Fully Funded Scholarships with No Application Fee 2026 — Apply Free

Every year, students lose money before they have won anything: paying “processing charges” to agents, “registration fees” on look-alike websites, and application fees for scholarships that are, in reality, completely free to apply to. The world’s biggest government scholarships — Japan’s MEXT, the UK’s Chevening, Türkiye Burslari, Hungary’s Stipendium Hungaricum, Germany’s DAAD programmes and the European Union’s Erasmus Mundus — do not charge you to apply. Several of them say so explicitly on their official pages, and some go further: Japan’s embassies warn that organisations charging an application fee or deposit “have no relation with the Japanese Government,” and Chevening warns applicants that it does not work with third parties who charge for application support. If anyone asks you for money to submit one of these applications, you are not looking at the official channel.

This guide lists major fully funded scholarships whose official application is genuinely free, verified against official sources at the time of writing. It also explains the three different kinds of “fee” students confuse with one another — the scholarship application fee (zero for every programme listed here), the university application fee (a separate charge some universities make, which can apply even when the scholarship application is free), and third-party or agent charges (never part of any official process). Understanding that distinction will save you money twice: once by applying free where free is the rule, and once by recognising the legitimate exceptions, such as scholarships that require a parallel university application for which that university charges its own fee or offers a fee waiver. Browse the wider landscape in our scholarships directory, and use our free study tools to plan deadlines and budgets while you apply.

Fully Funded Scholarships With No Application Fee at a Glance

“Fully funded” in this table means the award is designed to cover tuition and the main costs of living and travel for the standard duration of the programme, as each official programme describes its own package. It does not mean every personal expense is paid, and it never means selection is likely: these are among the most competitive scholarships in the world. What “no application fee” does mean is that your only investment in applying is your time and your documents — which is exactly why these six programmes should be the first entries on any low-budget applicant’s list. Our programme-by-programme guides go deeper: see the Chevening Scholarship guide and the Stipendium Hungaricum guide for full eligibility detail.

The Verified Free-to-Apply Programmes in Detail

MEXT — Japan

The Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho) Scholarship is administered through Japanese embassies and consulates (embassy recommendation) and through Japanese universities (university recommendation). Embassy pages state the position in the clearest language of any programme in this guide: there is no application fee for the MEXT scholarships, all procedures run through Japanese embassies, consulates or Japanese universities, and organisations or individuals who charge an application fee or deposit have no relation with the Japanese Government. The award itself covers tuition, a monthly stipend that varies by level, and round-trip airfare between your country and Japan. Download forms only from the official Study in Japan website or your Japanese embassy’s site, and submit them exactly where the embassy instructs. Full detail is in our MEXT research students guide.

Türkiye Burslari — Türkiye

Türkiye Scholarships, run by the Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB), states on its official pages that applications are made online and free of charge through the Türkiye Scholarships Application System (TBBS) between 10 January and 20 February each year. There are no authorised intermediaries: the official programme notes that candidates apply individually through the official website and that no institution or person is authorised to apply on a candidate’s behalf. The package covers tuition, a monthly stipend (currently 6,500 TL at undergraduate level, 9,500 TL at master’s level and 13,000 TL at PhD level), accommodation, health insurance, a once-only flight ticket and a one-year Turkish language course. Published minimum academic achievement is 70 percent for undergraduate candidates, 75 percent for master’s and PhD candidates and 90 percent for health sciences, with age limits of under 21 (undergraduate), under 30 (master’s) and under 35 (PhD).

Stipendium Hungaricum — Hungary

Hungary’s government scholarship for partner-country students is explicit that the entire scholarship application and admission process is free of charge: no application fee, no entrance examination fee, no admission fee. Applications are submitted in the Tempus Public Foundation’s online system, and you must also be nominated by your home country’s sending partner — the ministry or authority listed for your country on the official site. The award provides tuition-free study for the full programme, a monthly stipend, a contribution to accommodation costs and free medical insurance. Because nomination is national, your sending partner’s own deadline and conditions are as important as the central one, and neither stage involves a fee to the programme.

