Scholarships in South Africa for International Students 2026/2027

South Africa has the strongest university system on the African continent, English-medium teaching almost everywhere, and fees that are modest beside those of the United Kingdom or the United States. What it does not have — and this guide will be blunt about it from the first page — is a big government scholarship programme for incoming international students. There is no South African equivalent of a national full-ride scheme open to the world. The state bursary system you will see advertised, NSFAS, funds South African citizens; the National Research Foundation’s postgraduate funding is designed primarily for South Africans, with only a small, defined slice open to international master’s and doctoral students. If a website tells you otherwise, it is selling you something.

And yet real, generous funding for international students in South Africa does exist — it just lives in specific places. The standout is the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program, which runs full-cost scholarships at two South African universities: the University of Cape Town (UCT) and the University of Pretoria (UP). These awards are for citizens of African countries who are academically talented and face significant economic barriers, and they cover essentially everything — tuition, accommodation, meals or living stipend, laptop, medical aid, visa costs and annual travel. Around them sits a second layer: university merit and international-student scholarships (usually partial tuition awards), postgraduate funding-office bursaries, the NRF’s Partial Cost of Study route for a small percentage of international master’s and doctoral candidates, and home-country or employer funding that students bring with them.

So scholarships in South Africa for international students in 2026/2027 reward a particular strategy: apply for admission early, target the Mastercard Foundation programmes if you are an African citizen who fits their mission, stack university and faculty awards where you can, and treat every other claim with verification discipline. This guide maps each real route with its published terms, explains the SAQA qualification evaluation and study-visa steps that international applicants in South Africa cannot skip, and lays out deadlines for the 2027 academic year (South Africa’s year starts in January–February, which shifts every deadline earlier than northern-hemisphere applicants expect). Plan the wider journey in the scholarships directory, compare destinations via study abroad, browse the universities directory and rankings, and run your numbers with the StudyGraduate tools before you commit.

The South African Funding Landscape, Honestly Mapped

Three structural facts shape everything below. First, South Africa’s public universities charge international students more than locals — typically the standard tuition plus an international or SADC levy that varies by university — but the totals remain comparatively affordable, which is why partial scholarships genuinely help here. Students from SADC (Southern African Development Community) countries often pay lower international levies than students from outside the region, and some universities treat SADC students close to home-student terms for fees; check your university’s international office page for your exact category. Second, the academic calendar runs January to November, so applications for 2027 entry mostly close between July and October 2026 — earlier than most applicants from Asia or the Middle East are used to. Third, foreign qualifications must be evaluated: the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) issues the certificate of evaluation that universities require for postgraduate admission, and undergraduate applicants from outside South Africa may need a Universities South Africa (USAf) exemption certificate. These steps take weeks to months and are not covered by the Mastercard programme at UP — its official page lists SAQA, USAf and passport fees among the costs the programme does not pay.

Scholarships in South Africa at a Glance

Route 1: Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program at UCT

The University of Cape Town’s partnership with the Mastercard Foundation is the single most valuable scholarship route into South Africa for an international applicant. UCT describes the programme as full-cost scholarships for young Africans who are first-time undergraduate or eligible postgraduate applicants, selected on four criteria the university publishes: academic talent, economic barriers (facing significant financial barriers to completing their education), commitment to giving back to their communities, and potential for ethical, transformative leadership. Scholars are expected to return to their home countries and invest their skills in their country’s social and economic growth.

The coverage list on UCT’s official programme pages is comprehensive. The award covers full tuition fees and international student fees, reimbursement of study-visa processing costs, accommodation in UCT’s student housing system with meals through that system, medical cover with a recommended medical aid provider, a living stipend for ad-hoc study expenses, a book allowance, a laptop, and an economy air ticket to Cape Town at the start and home on completion for awardees who are citizens or residents of a Sub-Saharan country other than South Africa (or who live in South Africa outside Cape Town), with annual travel support during the programme. Beyond money, scholars receive academic support and mentoring, leadership development, internship access, career and entrepreneurship support, psychosocial support and membership of the global Scholars alumni network. The scholarship covers the full period of the UCT programme and is renewed annually subject to satisfactory academic performance, personal conduct and participation in the programme’s development activities.

