We list 6 scholarships for Nigerian Students in the Netherlands, with the deadline, study level and eligibility of each one taken from the award's own terms. 3 of them are fully funded. 2 state eligibility that includes Nigerian applicants. Awards with a known closing date are listed soonest first.
United Kingdom
40
United States
37
Australia
27
Canada
20
China
12
Italy
10
Sweden
10
Germany
9
United Arab Emirates
9
Belgium
8
Japan
8
Switzerland
8
Netherlands
Russia
6
Thailand
6
Denmark
5
New Zealand
5
Saudi Arabia
5
Singapore
5
Austria
4
Brazil
4
Ireland
4
Turkey
4
France
3
Norway
3
Qatar
3
Spain
2
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 in the Netherlands for Nigerian students. Every one of them is a Master's award, so the list is built for graduates holding a B.Sc, B.A, HND or M.Sc who are looking at postgraduate study rather than a first degree.
The awards come from six Dutch institutions: University of Groningen, Maastricht University, University of Twente, Leiden University, Erasmus University Rotterdam and RSM Erasmus University. Each provider appears once, which means the list is spread across the country rather than concentrated in one city.
Of the 6 awards, 3 are labelled fully funded and 1 is labelled partially funded. The remaining 2 do not state their funding level either way in the award text, so treat those as unknown until you read the individual pages.
On what the awards say they cover:
These are the benefits each award names in its own wording. They are not a promise that every cost you will face is handled. Dutch study carries costs that sit outside tuition — residence permit fees, housing deposits, books, transport, and the day-to-day cost of living in a country where rent takes a large share of a student budget. Read each award page and check what is listed before you build a budget around it.
This is the part Nigerian applicants should read carefully. Of the 6 awards, 2 are open to Nigerian applicants. Both of those are open because no nationality restriction appears on the award. None of the awards on this page names Nigeria or the West African region in its eligibility text.
For the other 4 awards, eligibility is not stated on the award itself. That does not mean you are excluded. It means the award page does not spell out who may apply, and you will need to check the provider's own requirements before you spend money on a transcript or a courier.
Where an award is restricted, Dutch university scholarships are commonly tied to a specific partner list, a specific programme, or a specific group of countries. If you cannot find a clear statement that Nigerians are eligible, email the scholarship office and ask directly before you apply. A short email costs nothing. A rejected application after you have paid for documents costs you real money.
The requirements stated across these awards give a fair picture of the paperwork involved:
Two things follow from this. First, recommendation letters and work experience appear more often than test scores at this level, so line up your referees early — a former lecturer or a line manager who can write in specific terms about your work. Second, where a minimum degree class is stated, check the exact wording the award uses. Dutch institutions phrase this differently from Nigerian universities, and a Second Class Upper in your transcript may need to be explained in your cover letter if the award asks for a class of degree in its own terms.
Only one award on this page asks for an admission offer first. If you are applying to that one, the scholarship clock starts after your admission decision, not before.
Three awards on this page carry a stated date. Three are still open. Three are undated in the listing, and three recur — meaning the same award comes round again on a yearly cycle.
The busiest months across the dated awards are December, February and June, one award in each. The three closing soonest are:
Two other awards run in rounds rather than a single date. The University of Twente Scholarship 2026-2027 lists Round 1 from 15 October to 1 February and a second round after that. The Leiden University Excellence Scholarship (LexS) 2026-2027 gives 1 February for programmes starting 1 September, with an October date for a later intake. Round-based awards reward early applications, because the first round usually has the most places left.
One award on this page, the Erasmus University MBA Scholarship 2026-2027, does not carry a fixed date in the listing. Check the page for the current position.
The 6 awards sit across seven subject areas, and some awards cover more than one field. The spread is:
Business and Management is the only field with more than one award on this page. If your background is in any of the other six areas, there is one award listed here in your field, so the application needs to be strong rather than numerous.
Where duration is stated, the awards cover Master's programmes of between 1 and 2 years. Some are written as 12 months for a one-year programme and 24 months for a two-year programme; one is written as 13 months and 25 months. One award states a duration of 2 years.
This matters for your planning. A Dutch Master's is typically a taught programme with a research component, and the second year of a two-year programme is often where the thesis or internship sits. If your award only funds the first year, know that before you accept a place.
One award on this page states a number of awards available: the University of Twente Scholarship lists approximately 50.
The UNESCO Institute for Statistics recorded 162 Nigerian students in the Netherlands in 2019, ranking the country 48th as a destination for Nigerian students. That is a small number relative to the size of the Nigerian graduate pool, and it tells you something useful: the Netherlands is not a crowded destination for Nigerian applicants in the way that some English-speaking countries are. The competition you face is often against applicants from many countries, not against a large Nigerian cohort.
It also means you are unlikely to find a large alumni network to lean on. Build your own contacts — email the scholarship office, ask current students in your programme about housing and costs, and start your document work early.
Start with the two awards open to Nigerian applicants. Read both pages in full, confirm the eligibility wording, and note what each one says it covers.
Then work backwards from the deadline. If you are targeting the Eric Bleumink Scholarships, the date is 1 December. Transcripts from Nigerian universities can take weeks, and courier delivery adds more time on top. Request your transcript and your referee letters before you need them, not after.
For the four awards where eligibility is not stated, send an email to the scholarship office asking one direct question: are Nigerian applicants eligible for this award? Keep the reply. If the answer is yes, apply. If there is no reply, treat the award as uncertain and put your effort into the two that are clearly open.
Finally, check the English test position award by award. Only one award on this page states a test score requirement, but a Dutch university may still ask for proof of English at admission stage even where the scholarship does not. Confirm both requirements separately so you are not caught out late.
Are you a Nigerian student dreaming of studying in the heart of Europe? The Netherlands, with its globally ranked universities, innovative research environment, and multicultural society, offers exceptional scholarship opportunities for students worldwide. Whether you're pursuing a master's degree or an MBA, the Dutch government and universities offer fully funded and partially funded scholarships to help you unlock your academic potential.
In this comprehensive guide, we explore the top scholarships in the Netherlands for international students for the academic year 2026-2027. These scholarships not only cover tuition fees but also provide monthly stipends, health insurance, travel allowance, and more.
Let’s discover how you can study at prestigious Dutch institutions like TU Delft, Erasmus University, University of Groningen, Maastricht University, Utrecht University, and others—with little to no financial burden.
*UNESCO Institute for Statistics, inbound internationally mobile students from Nigeria, 2019.
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