Highest-Paying Fully Funded Scholarships for International Students 2027

Most “highest-paying scholarship” lists are fiction with currency symbols. They copy stipend figures from each other, mix monthly and annual amounts, ignore whether tuition and housing sit inside or outside the headline number, and never tell you when a figure was last true. This ranking does the opposite. Every program below is ranked by a stipend or total-package figure verified on an official program, government or university page in October 2026, shown in its original currency, with the date context stated next to it. Where a famous figure could not be verified on an official page, the program is either presented as a range published by the institution itself or clearly labelled. Where a program pays a modest stipend but covers an enormous tuition bill — Gates Cambridge and Knight-Hennessy are the classic cases — it appears in a separate total-value discussion rather than being forced into a stipend league table it would distort.

Read the ranking with one more discipline: a stipend is only “high” relative to the city where you must spend it. CHF 2,450 a month in Zurich, S$3,200 in Singapore, €2,100 in Paris and CAD 40,000 a year in Waterloo are not directly interchangeable lives. Each entry therefore notes what else the package includes — tuition, housing, insurance, travel, family support — because the genuinely highest-paying scholarship for you is the one whose total package, in its actual city, leaves you free to study. Shortlist from this list, then model your real budget with the calculators in our study tools hub, compare host institutions in the university directory, and cross-check stipend-focused alternatives in fully funded scholarships with a monthly stipend for international students 2027 and the broader top 50 fully funded scholarships for international students 2027.

At a Glance: The Verified Stipend League Table

Two reading notes. First, ranks 1 and 7 are different KAUST instruments — a postdoctoral fellowship and a graduate fellowship — listed separately because conflating them is the single most common KAUST error online. Second, the RTP’s rank reflects its government-published maximum as well as its base: most students receive the base or a university rate between base and maximum, and the entry below explains exactly how that works.

Eligibility: Who Can Actually Win the Top-Paying Awards?

High stipends track high selectivity and specific missions. Doctoral awards (HKPFS, CGRS-D, SINGA, RTP, Swiss Excellence, DAAD doctoral, Eiffel doctoral) require a strong prior degree, a credible research proposal, and usually a supervisor or host institution willing to back you — CGRS-D additionally requires you to already be registered in a doctoral program at an eligible Canadian institution, with international students eligible for up to 15% of awards, and it is the direct successor to the discontinued Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships: do not apply for Vanier, it no longer exists. Master’s-level high payers are rarer: Eiffel (€1,200) and DAAD EPOS (€992) lead this ranking, while KAUST’s graduate fellowship spans master’s and PhD. Postdoctoral readers should note the KAUST Global Fellowship’s separate eligibility (a recent PhD and a host principal investigator at KAUST). Across all entries: check nationality rules, age or graduation-recency limits (Swiss Excellence and Eiffel both have them), and whether the 2027-cycle dates are published yet — where they are not, entries below cite the last cycle as such.

The Highest-Paying Scholarships, Ranked by Verified Stipend

1. KAUST Global Fellowship — US$75,000 per year (postdoctoral)

The highest verified cash stipend in this ranking belongs to the KAUST Global Fellowship Program in Saudi Arabia: an annual stipend of US$75,000 (US$6,250 per month) for three years, confirmed in the program’s official FAQ at kgfp.kaust.edu.sa. On top of the stipend, fellows receive housing depending on family status, medical insurance, a flat US$3,000 relocation allowance, schooling for up to three children, a daycare subsidy, annual travel assistance, and a field-dependent research budget of up to US$20,000 (computational sciences) to US$40,000 (biological, biomedical and other experimental sciences) per year. It is a postdoctoral, project-based fellowship aligned to KAUST’s research priorities in food, water, energy, health, AI and Red Sea research — not a student scholarship — and it is ranked first for transparency about what the money is, not as a suggestion that master’s applicants can access it.

2. Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme — HK$344,400 per year

HKPFS pays each awardee an annual stipend of HK$344,400 (approximately US$44,150) plus a conference and research-related travel allowance of HK$14,400 (approximately US$1,840) per year for up to three years, according to the Research Grants Council’s official scheme page at ugc.edu.hk. Four hundred fellowships will be awarded for 2027/28, and universities may add support for candidates who need more than three years. Selection weighs academic excellence first, then research ability and potential, communication and interpersonal skills, and leadership. Hong Kong living costs are high, particularly rent, but this remains one of the very few doctoral packages worldwide whose stipend alone exceeds US$44,000 with no tuition deduction for fellows whose universities waive or offset fees — check your university’s HKPFS package page, because several add cash awards and guaranteed accommodation on top of the RGC baseline.

3. Canada Graduate Research Scholarship — Doctoral (CGRS-D) — CAD 40,000 per year

CGRS-D is valued at CAD 40,000 per year for three years (CAD 120,000 in total), administered jointly by CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC under the Canada Research Training Awards Suite. It replaced the former Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships (CAD 50,000 per year), which are discontinued — any site still inviting Vanier applications for 2027 is out of date. Two eligibility facts decide whether this award belongs on your list at all: you must be registered in a doctoral program at an eligible Canadian institution by the institutional deadline, and international students compete for up to 15% of awards. Tuition is not included in the CAD 40,000, so your real package depends on your university’s funding letter; combine CGRS-D with a university entrance scholarship and teaching or research assistantships, as most Canadian PhD students do. Note also the living-cost context: Canada’s study-permit proof-of-living-expenses figure is CAD 22,895 for applications from 1 September 2025 to 31 August 2026 and CAD 23,448 from 1 September 2026 — a CGRS-D stipend clears that threshold comfortably on its own.

4. Australia Research Training Program — AUD 35,550 base (2027), up to AUD 55,537

The Australian Government publishes RTP stipend rates annually: the full-time base rate is AUD 34,315 for 2026 and AUD 35,550 for 2027, and the full-time maximum rate is AUD 53,608 for 2026 and AUD 55,537 for 2027, per the Department of Education’s official RTP page at education.gov.au. Universities award stipends between base and maximum and compete for top research candidates with “top-up” scholarships — which is why a Melbourne or Sydney offer can be worth substantially more than the base figure that most listicles quote as if it were the whole story. RTP also provides a tuition fee offset for the degree, and universities may add relocation and thesis allowances. When you compare Australian offers, compare the specific university’s stipend, not the national base. Applicants eyeing the University of Melbourne and other Group of Eight institutions should request the full RTP-plus-top-up figure in writing before ranking offers.

5. SINGA, Singapore — S$2,700 rising to S$3,200 per month

The Singapore International Graduate Award funds a PhD or EngD for up to four years across A*STAR research institutes and partner universities (NUS, NTU, SUTD, SMU, SIT). A*STAR’s official page lists full tuition, a monthly stipend of S$2,700 that rises to S$3,200 after you pass the qualifying examination, a one-time airfare grant of up to S$1,500 and a one-time settling-in allowance of S$1,000 — see a-star.edu.sg. At the post-qualifying rate that is S$38,400 per year before tuition, in a city where disciplined student living is achievable on the stipend, especially in early years with priority access to campus accommodation. SINGA is bond-free — no post-PhD service obligation — and restricted to biomedical sciences, computing and information sciences, engineering and technology, and physical sciences.

6. Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships — CHF 2,450 per month from 2026

Switzerland quietly made its Excellence Scholarships far more competitive on pay: the Federal Council raised the monthly contribution from CHF 1,920 — a figure frozen since 2006 and still printed on many university pages — to CHF 2,450 per month from 1 January 2026, with the one-off housing allowance doubled from CHF 300 to CHF 600, per the official announcement at admin.ch. The same reform reduces total scholarship numbers (to roughly 200–250 per year) and ends postdoctoral scholarships from 2027/28, prioritising doctoral awards, which may extend to four years from 2028. The scholarship pays living costs for one person; it is explicitly not a salary, tuition and semester fees are generally a separate matter (many hosts waive or reduce them for federal scholars — confirm with yours), and the Swiss government pays health and accident insurance premiums for holders from non-EU/EFTA countries. Zurich and Geneva are expensive; CHF 2,450 is workable for a single researcher sharing accommodation, tight for a family.