Eligibility for the 2027 intake is specific about study routes. Undergraduate applicants must be applying for their first bachelor’s degree at UCT. Postgraduate applicants qualify only for an eligible postgraduate diploma in the Faculty of Health Sciences, an honours degree in any of UCT’s six faculties (Commerce; Engineering and the Built Environment; Health Sciences; Humanities; Law; Science), or a coursework master’s in those faculties. Part-time study, research-only master’s degrees by dissertation, and PhDs are not covered by this call — an exclusion that surprises many strong applicants, and one to check before you build a plan around UCT. The deadlines are equally specific: for 2027, the undergraduate scholarship deadline was 30 September 2026 (and UCT notes undergraduate applications for the 2027 intake have closed), while the postgraduate scholarship deadline is 31 October 2026. The process is two-step and the order matters: first apply for admission to UCT through its online application system, then submit the separate Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program application; only applicants who receive an offer of admission to UCT can ultimately be eligible.

Route 2: Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program at the University of Pretoria

The University of Pretoria has run its Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program since January 2014, for high-achieving African students at undergraduate and postgraduate levels who face economic and social barriers — explicitly including young people living with disability and internally displaced people and refugees. UP’s own description is clear about the programme’s logic: a full scholarship for students admitted to a degree at UP, community service and internships as essential components, and a requirement that graduates return to their home countries and give back to their communities.

UP publishes an unusually candid “what the program does and does not do” page, and applicants should read it as their budget document. The programme provides first-year start-up funds and visa fees; an annual support package of monthly stipend, tuition fees, school supplies and books (through Fundi), student health insurance (medical aid), and campus room and board; and a one-time African-based summer internship with flight and stipend. Services include leadership courses and seminars, counselling, volunteer opportunities, a dedicated student services advisor, tutoring and mentoring, and a dedicated international-office liaison. Equally important is the “does not” list: no funding beyond the standard duration (eight semesters for undergraduates, two years for graduates), no loans, no guaranteed coverage of all medical or dental costs, no late fees or replacement of lost items, no individual professional-development funds such as conferences, no guaranteed internship or job placement — and, notably for international applicants, no SAQA, USAf or passport fees. Those evaluation and document costs are yours, and they arise before admission, so budget for them from the start.

The application sequence mirrors UCT’s: apply to UP first through its admissions process, then complete the Scholars Program application form for your level and submit it with supporting documents to the programme office (UP publishes the mcfsp@up.ac.za contact for submissions and enquiries). Undergraduate applicants have needed a grade point average of at least 70% in the programme’s published forms, and postgraduate applicants must have their qualifications verified by SAQA. Shortlisted candidates are interviewed before final selection. UP has typically closed applications around the end of August for the following year’s intake; because the exact closing date is set per cycle, confirm it on UP’s Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program pages rather than relying on any secondary listing — including this one.

Route 3: NRF Postgraduate Funding — What International Students Can (and Cannot) Get

The National Research Foundation (NRF), funded through the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation, is South Africa’s main postgraduate scholarship funder — and the route most often misrepresented to international applicants. The official 2027 call (DSTI-NRF Postgraduate Student Funding for the 2027 Academic Year) states the rules plainly. The minimum academic requirement is a 65% average for the previous degree. Successful applicants are funded at either Full Cost of Study (FCS) or Partial Cost of Study (PCS). FCS is awarded to South African citizens and permanent residents only — those who are financially needy (combined household income of R350,000 per annum or less), living with a disability, or exceptional academic achievers. PCS is the tier that can include international students, and the call caps that at 5% of awards. University guidance on the same call adds two more facts international applicants must know: international students are not eligible for NRF honours funding at all, and are eligible only at master’s and doctoral level, at PCS only.

