Top 15 Fully Funded Scholarships in Norway 2027

Start with the truth, because most “fully funded scholarships in Norway” articles online will not give it to you: Norway has no big national full-ride scholarship for international students, and since autumn 2023 it no longer offers free tuition to students from outside the EU/EEA and Switzerland. The old Quota Scheme closed years ago, the Norwegian government runs no equivalent of DAAD or Fulbright for incoming degree students, and flagship universities such as the University of Stavanger state plainly on their websites that they offer no scholarships for incoming international students. Non-EU/EEA students now pay tuition at public universities — fees vary by institution and programme, roughly from NOK 60,000 to nearly NOK 300,000 per year in recent cycles, though a 2026 law change now lets each university set its own (still non-zero) fee level, and some have begun cutting prices.

So where does full funding in Norway actually come from? From a specific set of real routes: Erasmus Mundus joint master’s programmes, salaried PhD positions (doctoral candidates in Norway are employees, not fee-paying students), one genuinely generous private business-school scholarship at BI Norwegian Business School, the currently paused national NORSTIP scheme, and a family of partnership, mobility and protection schemes run by HK-dir, Norad and the EEA Grants. This guide profiles all 15 routes honestly — what each covers, who can actually get it, and which ones are partial, restricted or discontinued, so you can spend your application time where the money really is. Compare Norway with its neighbours in our scholarship directory and the top fully funded scholarships in Sweden before deciding.

Norway Funding Routes at a Glance

The 15 Routes in Detail

1. Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters — the strongest full ride into Norway

Coverage: A scholarship of €1,400 per month for the full programme duration (up to 24 months — a maximum of €33,600), intended to cover travel, visa, installation and living costs, with participation costs paid separately by the EU to the consortium — scholarship holders cannot be charged tuition or mandatory participation fees. Eligibility: Open to applicants of any nationality holding (or finishing) a bachelor’s degree; you apply to a specific joint master’s consortium, and Norwegian universities — including NTNU, the University of Bergen, UiT The Arctic University of Norway and NMBU — host or partner in a rotating set of programmes each cycle. Full scholarships go only to the top-ranked admitted applicants, and no more than 10% of a project’s scholarships may go to one nationality. Deadline: Consortia set their own dates, typically between October and January for the following autumn start. This is the single most realistic fully funded master’s route into Norway, and our full Erasmus Mundus guide explains the application mechanics. The European Commission’s Erasmus Mundus factsheet confirms the €1,400 monthly rate and the €33,600 maximum.

2. Salaried PhD positions — Norway’s biggest “scholarship” is a job

Coverage: In Norway, PhD candidates are university employees. You pay no tuition, and you receive a full salary with pension and employee rights: recent doctoral position adverts at the University of Oslo, for example, listed annual salaries in the region of NOK 550,800–595,800 (2026 adverts — check the individual advert on jobbnorge.no for the current figure). Eligibility: A master’s degree (or equivalent) and a competitive research profile; positions in every field are advertised openly and filled by merit, with no nationality quotas. English is the working language of most research groups. Deadline: Rolling — each position has its own closing date. Strategy matters more than timing: follow jobbnorge.no and university vacancy pages in your field, and contact research groups before positions are advertised, because many doctoral hires begin as conversations with a future supervisor. For researchers, this route funds more international students in Norway than every scholarship on this list combined.

3. BI Presidential Scholarship — full tuition plus a living stipend

Coverage: For international applicants: full tuition fees for up to two years plus a living-cost stipend of NOK 50,000 per semester, renewed if you meet BI’s academic progression requirements (completing 30 ECTS per semester with at least a B average). Eligibility: Applicants admitted to the first year of an eligible MSc programme at BI Norwegian Business School (Oslo or Bergen campuses) who are applying for their first master’s degree and hold a minimum overall grade of ‘A’ on the ECTS scale or the equivalent top grade internationally. BI is a private institution that charges tuition to everyone, which is precisely why its top scholarship is structured as a genuine full package. Deadline: Apply for admission and the scholarship together by 1 March — upload a one-page scholarship motivation letter and your CV as a single PDF in the application portal. You may apply for several BI scholarships but can receive only one.

