We list 2 partially Funded Scholarships for Nigerian Students in the United States, with the deadline, study level and eligibility of each one taken from the award's own terms. 1 state eligibility that includes Nigerian applicants. Awards with a known closing date are listed soonest first.
Written from the 2 awards on this page — every figure below is counted from what the awards themselves state. 5 min read.
This page collects partially funded scholarships in the United States that are open to Nigerian students. There are 2 awards on the list. Both are in the United States, and both are partial: they contribute towards the cost of study rather than covering everything. That distinction matters when you are budgeting, because a partial award sits alongside your own funds, family support, or a separate assistantship.
The list is small, and it is meant to be read closely rather than skimmed. Two awards, two different study levels, two different providers, and two different deadline patterns. If you are searching for a fully funded package, this is not that page. If you are looking for a named award that reduces what you have to find yourself, read on.
The awards on this page sit at different points on the academic ladder. One is aimed at undergraduate study. The other is aimed at PhD (Doctoral) and Postdoctoral level. Between them they touch High School, Bachelors, Fellowship, PhD and Postdoctoral study.
For a Nigerian reader, that spread is useful. A secondary school leaver with WAEC or NECO results and an interest in studying in the United States is looking at a different award from a lecturer or researcher with an M.Sc who is chasing a doctorate or a postdoctoral placement. The two entries on this page do not compete with each other. They serve different people at different stages.
The fields named across the collection are Engineering and Natural Sciences. If your background is in either, the doctoral and postdoctoral entry is the one to examine first.
Both awards are labelled partial. Beyond that label, the brief does not record a stated value or a stated number of awards for either entry, so this page does not quote a figure. What you should do is open each award page and read the funding section in the award's own words: what it pays, what it does not pay, and whether the money is released as a stipend, a tuition contribution, or a one-off sum.
Treat the word "partial" as the starting point of your budget, not the end of it. In practice, a partial award in the United States usually leaves you responsible for some combination of tuition, living costs, health insurance, flights and visa fees. The award page is the only place where the actual terms are set out. Read it before you plan anything.
Of the awards on this page, 1 is open to Nigerian applicants. Within that group, 1 carries no nationality restriction at all, and 0 name Nigeria or the West African region specifically. Separately, 1 award does not state its eligibility on the award page itself.
Read those numbers carefully, because they are easy to misread. The award with no nationality restriction is the one that gives a Nigerian applicant the clearest route in: nothing in its terms excludes you on the basis of passport. The award that does not state eligibility is not a closed door and it is not an open one. It simply means the information is not on the page, and you would need to confirm directly with the provider before spending money on transcripts or courier fees.
That last point is worth dwelling on. Nigerian applicants routinely pay for transcript retrieval, WAEC or NECO verification, and international courier charges before they know whether they qualify. Confirm eligibility first. The cost of a wasted application is real, and it comes out of your pocket.
The Faculty for the Future Fellowships are aimed at women in science and engineering who are pursuing doctoral or postdoctoral study, and the award is designed to be held at a host university. The Elks National Foundation award is an undergraduate scholarship administered through American colleges and universities, and it recurs each November.
One entry is dated, one recurs annually, and one carries no date at all on the collection. Where a deadline is recurring, plan around the month rather than a single day, and start your documents early enough that a slow transcript does not cost you the cycle.
The brief does not record stated requirements for these awards, so this page does not invent any. What can be said plainly is what a United States application of this kind normally asks of a Nigerian candidate, and you should verify each item against the award page before you commit.
Expect to need your academic documents in order: WAEC or NECO results, your degree certificate and transcript, and for doctoral or postdoctoral entry, evidence of your research direction. Expect to need referees who can speak to your work and who will respond to an email from a foreign university. Expect, in many cases, to need an English test — though some providers waive this where your previous degree was taught in English, and you should check whether a waiver applies to you rather than paying for a test you do not need.
The practical bottleneck for most Nigerian applicants is not the form. It is the paperwork behind it: transcript requests that take weeks, verification fees, and courier timelines. Start those before the deadline month, not during it.
Of the awards here, 1 carries a specific date, 1 is still open, 1 is undated, and 1 recurs. November is the busiest month on this page, with one deadline falling in it.
The next award to close is the Schlumberger Foundation Faculty for the Future Fellowships 2027, which closes 8 November. If that award fits your profile, it is the one to act on first.
Because the collection is small, the calendar is simple: one dated deadline in November, one annual deadline in November, and one award whose timing is not stated. That means November is the month that matters most here, and the weeks before it are when your documents should already be moving.
Open both award pages and read the eligibility and funding sections in full. Decide which one matches your current level — undergraduate, or doctoral and postdoctoral — and set the other aside rather than splitting your attention.
Then work backwards from the deadline. Request transcripts, confirm referee availability, and check whether an English-test waiver applies to you. If an award does not state its eligibility, contact the provider before you spend money on documents.
For context on the scale of the destination: 16,632 Nigerian students were studying in the United States in 2023, making Nigeria the 2nd largest source of international students there, according to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics. The competition is real, and it is familiar. A partial award will not cover everything, but it changes the arithmetic, and the two entries on this page are worth reading properly before the November deadlines arrive.
Studying in the United States is a dream for many international students due to its world-class universities, cutting-edge research opportunities, and global recognition. However, the high cost of tuition, living expenses, and travel can be a significant hurdle. Fortunately, a wide range of fully funded and partially funded scholarships are available specifically for international students, offered by US universities, government initiatives, and private organizations. These programs can cover tuition fees, living stipends, health insurance, and even airfare, depending on the scholarship type. Below is a comprehensive list of the top 10 scholarships in the USA for international students for 2026–2027, including opportunities for undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral programs. By applying to these scholarships, you can access world-class education while minimizing financial burdens and focusing on academic and professional growth.
*UNESCO Institute for Statistics, inbound internationally mobile students from Nigeria, 2023.
A browser notification when a scholarship you can apply for is added or about to close. No account needed.