In practice this means: if you are an international master’s or doctoral candidate at a South African public university with a previous-degree average comfortably above 65%, your university’s postgraduate or research office can submit you into the NRF competition via the NRF Connect system — but you are competing for a partial-cost award inside a 5% international quota, against a system designed mainly for South Africans. Treat NRF funding as a possible top-up, never as the foundation of a budget. Note the calendar, too: for the 2027 academic year the NRF’s first-time master’s and doctoral applications opened on 16 April 2026 and closed on 3 July 2026, and universities impose earlier internal deadlines so their designated authorities can submit in time. By the time many international applicants start looking, the NRF window for the coming year has already shut — plan a full year ahead, and use our guides in the guides section to build that longer timeline.

Route 4: University Merit, Entrance and International Scholarships

Below the Mastercard programmes, every major South African university operates its own scholarship and bursary ecosystem, administered by its postgraduate funding office or international office. The typical components are: entrance scholarships awarded automatically on school-leaving or prior-degree results; faculty and departmental bursaries for specific programmes; international and refugee scholarships at postgraduate level (UCT’s postgraduate funding office, for example, administers awards explicitly aimed at international and refugee postgraduates); sports and leadership awards; and donor-funded bursaries advertised on university funding noticeboards through the year. Stellenbosch University, the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Rhodes University and the University of Johannesburg all run versions of this model.

Set expectations correctly: these awards are usually partial — a percentage of tuition, a fixed rand amount against fees, or a residence subsidy — and many are small, competitive and restricted by faculty, field or nationality in ways that only the university’s own funding pages state accurately. The correct workflow is unglamorous but effective: get admitted, register on the university’s funding-noticeboard or postgraduate funding portal, apply to every award whose conditions you genuinely meet, and ask the international office one direct question — “which awards are open to a student of my nationality, level and faculty this year?” Funding offices answer that question routinely; agents who charge for the same answer add nothing.

Eligibility: The Common Threads

Across the realistic routes, you will need most of the following. Citizenship that fits the scheme: Mastercard Foundation programmes at UCT and UP are for citizens of African countries (UCT’s call includes South Africans; non-African citizens, including the Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani and Indonesian readers who make up much of StudyGraduate’s audience, are not eligible for these two programmes and should focus on university awards, NRF PCS at postgraduate level, and home-country funding). A prior qualification at the scheme’s standard: a strong bachelor’s for honours and master’s entry; at UP, a published undergraduate GPA expectation of at least 70% for Mastercard applicants; at the NRF, a 65% minimum average. Evidence of economic barriers and community leadership for Mastercard selection — these are mission criteria, not paperwork formalities, and panels test them in essays and interviews. SAQA evaluation of foreign qualifications for postgraduate study, and USAf exemption processes where applicable for undergraduate study. And a valid passport early: both Mastercard programmes exclude passport costs from coverage, and visa timelines depend on it.

How to Apply, Step by Step

Step 1 — Verify your qualification pathway. Start SAQA evaluation (postgraduate) or USAf exemption checks (undergraduate) months before application deadlines; universities cannot finalise offers without them.

Step 2 — Apply for admission first. Both Mastercard universities and the NRF require the academic application to lead. Submit your UCT or UP admission application inside the university’s own window (UCT’s general postgraduate coursework applications for 2027 mostly closed on 30 September 2026, with faculty variation).

Step 3 — Submit the scholarship application separately. UCT: the Scholars Program application by 31 October 2026 for postgraduates. UP: the programme form plus supporting documents to the Scholars Program office. University awards: through the funding office or noticeboard, per award.

Step 4 — Prepare for mission-based selection. Mastercard panels read essays on leadership, community service and your plan to contribute at home, and UP interviews shortlisted candidates. Write specifically: named projects, real roles, measurable outcomes.