4. NORSTIP — the national scheme, currently paused

Coverage: NORSTIP (the Norwegian scholarship scheme for students from selected partner countries) exempts degree-seeking master’s students from partner institutions outside the EU/EEA from tuition fees and pays a monthly scholarship equivalent to the rates Norwegian students receive from the State Educational Loan Fund. Eligibility: Students from selected partner institutions and countries — your home university must be on the scheme’s list. Status — read carefully: The University of Stavanger’s official NORSTIP page states that, as stipulated in the national state budget, NORSTIP funding will not be announced in 2026, and the university offers no alternative scheme. Treat NORSTIP as one to monitor for the 2027 budget and admission cycle rather than a route you can apply to today; if it returns, it will again be among the best master’s options in Norway. The same Stavanger page that carries this notice also confirms the practical baseline for everyone else: the university currently offers no scholarships for incoming international students.

5. Students at Risk (StAR) — fully funded, but nomination only

Coverage: Students selected for StAR have their studies in Norway fully funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, administered by HK-dir (the Directorate for Higher Education and Skills). The University of Agder’s Students at Risk page confirms the funding arrangement. Eligibility: Foreign student activists who, because of their human rights activism, are at risk of being denied education or other rights in their home country. The catch: You cannot apply directly. Candidates are nominated through Norwegian embassies, partner organisations and HK-dir’s call process, and their at-risk status must be verified by the nominating body. If this describes your situation, the realistic first step is contacting a relevant human-rights organisation or Norwegian diplomatic mission — not filling in a form.

6. NORPART — mobility money inside university partnerships

Coverage: The Norwegian Partnership Programme for Global Academic Cooperation funds long-term partnerships between Norwegian institutions and universities in selected partner countries in the Global South, including mutual student mobility — typically travel support and a monthly grant for exchange and placement periods in Norway, rather than a full-degree scholarship. Eligibility: Master’s and PhD students enrolled at institutions that hold a NORPART project. You access the money through your home university’s project, so the key question is whether your university has an active NORPART partnership with a Norwegian institution. HK-dir’s official NORPART page describes the programme’s objectives and target groups. Deadline: Set by each project — ask your international office.

7. NORHED II — project-funded places via Norad partnerships

Coverage: The Norwegian Programme for Capacity Development in Higher Education and Research for Development (NORHED II), funded by Norad, finances institutional partnerships that include joint research, PhD training and master’s programme development in partner countries. Students benefit through funded places, supervision and mobility attached to specific projects — occasionally including fully funded PhD and sandwich-programme places in Norway. Eligibility: Students and staff at partner institutions in NORHED focus countries, recruited through the projects themselves. There is no open individual application portal; your route in is your home institution’s project participation. As with NORPART, check with your university’s research and international offices about active projects in your field.

8. Erasmus+ exchange grants — a funded semester, not a degree

Coverage: If your home university has an Erasmus+ (or bilateral) exchange agreement with a Norwegian institution, you pay no tuition at the host and receive an Erasmus+ mobility grant from your home institution toward living costs. The grant does not cover Oslo living costs in full, but combined with zero host tuition it is the cheapest semester in Norway available to most students. Eligibility: Enrolled students at partner universities, selected by their home institution. Deadline: Home-university nomination rounds, usually one to two semesters ahead. Exchange students are also exempt from the Norwegian tuition requirement, which makes this route doubly valuable since 2023.

9. EEA Grants and Norway Grants — for beneficiary-country nationals

Coverage: The EEA and Norway Grants — Norway’s contribution to reducing disparities in Europe — have funded scholarship and mobility components in beneficiary countries (a group of EU/EEA states, mainly in Central and Southern Europe), administered by national agencies in the student’s home country. Eligibility: Nationals/residents of the beneficiary countries, under rules set by each country’s programme. If you are a student from, for example, Poland, Romania, Greece or Portugal, check your national EEA Grants scholarship calls for study periods in Norway. This route does not exist for applicants from Asia, Africa or the Americas — listing it here, clearly labelled, is more useful than pretending otherwise.

10. Fulbright Norway — for US citizens

Coverage: The US–Norway Fulbright Foundation awards grants for American students and scholars to study, teach or conduct research in Norway (and for Norwegians going the other way). Grant packages vary by award type and typically combine a monthly grant with travel support. Eligibility: US citizens, from graduating seniors to PhD candidates and scholars, through the standard Fulbright application channels (the Institute of International Education for US students). Deadline: The US Fulbright cycle runs roughly a year ahead — campus deadlines in early autumn, national deadline in October. If you are not a US citizen, skip to the routes above; Fulbright’s Norway programme cannot fund you.

