship is awarded by the consortium as part of admission. It is open to any nationality and pays a flat €1,400 a month for the length of the programme, and scholarship holders cannot be charged tuition. You cannot hold a second Erasmus Mundus scholarship if you have already had one.
University-endowed awards
These are attached to a single institution and are among the most competitive awards in the world, but they are also where a genuinely distinctive profile counts most.
Gates Cambridge funds around 80 postgraduate scholars a year at Cambridge, roughly two-thirds of them PhD students, and selects for a commitment to improving the lives of others alongside academic excellence. There is no separate scholarship form: you apply through Cambridge’s course application by your course’s funding deadline, either 8 December 2026 or 6 January 2027. US citizens living in the US apply in an earlier round, which closes 14 October 2026.
Knight-Hennessy at Stanford funds up to three years of graduate study in any programme. The Knight-Hennessy application closes 6 October 2026 at 1:00pm Pacific Time, and you must also apply to your Stanford degree programme by that programme’s deadline or 1 December 2026, whichever is earlier. For the 2027 cohort your bachelor’s degree must date from January 2020 or later.
Rhodes funds study at Oxford through 24 place-based constituencies, each with its own criteria and timetable. Deadlines differ by more than three months: India, Southern Africa, West Africa and East Africa had all closed for 2027 entry by late August 2026. The Global constituency is suspended, so if your country is not in a listed constituency, there is currently no route.
Two China-based programmes are worth knowing because they are one-year, taught in English, and cover travel as well as study. The Yenching Academy at Peking University closes 30 November 2026 and wants IELTS 7.0 or TOEFL iBT 100 from a test taken after 1 September 2025. Schwarzman Scholars at Tsinghua has closed for 2027; the next US/Global window runs April to September 2027, for applicants aged 18 to 28.
Foundation funding
The Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program is for young people from Africa, at secondary, undergraduate and master’s level, but not PhD. You apply to one of its partner universities or NGOs, not to the Foundation, and each partner sets its own deadline and criteria. Support goes well beyond tuition, including accommodation, mentoring and a flight home where needed.
“Fully funded” is not one package
Read the coverage line before building a plan around any of these:
- The Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship pays CHF 2,450 a month for living costs but does not cover tuition. Holders typically pay CHF 600 to 2,000 a semester themselves.
- Erasmus Mundus’s €1,400 a month has to cover travel, visa and installation as well as living costs.
- Gates Cambridge pays fees, maintenance (£22,050 a year at the 2025-26 rate), flights and visa costs, but not bench fees or scientific equipment.
- Chevening covers the visa application and flights for you only, not for family members.
- Fulbright’s package is set by each country’s office, so two Fulbright grantees can receive quite different support.
Choosing between them
Applying to all of these is a poor strategy. They select on different things, and a generic application signals that to every panel.
Work out which category fits you. If you have professional experience and a clear plan for your own country, the government leadership awards are built for you. If you are a researcher, the university-endowed awards, Erasmus Mundus and the Swiss scheme reward that better. If you are from a low or middle income country, the programmes in our guide to funding for students from developing countries often have a better fit and a smaller applicant pool.
Then apply to three or four properly rather than ten thinly. Every one of these needs references, and referees write better letters when they are not producing their eighth version in a month.
The admission trap
Several of these awards need a university place as well as the scholarship, on a separate timeline. Chevening needs an unconditional offer by July. Knight-Hennessy needs a Stanford application by 1 December at the latest. Gates Cambridge is decided through the Cambridge course application itself. The Queen Elizabeth Commonwealth Scholarships need a separate admission application to the host university. Missing the university’s own deadline removes the funding option entirely, so put both dates in your calendar. Our scholarship application calendar lists them month by month.