We list 9 fully Funded Scholarships for Nigerian Students in Italy, with the deadline, study level and eligibility of each one taken from the award's own terms. 3 state eligibility that includes Nigerian applicants. Awards with a known closing date are listed soonest first.
United States
26
United Kingdom
25
China
12
Australia
11
Canada
10
Italy
Japan
8
Switzerland
8
Belgium
7
Germany
7
United Arab Emirates
7
Russia
6
Thailand
5
Brazil
4
Denmark
4
Saudi Arabia
4
Singapore
4
France
3
Netherlands
3
New Zealand
3
Norway
3
Sweden
3
Turkey
3
Austria
2
Qatar
2
Spain
2
Written from the 9 awards on this page — every figure below is counted from what the awards themselves state. 5 min read.
This page lists 9 fully funded scholarships in Italy open to Nigerian students. Every award here is labelled fully funded by the body that offers it, so the funding facet is not a mixed bag: all 9 carry that label. What varies is the level, the provider and how much of the application the award spells out in writing.
The list leans towards postgraduate study. 6 of the 9 are Masters awards, 4 are Bachelors, 3 are PhD and 2 are fellowships. Several awards sit at more than one level, which is why those figures add up to more than 9. If you are finishing a B.Sc or HND and looking for a taught Master's, you are the main audience for this page. If you are finishing WAEC or NECO and want to start a first degree in Italy, there is a smaller but real set of options.
Six named providers appear in this collection. The Italian Government Scholarship is run through Italian higher education institutes and covers Masters and PhD study. University of Bologna offers an award at undergraduate and Masters level. Politecnico di Milano runs merit-based scholarships for the Master's (Laurea Magistrale). Scuola Normale Superiore offers PhD scholarships. The University of Padua runs the Padua International Excellence Scholarship for Bachelor's and Master's applicants, and Bocconi University also appears.
The full list is short enough to read in one sitting:
That is six of the nine. The remaining three are on the page itself with their own entries.
Read the benefit lines carefully, because "fully funded" is the provider's label, not a description of a standard package. Of the 9 awards, 6 name tuition in their own text. 3 name living costs. 3 name accommodation. 2 name travel, and 2 name health insurance.
That gap matters for your budget. Tuition is the benefit most commonly written down, so a tuition waiver or tuition cover is the safest assumption across this list. Living costs, accommodation, travel and health insurance appear less often, and where an award does not name them, you should plan to fund them yourself or check the award page directly. Nothing on this page tells you what the awards that do not name a benefit will cover, so treat silence as silence rather than as a yes.
This is the part most students get wrong, so here is the honest position. For 3 of the 9 awards, the listing confirms Nigerians may apply. Of those 3, 1 names Nigeria or the region explicitly, and 2 carry no nationality restriction at all. Those two figures describe the same 3 awards, not separate pools.
For the other 6, the award does not state its eligibility position on the page. That is not a rejection. It means the nationality rule is not written down in the material we hold, and you will need to open the individual award and read its own eligibility section before you spend money on transcripts, couriers or test fees.
Italy is not an unusual destination for Nigerian students. The UNESCO Institute for Statistics recorded 625 Nigerian students in Italy in 2023, placing Nigeria 25th among sending countries. That is a modest but established presence, and it means there are people ahead of you who have run this process.
The stated requirements across this list are lighter than you might expect, but do not read that as easy. 3 of the 9 awards state that an English test score (IELTS or TOEFL) is required. 2 state that letters of recommendation are required.
Where an English test is not listed as a requirement, that does not automatically mean a waiver applies to you. It means the award has not stated the requirement in the text we hold. If you studied your degree in English, gather the evidence anyway: a medium-of-instruction letter from your university, your transcript, and any departmental statement you can obtain. Nigerian applicants often need these documents whether or not a test score is demanded, and requesting them from a Nigerian registry takes time you should not lose.
Letters of recommendation are the other item to start early. Two awards name them. Approach your lecturers before the semester ends, give them your CV and a draft of what you are applying for, and ask them to send directly where the award requires it.
Only 3 of the 9 awards carry a specific date. 2 are still open at the time of writing. 6 are undated on the page, and 2 recur annually. The busiest months in this collection are June, with 2 deadlines, and April, with 1.
The two closing soonest are worth diarising now:
Beyond those, the pattern is uneven. The University of Bologna award lists May 2026. Politecnico di Milano lists February 2026 for the Fall intake and July 2026 for another. Padua lists February to March 2026, with exact dates varying by programme. Scuola Normale Superiore says to see the details. Treat every one of those as a window to confirm on the award page, not a fixed date you can rely on from here.
Durations on this list vary widely, which is normal for Italy. One award runs for 4 years. Another runs 2 years for a master's and 3 years for a bachelor's. One fellowship runs 4 to 12 weeks in 2027. One states that the scholarship duration can be 3, 6 or nine months.
If you are planning around a Nigerian work commitment, a family obligation or a visa timeline, match the duration to your situation before you apply. A four-year commitment and a three-month fellowship ask very different things of you.
Start with the two awards that close soonest, because they are the only ones on this page with a date you can act on today. Open the NATO Defense College fellowship and the Italian Government Scholarship, read the eligibility section in full, and confirm whether your nationality and your degree class are accepted.
Then work through the remaining awards one at a time. For each, note three things: whether Nigerians may apply, what the award says it covers, and whether an English test or recommendation letters are required. Where the page is silent on eligibility, do not assume you qualify and do not assume you do not. Ask the provider directly, using the contact on the award page.
Finally, budget for the paperwork. Transcripts, courier fees and any test registration come out of your pocket before a single award decision is made. Order your documents early, keep scanned copies of everything, and apply to more than one award on this list. Nine is a small enough number to work through properly.
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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