7. KAUST Fellowship (graduate) — US$20,000–30,000 per year, plus tuition and housing

Every student admitted to a KAUST master’s or PhD receives the KAUST Fellowship automatically. KAUST publishes the living allowance as a range — approximately US$20,000 to US$30,000 per year depending on qualifications and progression — alongside full tuition support, housing (charges can apply for dependants), and medical and dental cover. Ranked on stipend alone it sits mid-table; ranked on total package it climbs sharply, because tuition at a research-intensive private university, campus housing and health cover are all funded on top of the cash allowance, and Thuwal’s campus model removes commuting and many incidental costs. Do not confuse this graduate fellowship with the postdoctoral Global Fellowship at rank 1 — different instrument, different eligibility, different pay. For the student route, explore KAUST alongside our scholarships directory and verify the current range on KAUST’s official admissions pages at application time, since the university states the allowance as a range rather than a single rate.

8. Eiffel Excellence, doctoral — €2,100 per month (France)

France’s Eiffel program pays doctoral scholarship holders €2,100 per month from January 2026 (€1,200 at master’s level), for 12 to 36 months of doctoral funding, plus international and national transport, insurance, housing-search assistance and cultural activities. One transparency note, included because this ranking exists to end figure-copying: some Campus France documentation from December 2025 printed €2,000 for the doctoral rate, while the program’s 2026 implementation and current program pages state €2,100 — this guide uses €2,100, the figure directed for use from January 2026, and you should confirm the rate in the regulations of the exact cycle you enter. The structural caveat is bigger than the €100 discrepancy: Eiffel does not cover tuition. Holders at public institutions are typically exempt from registration fees for national diplomas, but program fees at other institutions can remain payable — get your host’s fee position in writing before you rank Eiffel against a tuition-covering award.

9. DAAD EPOS, doctoral — €1,300 per month, €1,400 from February 2026 (Germany)

DAAD’s official EPOS database entry states monthly payments of €992 for graduates and €1,300 for doctoral candidates, rising to €1,400 for doctoral candidates from February 2026, for 12 to 42 months depending on the program — see the official entry via daad.de and our DAAD Scholarship profile. Add payments toward health, accident and personal liability insurance, a travel allowance, and — under certain circumstances — a monthly rent subsidy and an allowance for accompanying family members, and EPOS becomes stronger than its headline suggests, in a country where most public-university programs charge no tuition and student living costs in many EPOS cities run well below Paris or Zurich. Context for Germany overall: the blocked-account proof figure for student visas is €11,904 per year for 2026 — an EPOS doctoral stipend exceeds that monthly proof level by a comfortable margin.

10 and 11. Eiffel master’s (€1,200) and DAAD EPOS master’s (€992) — the honest master’s benchmark

Master’s students often ask why their stipends look “low” beside doctoral ones. The verified reality is that €992–€1,200 per month is the current top band for large-scale, government-funded master’s stipends in continental Europe — and both of these programs pair the stipend with either zero public tuition (Germany, generally) or registration-fee exemption at public institutions (France, for government scholars). If a website shows you a European master’s scholarship paying €2,000 a month in cash with no doctoral enrolment, treat it as unverified until it produces an official page. Readers comparing the UK and US instead should look at total value: Chevening, the Chevening Scholarship, pays tuition plus a monthly stipend set by UK cost-of-living bands, and the Fulbright Program builds its package from tuition, living and insurance components that vary by university placement — both are generous, neither publishes a single global stipend figure that can be honestly ranked, so both are discussed here rather than slotted into the table with an invented number.

