We list 9 scholarships for Nigerian Students in the United Arab Emirates, with the deadline, study level and eligibility of each one taken from the award's own terms. 7 of them are fully funded. 3 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
Belgium
8
Japan
8
Switzerland
8
Netherlands
6
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 9 awards on this page — every figure below is counted from what the awards themselves state. 4 min read.
This page lists 9 scholarships in the United Arab Emirates that are open to international students, gathered in one place so you can compare them without opening nine separate tabs. Each entry links to a full page with the award's own requirements, documents and closing date.
The list is weighted towards postgraduate study. 7 of the 9 are Masters awards and 6 are PhD awards, with some appearing at both levels. 2 are Bachelors awards, 1 is Postdoctoral and 1 is at High School level. On funding, 7 are labelled Fully Funded and 1 is Partially Funded. One award does not label its funding either way, so treat that entry as unknown until you read its own page.
The providers named on this page are a mix of national universities and a research foundation:
Most of these are institution-level awards: you apply to the university, and the funding decision sits inside that admission process rather than in a separate scholarship portal.
This is the part most applicants skip, and it is the part that decides whether the rest matters. Of the 9 awards, 3 state that Nigerians may apply. Within that group, none names Nigeria or the region as a restricted nationality, and all 3 carry no nationality restriction at all. The remaining 6 awards do not state their eligibility on the award itself. That is not a refusal, and it is not an invitation either. It means the nationality rule is not written on the page we hold, so you must confirm it with the university or foundation before you spend money on transcripts or a courier.
Read the eligibility section of each individual award page before you do anything else. If a page does not state nationality, email the admissions office with one clear question and keep the reply.
These are the benefits named in the awards' own text, counted across the 9 entries. They are what the awards state in writing, not a promise of what you will receive:
A "fully funded" label does not tell you which of these lines is included. Two fully funded awards can differ sharply on whether flights or a monthly stipend appear. Check the benefit list on each award page and note what is missing, because that gap is what you fund yourself.
The requirements stated across these awards:
For a Nigerian applicant, the degree class requirement is the one to read closely. A minimum class is usually written in the awarding country's own wording, so a Nigerian Second Class Upper or a comparable HND grade may or may not map onto it directly. Where the wording is unclear, ask the admissions office to confirm your class against their scale in writing before you apply.
The English test is the other cost to plan for. Five awards name IELTS or TOEFL, which means booking a test date, paying the fee and waiting for the result to reach the university. The three awards asking for a research proposal are the ones to start on earliest, since a proposal needs a supervisor conversation and reading time, not a weekend.
3 awards carry a stated date, 3 are still open at the time of writing, and 6 are undated on the page. 3 are recurring, meaning the cycle returns each year. The busiest months are April, with 2 deadlines, and March, with 1.
The three closing soonest are:
For the undated awards, the deadline sits inside the individual page or moves with the university's admission cycle. Treat "see details" as work to do, not as time in hand.
Three subject areas are named on this page: Computer Science & IT, Engineering and Natural Sciences, each named by one award. That is a narrow set, and it reflects the profile of the providers, several of which are science and technology institutions. If your field is outside these three, read the individual award pages anyway, since a university-wide award may still cover your department even when the subject is not tagged here.
On duration, one award states a full-time Masters duration of 2 years. Plan your funding and your leave from work around that kind of timeline rather than around a single academic year.
Start with the three dated awards above, because their timelines are fixed and the documents take weeks to assemble. In parallel, open the remaining entries and check two things on each: whether nationality is stated, and what the award says it covers.
Then work backwards from the deadline. Request transcripts from your university early, confirm the degree class wording with the awarding institution, book your English test if the award names one, and ask your referees for letters well before the closing date. Courier and transcript costs are yours either way, so confirm eligibility before you pay them.
Where an award does not state its nationality rule, send one short email and wait for the answer before you commit money. That single step is the difference between a funded place and an application fee spent on an award you were never eligible for.
Looking for a fully funded opportunity to study in the Middle East’s most dynamic academic hub? The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has emerged as a top destination for Nigerian students, thanks to its world-class universities, cutting-edge research facilities, and generous scholarship programs.
For the academic year 2025-2026, several fully funded scholarships in UAE are available to outstanding international students pursuing bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees. These scholarships typically cover tuition fees, monthly stipends, free accommodation, visa support, health insurance, and in some cases, travel expenses.
The UAE is home to prestigious universities such as United Arab Emirates University (UAEU), Khalifa University, Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), and American University of Sharjah, all of which offer generous funding for exceptional students.
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