Chevening — United Kingdom

Chevening, the UK government’s global scholarship for a one-year taught master’s, states that applying is free, that you do not need to pay anyone to apply, and that it does not endorse third parties charging for application support. Applications are made once a year through Chevening’s own online system; the 2027/28 cycle closed on 6 October 2026, and the next cycle’s dates will be announced on chevening.org. The award covers tuition fees, a monthly stipend, an economy return flight, the cost of one visa application, arrival and departure allowances and a contribution towards TB testing where required. One nuance belongs in this guide’s fee discussion: Chevening itself charges nothing, and you apply to your three UK courses as part of the process — most UK universities do not charge for postgraduate applications, but a small number do charge a course application fee, which is a university charge, not a Chevening charge, and is sometimes waivable. Check each course page before you finalise your three choices.

DAAD EPOS — Germany

DAAD’s Development-Related Postgraduate Courses (EPOS) programme funds master’s and, in defined cases, doctoral study at German universities for professionals from developing and emerging countries. DAAD charges no application fee for the scholarship, and applications are made directly to the chosen course or university following the instructions on the official DAAD and course pages. EPOS pays €992 per month for master’s students and €1,300 per month for doctoral students, with the doctoral rate rising to €1,400 per month from February 2026 under current calls, plus contributions to insurance and travel. Eligibility requires a bachelor’s degree normally completed within the last six years and at least two years of relevant professional experience. A small number of German universities charge administrative or semester fees that are separate from DAAD’s process — a semester contribution is a normal student charge at many German universities, not an application fee — so read the course page for exactly what, if anything, is payable, and to whom. Explore the programme through the official DAAD scholarship pages and our DAAD EPOS guide.

Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters — Europe

Erasmus Mundus joint master’s programmes are run by consortia of universities in at least two European countries, and the scholarships are funded by the European Union. Under the Erasmus+ Programme Guide, the selected programmes cannot charge student application fees, and scholarship holders pay no tuition or participation costs; the scholarship itself is €1,400 per month for up to 24 months, intended to cover travel, visa, installation and living costs, with insurance provided through the consortium. There is no central Erasmus application and no central deadline: you apply directly to each programme on its own website, typically between October and January, and each programme runs its own selection. The European Commission has also warned of attempted frauds involving EU scholarships offered for a fee — an EU scholarship is never granted in exchange for payment. Start from the official Erasmus Mundus catalogue pages.

Eligibility: Free to Apply Does Not Mean Easy to Win

• Nationality. MEXT is open to citizens of countries with diplomatic relations with Japan; Türkiye Burslari to citizens of all countries except Türkiye; Stipendium Hungaricum to citizens of its partner countries; DAAD EPOS to applicants from DAAD’s published list of eligible countries; Chevening to citizens of Chevening-eligible countries and territories; Erasmus Mundus to applicants worldwide.
• Level and prior degree. Each programme publishes the degree you must hold (or be completing) for its bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral tracks, and age limits where they exist — Türkiye Burslari’s age limits are a prominent example.
• Experience. DAAD EPOS requires at least two years of relevant professional experience after the bachelor’s degree; Chevening requires a defined minimum of post-degree work experience measured in hours. Verify the current figures on the official pages.
• Admission and nomination steps. Stipendium Hungaricum requires sending-partner nomination; MEXT requires either embassy or university recommendation; Chevening requires an unconditional UK university offer by its summer deadline; Erasmus Mundus selection happens inside each consortium’s admission process.
• No fee at any official stage. For every programme in this guide, the official application stage costs nothing. Costs that can legitimately arise around an application — document translation, certification, language tests, medical certificates where required, and later visa fees charged by governments — are paid to those separate official providers, never to the scholarship body as an “application fee,” and never to an agent as a condition of applying.

