We list 6 masters Social Sciences Scholarships Open to Nigerian Students, with the deadline, study level and eligibility of each one taken from the award's own terms. 4 of them are fully funded. Most are held in Australia (1), Canada (1) and China (1). Awards with a known closing date are listed soonest first.
These awards do not restrict the field of study, so social sciences applicants can apply too.
Written from the 6 awards on this page — every figure below is counted from what the awards themselves state. 6 min read.
This page collects 6 scholarships for master's study in the social sciences that are open to Nigerian students. Every award here is at master's level, every one is in the social sciences, and every one accepts applications from Nigerian nationals. The six awards sit in six different countries: Australia, Canada, China, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The awards come from six providers: Participating Australian Institutions, Stanford University, Peking University, University of Groningen, University Canada West and University of Bath. Four of the six are labelled fully funded. One is labelled partially funded. The remaining award does not label its funding either way, so this page makes no claim about what it covers.
Funding language matters, and it is worth reading each award's own text rather than assuming. Of the six awards on this page, 3 name tuition in what they cover, 3 name living costs, and 3 name travel. Two name accommodation, two name health insurance, and one names research or training costs.
Those counts describe what the awards say in writing. They are not a promise that every cost on your budget will be met. A fully funded award that names tuition, living costs and travel still leaves you paying for your transcript, your courier, your visa application and your first weeks before any stipend lands.
One award on this page does not state its funding level at all. Treat that as unknown rather than as a gap to fill in yourself.
All six awards are open to Nigerian students. For 1 of the 6, Nigeria or the wider region is named directly in the eligibility text. For the other 5, there is no nationality restriction at all — the award is open on merit or on the strength of the application, and being Nigerian neither helps nor hinders you.
The qualification that leads into this level is a first degree or HND. That means a B.Sc, B.A, B.Eng, LLB, MBBS or HND. Awards at this level usually state a minimum class of degree, and "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 this page, so check the individual award before you spend money on a transcript you may not need.
These are taught and research master's awards. If you are weighing up whether to apply now or work first, note that the mix on this page also includes awards that reach other levels — 2 of the six also cover bachelors study and 2 also cover PhD — but the master's route is the one every award here supports.
The requirements are stated plainly on the awards themselves, and they add up to a real workload. 4 of the 6 ask for letters of recommendation. Two ask for an English test score, IELTS or TOEFL. One asks for a research proposal. One requires an admission offer first, which means the scholarship application cannot begin until a university has already said yes.
Four recommendation letters is the single most common demand, and it is the one that catches Nigerian applicants out. Lecturers move, departments are slow, and a referee who agreed in October may be unreachable in December. Ask early, give each referee a one-page summary of what you are applying for and why, and follow up in person rather than by email alone.
Where an English test is required, check whether the award offers a waiver. Many universities waive IELTS or TOEFL for applicants whose previous degree was taught in English, and a Nigerian degree often qualifies. That is decided by the university, so confirm it in writing before you pay for a test slot.
Four of the six awards carry a stated date. Four are still open at the time of writing. Four run on a recurring cycle, so a deadline you miss this year will come round again. Two awards are undated — one of those follows the host university's admission deadlines rather than setting its own.
The busiest months are December, with two deadlines, then April and October with one each. If you are planning a single application season, December is the month to build around.
The awards closing soonest are listed below with their deadlines.
The remaining two awards on the page are University Canada West Scholarships 2027, which follows university admission deadlines, and the Dean's Award for Academic Excellence Scholarship 2026-2027 at the University of Bath, which asks for applications by 25 June 2026 for a decision by 11 July.
Master's funding on this page runs for different lengths. One award funds up to the first year of the Knight-Hennessy Scholars program. One runs for 2 years. One runs for 1 to 2 years. One covers 4 years for an undergraduate and 2 years for a master's.
Duration matters more than it looks. A one-year award on a two-year programme leaves you funding the second year yourself, and in the UK and Netherlands a taught master's is typically one year while research master's can run longer. Match the funding period to the programme length before you accept a place.
Social sciences is the thread running through all six awards, but the same awards often reach into neighbouring disciplines. Five of the six also cover arts and humanities. Four also cover business and management, and four also cover engineering. Three also cover medicine and health sciences, and two also cover law. One also covers economics and finance, and one also covers education.
If your intended master's sits at the edge of the social sciences — development studies, public policy, international relations, sociology, political science — check the individual award rather than assuming you are excluded. The field labels on this page describe what each award states, and several are broader than a single department.
Start with the two December deadlines. Both close on 1 December, both are fully funded, and both are in countries with large Nigerian student communities. That gives you a clear target and enough time to gather documents.
Work backwards from the deadline. Recommendation letters take the longest, so request those first. Order your transcript early — Nigerian universities can take weeks, and courier costs are yours to carry. If an English test is required, book it before the slots near your deadline fill up, and ask about a waiver in the same email.
Read each award's own page before you apply. The counts on this page tell you what the awards say in writing about funding, requirements and dates. They do not tell you whether your specific degree, your class of degree or your proposed research topic will be accepted. That answer lives on the award page and in the university's admissions office, and it is worth an email before you spend money on an application.
If none of these six fits, the same collection structure runs across other levels and fields, and the awards here recur — four of the six run on a cycle, so a missed deadline this year is a planning date for next year.
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