We list 11 fully Funded Masters Scholarships for Nigerian Students in China, with the deadline, study level and eligibility of each one taken from the award's own terms. 9 state eligibility that includes Nigerian applicants. Awards with a known closing date are listed soonest first.
Written from the 11 awards on this page — every figure below is counted from what the awards themselves state. 5 min read.
This page lists 11 fully funded master's scholarships in China open to Nigerian students. Every award here is tagged fully funded, every one is at master's level, and every one is in China. It is a short list by design: China runs a large number of funded postgraduate awards, but only these 11 carry the fully funded label and a master's pathway on our records.
If you are weighing up the level, the same set of providers also appears elsewhere on the site: 9 PhD scholarships and 8 bachelor's scholarships in China are listed separately. Some universities, such as Shandong, Yangzhou and Central South University, run one award that covers undergraduate, master's and doctoral study at once, so a single entry on this page can be the same scheme you would find on the PhD list.
Of the 11 awards, 9 are open to Nigerian applicants. None of those 9 names Nigeria or the African region in its eligibility text; all 9 simply carry no nationality restriction. The remaining 2 do not state their eligibility on the award page at all, so you would need to check the university's own call before spending money on a courier.
That distinction matters when you are shortlisting. An award with no nationality restriction is not the same as an award that names Nigeria, and neither is the same as an award whose eligibility you cannot see. Read the eligibility section of each entry before you commit to transcripts.
The pathway in is straightforward. You hold a first degree or HND — B.Sc, B.A, B.Eng, LLB, MBBS or HND. These are taught and research master's awards. Where an award states a minimum class of degree, "upper second" corresponds to Second Class Upper (2:1) on a Nigerian transcript. Whether an HND is accepted is decided by each university, not by us, and it is worth an email to the admissions office before you apply.
Fully funded means different things at different universities, so here is what the awards actually say in writing. Of the 11:
These are counts of what appears in the award text, not a promise of what you will receive. Tuition plus living costs plus accommodation plus insurance is the common package among the six that list all four. Travel is rare on this list — only 2 awards mention it — so budget for your flight and for the visa and medical costs that sit outside the award.
None of the 11 leaves funding unstated: every award on this page labels itself fully funded. What varies is the detail behind the label.
The paperwork is where most Nigerian applicants lose time. Across the 11 awards:
Two things follow from this. First, recommendation letters are the single most common requirement, so line up your referees early — a former supervisor and a current or recent employer is the usual combination, and Nigerian referees are often asked to submit on letterhead with a signature across the seal. Second, 7 of the 11 state an English test requirement. If your first degree was taught in English, ask the university directly whether it waives the test; that decision rests with them, and the award text alone will not tell you.
The 3 awards that require an admission offer first run on a different clock from the rest. You cannot apply for the funding until the university has offered you a place, which means your transcripts, degree certificate and any credential evaluation have to be ready months before the funding deadline, not weeks.
The 11 awards spread across ten subject areas, and most of them are not restricted to one field:
Arts, business and economics carry the most entries. If your background is in engineering, agriculture, law, education or health, you still have three awards each to work with. Public policy and social sciences are the thinnest at one award each, so applicants in those fields should widen their search beyond this page.
Where the awards state a duration, master's programmes run between 2 and 3 years. One award states a flat 2 years. The university-wide schemes that cover several levels describe a bachelor's programme of 4 to 6 years alongside a master's of 2 to 3 years and a doctorate of 3 to 4 years.
Plan your funding around the longer end. A 3-year master's on an award that names living costs and accommodation for the stated period is a different financial proposition from a 2-year one, and you should confirm with the university whether the stipend continues for the full registered period.
Eight of the 11 awards carry a stated deadline, and all eight are still open. The remaining 3 are undated on our records. Eight of the 11 recur annually, which means a missed cycle is usually a delay of a year rather than a closed door.
The busiest months are May (4 deadlines), April (2) and December (1). That clustering is useful: if you are applying seriously, April and May are the months that decide your year, and December is the early outlier.
The awards closing soonest are:
Central South University's scholarship also closes in May, on 31 May.
The 11 awards come from named institutions and city groupings: Peking University, Shandong University, Central South University, Yangzhou University, plus one entry each for Shanghai universities and Beijing universities, which you can browse through the list below. Qingdao University and Tsinghua University also appear among the examples on this page.
Only two awards state a number of places. Qingdao University lists 20 for PhD and 10 for master's, and the Schwarzman Scholars Program states up to 140. For the other nine, the number of awards is not stated, so treat the competition as unknown and put your effort into the documents you control.
Start with the December deadline if you are ready, and treat April and May as your main window. Work backwards from the deadline: recommendation letters first, because they depend on other people; then your English test or a written waiver confirmation; then transcripts, degree certificate and any notarised copies, which in Nigeria means a trip to your institution's exams and records office and a courier fee you pay yourself.
If an award requires an admission offer first, begin the university application now rather than alongside the funding application. And if your field is public policy or social sciences, where this page lists one award each, use the rest of the China listings to build a longer shortlist before you settle.
Studying in China has become an increasingly attractive option for Nigerian students seeking quality education, advanced research opportunities, and cultural exchange in one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. With strong diplomatic ties between Pakistan and China, numerous fully funded scholarships are available each year through government and university-sponsored programs. These scholarships cover tuition fees, accommodation, monthly living stipends, and even airfare, making higher education in China not only accessible but highly affordable for talented international students. Below is a list of the top fully funded scholarships in China specifically available to international applicants.
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