Scholarship Fees vs University Fees vs Agent Fees

How to Apply Step by Step — Without Paying Anyone

1. Start only from official domains. Reach each programme from its government or programme home: turkiyeburslari.gov.tr for Türkiye Burslari, stipendiumhungaricum.hu for Hungary, chevening.org for Chevening, daad.de for DAAD, the Study in Japan and Japanese embassy sites for MEXT, and erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu for the Erasmus Mundus catalogue. Bookmark the real page; search advertisements and agent pages imitate these names.
2. Create your account on the official portal yourself. Use your own email address — never an agent’s — so that all correspondence, including interview invitations and results, comes to you. TBBS for Türkiye, the Tempus system for Hungary, Chevening’s online application system, and each Erasmus consortium’s own portal are all free to register on.
3. Read the official call or guidance before writing anything. The call for applications is the controlling document for eligibility, documents and deadlines in your cycle. Download it from the official site and work from it, not from summaries.
4. Prepare your documents once, use them many times. Certified copies of your degree and transcript, passport, CV, motivation letter and references serve across most of these programmes. Because applications are free, a well-prepared document set lets you apply to several programmes in one season at no application cost.
5. Meet the programme-specific extra step. Contact your Stipendium Hungaricum sending partner; follow your embassy’s MEXT submission instructions exactly (embassy routes are submitted to the embassy, not to Japan); secure your UK course choices for Chevening; apply to the EPOS course itself for DAAD.
6. Submit before the deadline and save the confirmation. Portals for Türkiye Burslari and other January–February programmes are notoriously busy in the final days. A submitted application shows a confirmation or status in the official system — a screenshot from an agent is not proof of anything.
7. Respond to shortlisting directly. Interviews for these programmes are arranged by the programme or embassy through official channels. No legitimate interview invitation asks for a payment to release it.
8. Budget only for the real ancillary costs. Language tests, translations, medical certificates where a programme requires them at a later stage, and your eventual government visa fee. Keep these receipts; they are the only money a free application should ever cost you.

Required Documents

Deadlines and Timeline

Where the next cycle’s dates are not yet published — Chevening’s next round is the clearest example at the time of writing — this table says so and gives the last cycle’s dates as last cycle’s dates. Confirm the live window on the official site before you organise your season around it. Readers targeting North America next should also see our guide to scholarships with no application fee in the USA and Canada, where university application fees and waiver policies work differently.

How to Spot a Fee Scam

Because these programmes are famous and free, they attract imitation. The warning signs are consistent: a website whose address is a variation of the official one; a demand for a “registration,” “processing” or “verification” fee before your application can be submitted; a request for a deposit to “secure” a scholarship that has not announced results; communication only through messaging apps with no official email domain; and any promise that payment improves your chances or guarantees selection. The official positions could not be clearer — Japanese embassies state that fee-charging organisations have no relation with the Japanese Government; Chevening states it does not endorse paid third parties; Türkiye Scholarships state that no institution or person is authorised to apply on a candidate’s behalf; and the European Commission warns that EU scholarships are not granted for a fee. If you have already paid someone, stop further payments, change any password you shared, and restart your application yourself on the official portal — for most programmes you can still apply free within the window. Reporting the site to the programme’s official contact address also protects the next applicant.

Common Mistakes

• Paying an agent to “submit” a free application. Submission is a form you complete yourself. An agent adds cost and risk — including applications submitted under the agent’s email, locking you out of your own file.
• Confusing a university fee with a scholarship fee. A small number of universities charge course application fees. That charge belongs to the university, is paid only through its official payment page, and may be waivable — it is never collected by the scholarship body or by an intermediary.
• Assuming “free to apply” means “easy to get.” These are flagship government scholarships with global competition. Free entry makes a strong application affordable to attempt; it does not change your odds, which depend on your file.
• Applying on a look-alike website. Always navigate from the programme’s official domain, and treat paid search advertisements for scholarship “registration” with suspicion.
• Missing the non-portal step. Hungaricum’s sending-partner nomination and MEXT’s embassy submission route are part of the application. A perfect portal form without them is an incomplete application — and completing them is also free.
• Spending the document budget on the wrong things. Money spent on agents is money not spent on the legitimate costs that strengthen an application: a language test, certified translations, or a credential evaluation where one is genuinely required.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is MEXT really free to apply for?