Step 5 — Take the NRF internal deadline seriously. If you are a master’s or doctoral applicant, register your interest with your university’s research or postgraduate office before its internal closing date — for the 2027 cycle the NRF’s own closing for first-time master’s and doctoral applications was 3 July 2026, and internal deadlines fell earlier still.

Step 6 — Visa and medical aid. With an offer and funding letter in hand, apply for a study visa through the South African mission or VFS centre in your country, with the medical cover from a South African-registered scheme that study-visa rules require. The Mastercard programmes reimburse or cover visa costs for their scholars; self-funded students should price medical aid into the budget from day one.

Required Documents Checklist

• Valid passport (apply early — no scholarship in this guide pays for it).
• Certified academic transcripts and certificates for all prior qualifications.
• SAQA certificate of evaluation for foreign qualifications (postgraduate applicants); USAf exemption documentation where required for undergraduate entry.
• University admission application and, once issued, your student number and offer letter (required before scholarship consideration at UCT and UP).
• Scholarship application form for the specific programme (UCT online; UP level-specific form submitted to the programme office).
• Essays or statements covering leadership, community service and post-study contribution (Mastercard programmes).
• Evidence of financial circumstances where the award is need-based, in the format the university requests.
• Reference letters and, for postgraduate study, a research proposal or statement of intent where the programme requires one.
• For the study visa: acceptance letter, proof of funding, and medical cover with a South African-registered medical scheme.

Deadlines and Timeline for the 2027 Academic Year

What the Money Covers — and What It Never Covers

The pattern to internalise: only the two Mastercard programmes behave like full scholarships, and both are mission-bound to African citizens who will return home. Everything else is a contribution. A realistic South African budget therefore combines sources — a university entrance award against tuition, an NRF PCS award at postgraduate level, family or employer support for living costs — and is stress-tested against the rand cost of accommodation in Cape Town (the most expensive student city in the country), Pretoria, Johannesburg or the cheaper campus towns such as Grahamstown (Makhanda), Stellenbosch and Pietermaritzburg.

Selection Criteria — How to Improve Your Chances

Mastercard Foundation selection at both universities weighs four published qualities: academic talent, economic barriers, commitment to giving back, and ethical leadership potential. Panels verify these through your record, your essays and (at UP) an interview, so the winning file is specific rather than lyrical: grades that clear the bar with room to spare; a truthful, documented account of the financial barriers you face; community work with names, dates and outcomes; and a credible post-degree plan tied to your home country’s needs. For university merit awards, selection is usually mechanical — results against thresholds, sometimes automatic on admission — which rewards applying to universities where your grades sit comfortably above the cohort norm rather than at its edge. For the NRF, your university’s internal ranking matters as much as the national rules: a supervisor’s support and a well-scoped proposal help your institution prioritise your file within its submission. Finally, timing is a selection criterion in disguise across South Africa: with a January start and mid-year scholarship closings, the applicants who win are the ones who started SAQA evaluation and admission paperwork the previous year. If you are comparing the continent’s options, read this alongside our guide to scholarships in Egypt for international students and the fully funded routes in scholarships in Qatar for international students — the funding models are completely different, and the comparison clarifies which system fits your citizenship and level.

Common Mistakes That End South African Applications

• Assuming a national government scholarship exists. It does not for inbound internationals; NSFAS is for South African citizens, and building a plan on it wastes a cycle.
• Applying for a PhD or research master’s under UCT’s Mastercard call. The 2027 call covers first bachelor’s degrees, a Health Sciences postgraduate diploma, honours and coursework master’s only; part-time study is also excluded.
• Reversing the order. Scholarship applications at UCT and UP only become live after an admission application; submitting the scholarship form first achieves nothing.
• Skipping SAQA. Postgraduate offers and the UP Mastercard file both depend on SAQA evaluation, and neither Mastercard programme pays the SAQA fee at UP — start it early and pay it yourself.
• Missing the mid-year deadlines. The NRF closed first-time master’s and doctoral applications on 3 July 2026 for the 2027 year, and UCT’s postgraduate Mastercard deadline is 31 October 2026. Northern-hemisphere habits (apply in December) fail here.
• Treating “partial” as “full.” A university award against tuition leaves accommodation, food, medical aid and the international levy to you. Cost the remainder in rand before accepting an offer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does South Africa offer government scholarships to international students?

