Fully Funded Scholarships for Nigerian Students in New Zealand 2026-2027

What this page lists

This page collects 3 fully funded scholarships in New Zealand that are open to Nigerian students. Each one is a university award: one from the University of Waikato, one from the University of Otago, and one from Lincoln University. All three are labelled fully funded by the awarding institution, and all three sit at undergraduate and master's level, with one of the three also covering PhD study.

New Zealand is a small destination for Nigerian students, and the numbers show it. According to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 129 Nigerian students were studying in New Zealand in 2024, placing the country 51st among destinations. That is a modest community, which cuts both ways: fewer compatriots to lean on, but also less competition from a large Nigerian applicant pool for the same departmental funds.

What the awards pay for

All 3 awards on this page name tuition in their own funding text. That is the core of a fully funded offer in New Zealand, where international tuition is charged at a rate well above the domestic fee.

Beyond tuition, the coverage narrows. 1 of the 3 awards names living costs, and 1 names health insurance. These are the two lines that decide whether an offer is genuinely affordable, so read each award page carefully before you assume the same package applies across all three.

Treat these figures as what the awards say in writing, not as a guarantee of what you will receive. Funding text is the starting point for a conversation with the scholarship office, not the end of it. Where an award does not name a benefit, ask the provider directly whether it is included, and get the answer in writing before you accept an offer or pay a deposit.

Who can apply

Of the 3 awards, 2 are open to Nigerian applicants. Both of those carry no nationality restriction, which is the cleanest kind of eligibility: the award is open to international students generally, and Nigeria is not excluded. For 1 award, eligibility is not stated on the award itself, so you will need to confirm your position with the provider before you spend money on an application.

None of the awards on this page names Nigeria or the African region specifically. That matters for how you read the list. There is no dedicated Nigeria slot here and no regional quota to aim at. You are applying as an international candidate into a general pool, and your case rests on your academic record, your proposed programme and your fit with the department.

What the applications ask for

Of the 3 awards, 2 state a minimum degree class as a requirement. If you are applying from Nigeria, that usually means your B.Sc or HND classification is being read against a stated threshold, so your transcript and your class of degree need to be in front of the selector early. A strong final-year result matters, but so does the paperwork that proves it.

The brief does not record other stated requirements for these awards. Where a requirement is not listed, do not assume there is none. Check the individual award page and the provider's own scholarship regulations for English language requirements, referee letters, research proposals and any departmental nomination step.

Deadlines and how they fall

The deadlines on this page are not uniform. 1 award carries a stated date, 1 is still open, 2 are undated on the listing, and 1 recurs. January is the busiest month recorded here, with 1 deadline falling in it.

The next award to close is Lincoln University Scholarships 2026-2027, which closes 31 January. That is 115 days away. If Lincoln is on your list, that is your clock.

The other two run differently. University of Waikato Scholarships 2026-2027 is open year-round, which sounds generous but usually means the award is assessed against admission rounds rather than a single closing date. University of Otago Scholarships 2026-2027 shows deadline: see details, so the date lives on the award page and not in this summary.

The three awards

• Lincoln University Scholarships 2026-2027 — Lincoln University. Undergraduate and master's level. Fully funded. Closes 31 January.
• University of Waikato Scholarships 2026-2027 — University of Waikato. Undergraduate and master's level. Fully funded. Open year-round.
• University of Otago Scholarships 2026-2027 — University of Otago. Undergraduate, master's and PhD level. Fully funded. Deadline shown as see details.

Otago is the only one of the three that reaches PhD level, and it is the only one where doctoral applicants have a route on this page. If you are applying with an M.Sc and aiming at a doctorate, that is the listing to open first.

What to do next

Start with the deadline you can act on. Lincoln closes 31 January, so if you intend to apply there, work backwards from that date and treat it as fixed. Build the timeline around the slowest item, which for most Nigerian applicants is not the form itself but the documents behind it: transcripts from your university, a courier to New Zealand, and any English test you still need.

Then confirm the two things the brief leaves open. First, whether the award that does not state eligibility accepts Nigerian applicants. Second, whether living costs and health insurance are covered, since only 1 of the 3 awards names each of those. Ask the scholarship office by email and keep the reply.

Finally, read the degree class requirement closely if it applies to you. 2 of the 3 awards state a minimum degree class, and your classification is the first thing a selector checks. If your result is borderline, address it in your statement rather than leaving the selector to guess.

Three awards is a short list, and two of them are open to you without a nationality barrier. That is workable, but only if you apply to the ones you actually qualify for and give each application the document preparation it needs.