Yes. Japanese embassies state explicitly that there is no application fee for the MEXT scholarships, that all procedures run through Japanese embassies, consulates or Japanese universities, and that organisations or individuals charging an application fee or deposit have no relation with the Japanese Government.

Does Türkiye Burslari charge any fee?

No. The official programme states that applications are made online and free of charge through the TBBS system, between 10 January and 20 February each year, and that no institution or person is authorised to apply on a candidate’s behalf. Pay anyone offering to do so nothing.

Is Stipendium Hungaricum completely free?

Yes — the entire scholarship application and admission process is free of charge, with no application fee, entrance examination fee or admission fee. You may still have personal costs such as translations, and the stipend is designed to be supplemented by careful budgeting, but the process itself costs nothing.

Does Chevening charge for its application?

No. Chevening states that applying is free and that it does not endorse third parties who charge for application support. The only possible fee in a Chevening application journey is a course application fee charged by an individual UK university — most charge none — which is a university charge, not Chevening’s.

Are Erasmus Mundus applications free?

Yes. Under the Erasmus+ Programme Guide, Erasmus Mundus programmes cannot charge student application fees, and scholarship holders also pay no tuition or participation costs. You apply directly to each consortium on its official website; the European Commission warns applicants about fraudulent offers of EU scholarships for a fee.

If a scholarship is free to apply to, why did a university ask me for money?

Because the two applications are different. Some scholarships sit alongside a university admission application, and some universities charge for that. Before paying, confirm on the university’s official site that the fee is real, check whether a waiver exists, and pay only through the university’s own payment system — never through a link an agent sends you.

What costs will I still have when applying to free scholarships?

Possibly a language test, certified translations, a medical certificate at the stage a programme requires one, passport renewal if yours is expiring, and later your student visa fee charged by the destination government. These are paid to the actual providers at published rates. None of the six programmes in this guide charges an application fee at any stage.

Can applying to several free scholarships hurt my chances?

No. Each programme runs an independent selection, and because applications are free, applying broadly across the programmes you are eligible for is rational. What matters is tailoring each application properly — committees can tell a generic submission from a considered one — and meeting each programme’s distinct extra steps, such as nomination or embassy submission.

Sources and Verification

• Embassy and Consulate-General of Japan official MEXT pages — “There is no application fee for the MEXT Scholarships,” with the warning that organisations charging a fee or deposit have no relation with the Japanese Government; forms and procedures via the official Study in Japan website.
• Türkiye Scholarships official site and YTB (turkiyeburslari.gov.tr / ytb.gov.tr) — applications made online and free of charge via TBBS between 10 January and 20 February; stipends of 6,500 / 9,500 / 13,000 TL by level; minimum achievement of 70% / 75% / 90% and age criteria.
• Stipendium Hungaricum official programme information and the University of Debrecen’s official programme FAQ — the entire application and admission process is free of charge (no application, entrance exam or admission fee).
• Chevening official website (chevening.org) — application is free, no endorsement of paid third parties, coverage, and the 2027/28 timeline closing 6 October 2026.
• DAAD official scholarship pages (daad.de) — EPOS eligibility and stipend rates (€992 per month master’s; €1,300 doctoral rising to €1,400 from February 2026), with applications made directly to courses at no DAAD fee.
• European Commission Erasmus+ pages and the Erasmus+ Programme Guide (erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu) — Erasmus Mundus scholarship of €1,400 per month for up to 24 months, consortium-level application, and the rule that programmes cannot charge application fees.

Disclaimer: StudyGraduate is an information portal, not an agency, and we cannot promise selection, admission or visa approval for any programme. Scholarship amounts, criteria and deadlines change every year; always confirm the current details on the official programme website before you apply — and remember that for every programme listed here, the official application itself is free.