Not as a large open programme. The main state postgraduate funder, the NRF, reserves Full Cost of Study funding for South African citizens and permanent residents; international students can compete only for Partial Cost of Study awards at master’s and doctoral level, within a 5% quota, per the official 2027 call. NSFAS, the big state bursary scheme, is for South African citizens.

What is the best fully funded scholarship in South Africa for 2026/2027?

The Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program at the University of Cape Town and at the University of Pretoria. Both are full-cost awards covering tuition, accommodation, living costs, medical aid and more — but both are restricted to citizens of African countries who demonstrate academic talent, economic barriers, community commitment and leadership potential, and both expect graduates to return home.

What does the UCT Mastercard Foundation scholarship cover?

Per UCT’s official pages: full tuition and international student fees, accommodation and meals in UCT housing, a living stipend, a laptop, a book allowance, medical aid, study-visa support and annual travel, plus mentoring, leadership development and internship access. It is renewable annually subject to academic performance, conduct and participation. For 2027, postgraduate applications close 31 October 2026.

Can non-African students (from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan or Indonesia) get scholarships in South Africa?

Yes, but not through the Mastercard Foundation programmes, which are for African citizens. Your realistic routes are university merit and international-student awards (usually partial), NRF Partial Cost of Study funding at master’s or doctoral level if you secure a place at a public university, and home-country government or employer sponsorship. Budget as a primarily self-funded student with partial support.

Do I need SAQA evaluation to study in South Africa?

For postgraduate study, effectively yes: South African universities require a SAQA certificate of evaluation for foreign qualifications, and UP’s Mastercard programme states it does not pay the SAQA fee. Undergraduate applicants educated outside South Africa may also need a USAf exemption certificate. Start both processes months ahead of deadlines.

When does the South African academic year start, and when should I apply?

The year starts in January–February. For 2027 entry, key windows fell through 2026: NRF applications closed 3 July 2026, UCT admissions mostly closed 30 September 2026, and UCT’s postgraduate Mastercard deadline is 31 October 2026. Work a full year ahead of your intended start.

Can I work in South Africa on a study visa?

South African study visas have historically permitted limited part-time work, but conditions can change and scholarship terms may be stricter. Do not build a funding plan on part-time earnings; confirm the current rule with the Department of Home Affairs or your university’s international office before relying on it.

Sources & Verification

• University of Cape Town — Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program official pages (coverage, eligibility, selection criteria, 30 September / 31 October 2026 deadlines for the 2027 intake): uct.ac.za — Scholarship Overview and uct.ac.za — How to Apply
• University of Pretoria — Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program official pages (programme description since 2014; “what the program covers / does not cover,” including the SAQA, USAf and passport fee exclusion): up.ac.za — About the Program and up.ac.za — What the Program Covers
• National Research Foundation — DSTI-NRF Postgraduate Student Funding for the 2027 Academic Year (65% minimum, FCS restricted to SA citizens/permanent residents, PCS including 5% international students, 3 July 2026 closing for first-time master’s and doctoral): nrf.ac.za

Disclaimer: Scholarship terms, amounts and deadlines change with each call, and several figures above are drawn from the most recent official publications available at the time of writing. Always confirm deadlines, amounts and eligibility on the official website before applying. StudyGraduate is an information portal, not an agency or a university: we cannot promise or influence selection, admission or visa approval, and no legitimate scholarship requires payment to an intermediary to apply.