We list 5 undergraduate Scholarships for Nigerian Students in Italy, with the deadline, study level and eligibility of each one taken from the award's own terms. 4 of them are fully funded. 2 state eligibility that includes Nigerian applicants.
Written from the 5 awards on this page — every figure below is counted from what the awards themselves state. 5 min read.
This page collects 5 undergraduate scholarships in Italy open to students applying for a bachelor's degree. Every award listed is for Italy, and every one is at bachelors level. Four of the five are labelled fully funded by the provider. One does not state its funding either way, so this page makes no claim about what it covers.
The providers named on this list are the University of Bologna, the University of Padua, Bocconi University and Politecnico di Torino. A fifth entry, EDISU Piemonte, is a regional student-aid scheme rather than a single university award. Between them they cover the north of the country: Bologna in Emilia-Romagna, Padua in Veneto, Milan and Turin in the north-west.
If you are working from WAEC or NECO results and looking for a first degree abroad, this is the right list to read. It is not a list of master's or PhD funding, though several of these providers run awards at those levels too.
Read the funding label on each award page rather than the label on this list. Of the five awards here, four state that tuition is covered. Two name accommodation. One names living costs. Those counts describe what the awards say in their own text; they are not a promise that every fully funded award pays all three.
The four fully funded awards are:
The fifth, EDISU Piemonte Scholarships 2027 Italy, is a regional scheme covering bachelor's, master's and PhD study, and it does not carry a funding label on this page. Go to the award page for its own wording.
One duration figure appears in the brief: 2 years for a master's, 3 years for a bachelor's. That is the standard Italian first-cycle length, and it matters when you are budgeting. A three-year degree means three years of tuition, rent and living costs, not one.
Two of the five awards are open to Nigerian applicants. Neither of those two names Nigeria or the African region in its eligibility text; both simply carry no nationality restriction. That distinction is worth holding on to. An award that does not exclude you is not the same as an award that has written you in.
For the remaining three, eligibility is not stated on the award. That does not mean you are barred. It means the page does not tell you either way, and you will have to check the provider's own admission and funding pages before you spend money on a transcript or a courier.
Italy is a realistic destination for Nigerian students. UNESCO Institute for Statistics recorded 625 Nigerian students in Italy in 2023, ranking the country 25th as a host for Nigerian students. That is a small community compared with the UK or Canada, which cuts both ways: less competition from people who look like you, and fewer people who have already done the paperwork.
The pathway into this level is straightforward. You finished secondary school, and you hold WAEC, NECO, NABTEB or SSCE results. These awards are for a first degree abroad. Most ask for your senior secondary results and an admission offer, and each award page quotes its own entry requirement.
The requirements stated across this list are lighter than what you may have seen for UK or US awards. Two of the five ask for an English test score, IELTS or TOEFL. One asks for letters of recommendation. The rest do not state these requirements on the award text.
Do not read that as a waiver. Italian universities commonly set their own English requirement at admission, separate from the scholarship. If your secondary schooling was taught in English, ask the admissions office in writing whether they will accept a letter of confirmation from your school in place of IELTS. Some will; some will not. Get the answer in an email you can forward.
Where a recommendation letter is asked for, approach a teacher or principal who taught you in your final two years and who can speak to specific work, not to your general character. Give them your CV, your results and the award name. Two weeks' notice is reasonable; two days is not.
Budget for documents. Transcripts, WAEC result verification and courier fees are paid by you, and they are paid before any award decision is made. If an award does not state its eligibility clearly, settle that question before you order anything.
None of the five awards on this page carries a fixed closing date in the brief. All five are undated in that sense. What the award pages give instead are month ranges and cycles, and those are worth reading carefully because they tell you when to start, not when to panic.
The pattern is February to May for the university awards, with the regional scheme later in the summer. That gives you a working order: sit any English test in the second half of the year, gather transcripts and recommendation letters by December, and submit from January onwards.
Treat every date above as the award page states it. Confirm on the provider's own page before you rely on it, because programme-level deadlines move.
Start with the two awards that carry no nationality restriction, since those are the ones where your eligibility is not in question. Read each award page end to end, then check the provider's admission page for the programme you actually want. A scholarship you cannot get admitted to is not a scholarship.
For the three awards where eligibility is not stated, email the provider before you spend money. Ask one clear question: are international applicants from Nigeria eligible for this award, and what documents must I submit to be considered? Keep the reply.
Then work backwards from the deadline. If you are targeting a February to March window, your documents need to exist in January. Transcripts from Nigerian universities and result verification from WAEC take time, and courier delays are real.
Finally, note that this list is short by design. Five awards, four fully funded, two with no nationality restriction. That is a manageable number to research properly rather than a hundred to skim. Read all five award pages before you decide where to apply.
Italy is one of the most attractive destinations in Europe for international students who want to pursue higher education abroad. Known for its rich history, cultural diversity, and internationally recognized universities, Italy offers a wide range of fully funded scholarships for international students 2026–2027 at the bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD levels. These scholarships cover tuition fees, monthly living allowances, accommodation, health insurance, and in some cases, travel expenses, making it easier for talented students to study in prestigious Italian institutions like the University of Bologna, Sapienza University of Rome, and Politecnico di Milano. With these opportunities, international students can access high-quality education in fields such as engineering, medicine, business, arts, and social sciences while experiencing Europe’s unique lifestyle.
*UNESCO Institute for Statistics, inbound internationally mobile students from Nigeria, 2023.
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