We list 4 fully Funded Undergraduate Scholarships for Nigerian Students in Italy, with the deadline, study level and eligibility of each one taken from the award's own terms. 2 state eligibility that includes Nigerian applicants.
Written from the 4 awards on this page — every figure below is counted from what the awards themselves state. 5 min read.
This page collects 4 fully funded scholarships in Italy open at bachelors level. Every award here is labelled fully funded by the body offering it, and every one of the four is an Italian award. The providers are the University of Bologna, the University of Padua, Bocconi University and Politecnico di Torino.
Three of the four also appear at masters level, and one of them runs to PhD. So if you are weighing a first degree against a later one, the same four names keep coming back. What changes is the entry requirement, the documents and the deadline.
None of the four is restricted to a single nationality in the way it is written. Two of the four state that Nigerians may apply. Of those two, neither names Nigeria or the West African region as a condition, and both simply carry no nationality restriction at all. For the remaining two, eligibility is not stated on the award page itself, which means you have to read the provider's own terms before you decide anything.
Fully funded is a label the award uses, not a promise that every line of your budget disappears. Read what each one actually names.
That gap matters for a Nigerian applicant paying transcript fees and courier charges out of pocket before anything is decided. An award that covers tuition only still leaves you to find rent, food and the permesso di soggiorno costs. An award that names living costs or accommodation is doing more of that work for you. Check the individual award page for which of these it names in its own text.
The pathway into this level is straightforward. You finished secondary school, and the qualifications that count are WAEC, NECO, NABTEB or SSCE. These are scholarships for a first degree abroad, so most awards will ask for your senior secondary results and an admission offer from the institution. Each award page quotes its own entry requirement, and they are not identical.
Two of the four awards state that Nigerians may apply. Neither does it by naming Nigeria or the region; both simply carry no nationality restriction. For the other two, the award page does not state eligibility either way. That is not a refusal. It means the answer sits on the provider's own admissions or funding page, and you should read it there before you spend money on a courier.
On the language side, 2 of the 4 awards state that an English test score, IELTS or TOEFL, is required. If you are applying from Nigeria, that is the requirement most likely to cost you money and time. Ask each provider directly whether a waiver applies to you, because the brief does not say that any of them waive it.
The stated requirements across the four are narrow, and that is useful information in itself. An English test score is named by 2 of the 4. Letters of recommendation are named by 1. Everything else the awards ask for is set out on the individual pages rather than in a common list.
Take the recommendation letter seriously even though only one award names it. A Nigerian referee — a secondary school principal, a lecturer, a supervisor — needs notice, and often needs a reminder. Ask early, give them the exact award name and the exact deadline, and tell them what the letter is for. Do not send a referee a link on the morning you plan to submit.
On documents generally: your WAEC or NECO results, your admission offer, and your transcripts all take time to assemble, and the courier leg from Nigeria to Italy is the part you cannot speed up once it has left. Work backwards from the deadline the award gives you, not from the day you intend to start.
None of the four awards on this page carries a deadline that is still open, and none is marked as recurring. All four are undated in the sense that matters here, but each award page does quote its own timing, and the pattern is worth reading.
Two of the four point to a February–March window for the Fall intake: Padua, with exact dates varying by programme, and Politecnico di Torino, also varying by programme. Bologna points to May 2026. Bocconi splits its own cycle, with the undergraduate deadline listed as April 14 and the masters deadline as April 21.
No single month dominates the group, so there is no obvious season to plan around. The practical move is to open each award page, note the date it gives, and treat that date as fixed until the provider says otherwise. Where a deadline is described as varying by programme, the programme you choose changes your date.
Start with the two awards that state Nigerians may apply, because the nationality question is already answered and you can spend your time on the documents instead. Then read the other two award pages for their eligibility wording, and follow through to the provider's own terms if the page does not settle it.
Before you pay for anything, confirm three things for each award you are serious about: whether an English test is required and whether any waiver applies, which documents must arrive by post, and the exact date the award closes. Then build your timeline backwards from that date, allowing for the courier leg from Nigeria.
Two of the four awards name tuition, living costs or accommodation in their own text — check which. And remember that the award page is the authority. Where this page and the provider disagree, the provider is right.
Italy is not a small destination for Nigerian students. According to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 625 Nigerian students were studying in Italy in 2023, placing the country 25th among destinations for Nigerian students that year. That is a real community, and it is a reasonable thing to look for before you commit to a city.
It also tells you something about the competition and the support. A cohort of that size means there are people who have already done the permesso di soggiorno queue, the codice fiscale, the bank account and the landlord conversation. Ask them before you sign anything.
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.
A browser notification when a scholarship you can apply for is added or about to close. No account needed.
