We list 4 masters Scholarships Open to Nigerian Students in Turkey, with the deadline, study level and eligibility of each one taken from the award's own terms. 3 of them are fully funded.
Written from the 4 awards on this page — every figure below is counted from what the awards themselves state. 6 min read.
This page collects 4 masters scholarships in Turkey that are open to Nigerian students. Each one is a postgraduate award at a Turkish university or a Turkish government programme, and each is listed because nothing in its own rules bars a Nigerian applicant.
Three of the four are labelled fully funded. One does not state its funding position either way, so this page makes no claim about what it covers. Where an award names a benefit in its own text, that is what you will read below — not a promise, just what the award says in writing.
The four awards come from four different providers: Koc University, Bilkent University, Eastern Mediterranean University, and the Turkey Government Scholarship, which is run across various universities.
All four awards are open to Nigerian students. None of them names Nigeria or the West African region specifically, and none of them carries a nationality restriction. That is the whole basis for their inclusion here: an award with no nationality bar is an award a Nigerian can enter.
What you need to bring is a first degree. The pathway into a Turkish masters is a B.Sc, B.A, B.Eng, LLB, MBBS or HND. Taught masters and research masters are both represented on this page.
Three of the four awards state a minimum degree class. On a Nigerian transcript, the phrase you will most often meet in Turkish award rules — "upper second" — corresponds to Second Class Upper (2:1). If your transcript reads 2:2 or Third Class, read each award's own wording carefully before you spend money on a courier.
Whether an HND is accepted is not decided here. Each university decides that for itself, so the answer will differ from one award to the next.
Three of the four awards name their benefits in writing. Among those three:
That combination — tuition, living costs, travel, accommodation and health insurance together — is what "fully funded" means in practice on this page. It is the difference between an offer you can accept and an offer you cannot afford to take up.
The fourth award does not label its funding, so nothing is said about it here. Treat it as an award whose terms you must read yourself.
None of the four states a cash value, and none states a number of awards. Where an award does not publish a figure, this page does not supply one.
The requirements below are counted from what the awards themselves state. They are the documents and scores you will be asked to produce, and they are where most of the cost and delay sits for a Nigerian applicant.
Two things are worth planning around. First, the English test: three awards ask for IELTS or TOEFL, and booking a test date, sitting it and having the result sent to Turkey takes weeks you will not get back. Second, the research proposal: two awards want one, which means the application is not a form-filling exercise but a piece of academic writing that has to be prepared before the portal opens.
One award requires that you hold an admission offer before you apply for the funding. If that award is on your list, the university application comes first and the scholarship application second — two separate processes, two separate timelines.
Two of these — Koc and Bilkent — are university awards that also carry PhD funding alongside the master's route. The Turkey Government Scholarship is the broadest of the four, since it is open at three study levels and is hosted across multiple universities rather than one campus. Eastern Mediterranean University is the one award here that does not state its funding position.
The awards on this page describe their programmes in different ways, and the differences matter when you are planning how long you will be out of the Nigerian job market.
One award describes a master's with thesis as two years of courses and thesis work, with a PhD of four years. Another sets the master's at six semesters — three years — with a PhD of four years. A third gives a range: one to two years for a master's, and two to five years for a PhD.
So a Turkish master's, as described by these awards, can run from one year to three depending on the programme and whether a thesis is required. The PhD routes are consistently longer. Read the individual award page for the programme you are actually applying to rather than assuming the shortest figure applies to you.
None of the four awards on this page is currently listed with a confirmed closing date, and none is marked as still open. All four are undated in our records — which does not mean they are closed. It means the deadline has not been fixed in the listing, and you should check the award page and the provider's own announcement before you plan around a date.
Three of the four do carry timing information in their own text. Bilkent's entry refers to March 18, June 6 and November 4. The Turkey Government Scholarship refers to a window of January 10 to February 20, 2026. Eastern Mediterranean University refers to January 09, 2026 and September 01, 2026. Koc's entry simply directs you to see the details.
Read those dates as the award's own published timing, not as a confirmed deadline for this cycle. Turkish university funding rounds frequently repeat, and a date that has passed in one year often returns in the next.
Turkey is not a small destination for Nigerian students. According to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 3,669 Nigerian students were studying in Turkey in 2023, making Nigeria the fifth-ranked source of international students in the country.
That figure covers students at all levels, not only master's. It tells you that the paperwork — student visas, residence permits, transcript verification, the routine of arriving in a Turkish city — is something a Nigerian applicant has done before, and recently. It does not tell you that any particular award is easy to win.
Start with the award that matches your degree class, because three of the four state a minimum and there is no point preparing a file for an award you cannot enter. If your transcript shows Second Class Upper or above, all four are worth reading in full.
Then deal with the English test. Three awards ask for IELTS or TOEFL, and that is the longest lead time on the list. Book it before you start writing anything else.
If you are applying to the award that requires an admission offer first, reverse the order: university application, then funding application. Everything else on this page can be prepared in parallel.
Finally, confirm the deadline yourself. All four awards are undated in this listing, and the dates that appear in their own text should be checked against the provider's current announcement before you pay for a courier or a transcript.
Are you a Nigerian student dreaming of pursuing higher education abroad without financial burden? Look no further! Turkey is emerging as a top destination for international students, and the Turkish Government and many universities offer fully funded scholarships specifically for international students, including internationals. These scholarships cover tuition fees, living expenses, airfare, health insurance, and more.
Why Study in Turkey?Turkey bridges Europe and Asia and offers a unique cultural, academic, and geographical environment. Some reasons to study in Turkey include:
High-quality education with globally ranked universities. Affordable living and tuition (even without a scholarship). Friendly visa policy and student-friendly atmosphere. Growing number of programs taught in English. Rich Islamic history and cultural familiarity for international students.*UNESCO Institute for Statistics, inbound internationally mobile students from Nigeria, 2023.
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