We list 37 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. 26 of them are fully funded. 21 state eligibility that includes Nigerian applicants. Awards with a known closing date are listed soonest first.
United Kingdom
40
United States
Australia
27
Canada
20
China
12
Italy
10
Sweden
10
Germany
9
United Arab Emirates
9
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 37 awards on this page — every figure below is counted from what the awards themselves state. 5 min read.
This page lists 37 scholarships in the United States open to Nigerian students. They range from high school awards through bachelor's degrees, master's, PhD and postdoctoral fellowships, plus a small number of short courses. Every award here is tied to a United States institution or a United States-based funder, so the destination is fixed: you are applying to study or research in America, not choosing between countries.
The list is not one programme repeated 37 times. It draws on providers including Yale University, Stanford University, the American Association of University Women, the ACI Foundation, the Clark Art Institute and a group of American colleges and universities. Some are named institutional awards; others are open calls run by foundations.
Of the 37 awards, 26 are labelled fully funded and 2 are labelled partially funded. That is the split as the awards themselves describe it. Nine awards do not state their funding level either way, so this page makes no claim about what those cover — read each one individually before you decide whether it is worth your application fee and courier costs.
Where funding is spelled out, the benefits named in the award text are concrete. Tuition appears in 12 awards and living costs in 12. Travel is named in 10, research or training costs in 8, health insurance in 6 and accommodation in 4. Treat these as what the award says it provides, not as a promise that every line of your budget is covered. A tuition-only award still leaves you to fund your own flights, visa fee, SEVIS fee and the first months of living before any stipend lands.
The list is weighted towards the early stages of study. 17 awards are at bachelor's level, the largest single group. 13 are fellowships, which in the American system usually means a funded research or professional placement rather than a taught degree. 11 are master's awards and 9 are PhD. A further 7 are postdoctoral, 6 are high school and 3 are short courses.
For a Nigerian reader, that spread matters. If you have just finished WAEC or NECO and are looking at undergraduate study in the United States, the bachelor's and high school entries are your starting point. If you hold a B.Sc or HND and are weighing a master's, the 11 master's awards and the fellowships are where your file will be competitive. If you already have an M.Sc and are chasing doctoral funding, the 9 PhD and 7 postdoctoral entries are the relevant ones.
The awards are spread across disciplines rather than concentrated in one faculty.
Arts, humanities and social sciences together account for 10 awards, which is unusual for a country list and worth noting if you have been told that only STEM gets funded in the United States. Engineering, medicine and the natural sciences are present too, but in smaller numbers.
This is the question that decides whether the rest of the page is useful to you. Of the 37 awards, 21 state that Nigerians may apply. Within that group, 21 carry no nationality restriction at all — they are open regardless of passport. None of the 21 names Nigeria or the African region specifically; they are simply unrestricted.
A further 16 awards do not state their eligibility on the award page. That is not a yes and not a no. It means you will have to open the award and read the eligibility section, or write to the provider, before you spend money on transcripts and courier fees. Do that before you pay for anything.
The requirements are consistent enough to plan around. 16 awards ask for letters of recommendation and 15 ask for an English test score — IELTS or TOEFL. If you are applying to more than one award on this list, those two items will be needed repeatedly, so request referee letters early and check whether any award waives the English test for applicants who studied in English.
Beyond those: 8 awards state a minimum degree class, 3 ask for work experience, 2 ask for a research proposal and 2 ask for a commitment to return home afterwards. The degree-class requirement is the one to read carefully — American providers often phrase it differently from the Nigerian classification you are used to, so match your transcript against their wording rather than assuming.
18 awards carry a stated date and 18 are currently still open. 19 are undated, and 18 recur annually, which means a missed cycle is usually a wait rather than a lost cause.
The busiest months are October (4 deadlines) and November (4), with September (2) behind them. The awards closing soonest are:
One more entry worth noting for undergraduate applicants is the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation College Scholarship Program 2027, which closes 14 November.
Nigeria is not a marginal presence in American higher education. According to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 16,632 Nigerian students were studying in the United States in 2023, making Nigeria the second largest source of such students. That matters practically: there are established Nigerian student communities on many campuses, and admissions offices in the United States are familiar with Nigerian transcripts, WAEC and NECO results, and the B.Sc and HND classifications.
Start with the eligibility question, not the funding question. Filter the 37 down to the 21 that state Nigerians may apply, then read the 16 that say nothing about eligibility before you dismiss them. Check the level against your own qualifications, and check the field against your degree.
Then work backwards from the deadline. If a referee letter and an English test score are needed, those take weeks to arrange, and transcript requests and courier delivery from Nigeria take time you cannot compress at the last minute. The awards closing in October and November are the immediate ones; the recurring awards will come round again, but the ones with a stated date will not wait.
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.
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