Total Value vs Stipend: The Awards That Break the Table

Three famous awards are “highest-paying” in total-value terms while publishing no single stipend you can rank. Gates Cambridge covers the full cost of a Cambridge postgraduate degree — fees, maintenance, airfare, visa costs — where the fee component alone can exceed the entire annual package of most stipend scholarships; see our Gates Cambridge profile. Knight-Hennessy Scholars at Stanford funds tuition and a living stipend calibrated to Stanford’s costs for up to three years of any Stanford graduate degree. Erasmus Mundus pays a monthly allowance (set per consortium call) across two or more European countries with participation costs covered — see Erasmus Mundus. If your goal is maximum total value rather than maximum cash, these three, plus HKPFS and KAUST’s graduate fellowship, are the shortlist. Use our rankings hub to compare the host universities themselves, including Harvard University and the University of Toronto for North American doctoral funding comparisons.

How to Apply: Step by Step

1. Fix your level. Separate the awards open to you by level (master’s, PhD, postdoc) — half of all wasted effort comes from applying across this line.
2. Verify the figure yourself. Open the official page linked in each entry and screenshot the stipend, currency, and effective date. Figures change by indexation (RTP, Swiss) and reform (CGRS-D).
3. Secure the host first where required. Swiss Excellence needs a host professor’s letter; HKPFS and RTP need a university application; CGRS-D needs doctoral registration; Eiffel needs an institution to nominate you.
4. Build the total package. For each offer, list tuition covered or owed, housing, insurance, travel, family support and duration. Rank offers on the total, not the stipend headline.
5. Prepare the research case. Doctoral high-payers fund a project, not just a person: a two-page proposal, aligned to a supervisor’s agenda, is the core document.
6. Apply to the university and the scholarship in the right order. Several of these awards are decided inside university competitions first — internal deadlines are the real deadlines.
7. Keep proof of funds coherent. Your visa file (for example Canada’s CAD 23,448 living-funds figure from 1 September 2026) should match your award letter exactly.

Required Documents

Expect: transcripts and degree certificates; a research proposal or study plan; a CV in the funder’s format; two or three references (academic, and for EPOS an employer reference plus proof of at least two years’ relevant professional experience); language certificates as each program requires; a supervisor support letter (Swiss Excellence, and effectively for HKPFS/RTP); and proof of admission or registration where the award is institution-mediated (CGRS-D). EPOS applicants apply to the university programs, not directly to DAAD, and may apply to up to three listed courses.

Deadlines and Timeline

How to Improve Your Chances

Target the intersection of pay and fit, not pay alone: HKPFS panels score research ability and potential explicitly, CGRS-D splits its assessment between research potential and relevant experience and achievements, and SINGA interviews probe whether your project fits A*STAR and university supervisors. Secure a supervisor conversation months early — a named, supportive host transforms doctoral applications at every program on this list. Publish or present something, however modest: a conference poster or a preprint gives panels evidence beyond transcripts. Finally, apply to a ladder of three to five awards at your level (for example HKPFS + RTP + SINGA for a STEM PhD; Eiffel + EPOS + Chevening for a master’s), so one panel’s taste cannot decide your year. Our guides library walks through proposals, references and interviews step by step.

Common Mistakes

• Ranking by stipend without the city. CHF 2,450 in Zurich and €1,400 in Leipzig are closer in real living terms than the numbers suggest.
• Quoting superseded figures. CHF 1,920 (Swiss, pre-2026), €934 (old DAAD rate) and Vanier (discontinued) still circulate — panels notice applicants who cite dead programs.
• Forgetting tuition asymmetry. Eiffel’s stipend is strong but tuition is excluded; CGRS-D’s CAD 40,000 excludes tuition too. Compare totals.
• Mixing up the two KAUST fellowships. Graduate and Global (postdoctoral) are different instruments with different pay and eligibility.
• Assuming the RTP base is the offer. Universities set rates up to the published maximum and add top-ups; negotiate from the written offer.
• Applying to CGRS-D from abroad before enrolment. International applicants must already be registered in the doctoral program by the institutional deadline.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which fully funded scholarship pays the most in 2027?

By verified cash stipend, the KAUST Global Fellowship (postdoctoral) at US$75,000 per year plus housing, insurance and a research budget. For enrolled PhD students, HKPFS at HK$344,400 per year (about US$44,150) plus travel allowance is the highest verified stipend in this ranking.

Is Vanier still available at CAD 50,000 per year?

No. Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships are discontinued. The successor doctoral award is CGRS-D at CAD 40,000 per year for three years, with international students eligible for up to 15% of awards if registered at an eligible Canadian institution.

Why is the Swiss stipend shown as CHF 2,450 when some pages say CHF 1,920?

The Federal Council raised the monthly contribution to CHF 2,450 from 1 January 2026 and increased the one-off housing allowance to CHF 600; CHF 1,920 was the rate from 2006 until that reform. This article uses the current official figure and links the announcement.

Does Eiffel really pay €2,100 for PhD students?

The program’s current implementation states €2,100 per month for doctoral holders from January 2026 (master’s: €1,200). Some December 2025 regulations documents printed €2,000, which is why this guide flags the discrepancy explicitly — confirm the binding figure in your cycle’s regulations.

How much is the Australia RTP stipend in 2027?

The government-published full-time base rate is AUD 35,550 for 2027 (AUD 34,315 for 2026), with a maximum rate of AUD 55,537. Universities set individual stipends between base and maximum and may add top-ups and a tuition fee offset.

Are high stipends taxed?

Tax treatment varies: RTP stipends for full-time students are generally tax-exempt in Australia, scholarship stipends in Germany are typically tax-free, and other jurisdictions differ. Confirm with your host university’s scholarship office — do not assume the headline figure is net in every country.

Can master’s students access any of the top-paying awards?

Yes: Eiffel master’s (€1,200/month), DAAD EPOS master’s (€992/month), the KAUST graduate fellowship (master’s and PhD, US$20,000–30,000/year range plus tuition and housing), research master’s under RTP, and total-value awards such as Gates Cambridge and Knight-Hennessy (which fund master’s degrees among other graduate programs).

Should I choose the highest stipend or the best university?

Choose the best total package at a university where a supervisor genuinely wants your project. A slightly lower stipend with tuition covered, housing included and a supportive lab outperforms a higher stipend attached to fees, isolation or a weak research fit — every time.

Sources & Verification

All headline figures were checked on 21 October 2026 against official sources: KAUST Global Fellowship FAQ (US$75,000/year; research budget up to US$40,000/year; housing, insurance, relocation and schooling benefits); Hong Kong Research Grants Council HKPFS page (HK$344,400/year plus HK$14,400/year; 400 awards for 2027/28); Canadian tri-agency and university CGRS-D pages (CAD 40,000/year for three years; Vanier discontinued; 15% international eligibility cap); Australian Department of Education RTP page (base AUD 34,315 for 2026 and AUD 35,550 for 2027; maximum AUD 55,537 for 2027); A*STAR SINGA page (S$2,700 rising to S$3,200; airfare up to S$1,500; settling-in S$1,000); Swiss Federal Council / SERI announcement (CHF 2,450/month from 1 January 2026; housing allowance CHF 600; postdoctoral awards ending from 2027/28); DAAD official EPOS database entry (€992 master’s; €1,300 doctoral, €1,400 from February 2026). Eiffel rates (€1,200 / €2,100 from January 2026; tuition not covered) follow the program’s current implementation as directed in the program brief, with the €2,000 figure in some December 2025 documents flagged in the entry. KAUST’s graduate living allowance is presented as the institution-published range, not a single rate.

Disclaimer: Scholarship rules, amounts and deadlines change yearly. Always confirm deadlines and amounts on the official website before applying. StudyGraduate is an information portal, not an agency, and cannot guarantee selection, admission or visa approval.