11. UTFORSK, INTPART and INCP2 — partnership mobility with priority countries

Coverage: HK-dir and Research Council partnership programmes — UTFORSK (partners include Brazil, Canada, India, Japan, China, South Africa, South Korea and the USA), INTPART (excellent-education partnerships with priority countries) and INCP2 (the Indo-Norwegian Cooperation Programme) — fund collaboration that includes funded student exchanges, joint courses and project-based stays in Norway. Eligibility: Students at institutions holding projects under these programmes; selection happens inside the project. Like NORPART, these are doors that open from your home university outward — well worth an email to your international office if your country is on the partner list.

12. BI International Recruitment Scholarship and other BI MSc awards — partial to full tuition

Coverage (labelled honestly): Beyond the Presidential Scholarship, BI runs a portfolio of MSc scholarships — including international recruitment awards and programme-specific scholarships — that typically cover part or all of tuition for the first year or the full programme, without the Presidential living stipend. Values and renewal conditions differ by award and year. Eligibility: International applicants to BI MSc programmes with strong grades; applications are made with admission, in the same portal, by the same 1 March deadline. If BI is on your list, apply for every scholarship you are eligible for — BI awards only one per student, and the Presidential is decided from the same pool of strong files.

13. Tuition-fee exemption categories — studying free by status, not scholarship

Coverage: A full exemption from Norwegian tuition for students who fall into exempt categories. Eligibility: EU/EEA and Swiss citizens pay no tuition at public institutions; neither do PhD candidates (employees), incoming exchange students, or students covered by specific agreements and individual grounds set out in the regulations (universities publish their exemption lists — the University of Stavanger’s scholarships and costs page links to its current exemption rules). If you hold an EU/EEA passport alongside another nationality, this category — not any scholarship — is your full funding. Everyone else should note the financial baseline: for a study permit, UDI requires documented living funds of NOK 170,368 for one academic year (rate as of October 2026, adjusted yearly), on top of tuition where it applies.

14. Lånekassen — real support, but not for new arrivals

Coverage: The Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund provides the loans and grants that fund Norwegian students. Eligibility — the honest version: Foreign citizens can qualify only on specific grounds, such as certain residence statuses, family ties, or a documented history of living and working in Norway. A student arriving fresh from abroad for a degree does not qualify, and no application strategy changes that. We include Lånekassen because listicles elsewhere imply it funds international students generally; it does not. If you later gain qualifying ties to Norway (for example through work or family immigration), its support becomes relevant for further study.

15. The Quota Scheme — discontinued; do not plan around it

Status: Norway’s Quota Scheme, which funded students from developing countries and Eastern Europe for decades, was phased out by government decision, with its last cohorts admitted in the mid-2010s. It no longer exists. Hundreds of websites still describe it as current — one reason Norway scholarship information online is so unreliable. The scheme’s closest modern relatives are NORSTIP (entry 4, currently paused) and the partnership programmes above. If a “scholarship agent” offers to apply for a Norwegian Quota scholarship for you, you are being scammed.

Eligibility Reality Check

Across all 15 routes, three filters decide almost everything. Citizenship: EEA routes (entries 9, 13) and Fulbright (10) are nationality-locked; Erasmus Mundus (1) and salaried PhD positions (2) are the great open doors. Level: Full funding clusters at master’s level (Erasmus Mundus, BI) and PhD level (employment); there is no meaningful fully funded bachelor’s route into Norway for non-EEA students. Institutional linkage: The partnership schemes (6, 7, 11) reward students whose home universities already cooperate with Norway — a factor you can check in one email to your international office. Whatever route you choose, your study-permit finances must satisfy UDI: NOK 170,368 in documented living funds for the academic year (October 2026 rate), plus first-year tuition where charged, deposited or documented as the rules require. Browse Norwegian institutions in our university directory and check where they sit in the global rankings before shortlisting.

How to Apply: Step by Step

1. Pick your primary route realistically. Master’s applicant with top grades? Erasmus Mundus and BI. Researcher? PhD vacancies. Student at a partner university? NORPART/partnership mobility. Do not build a plan on NORSTIP or the Quota Scheme.
2. Build a shortlist of programmes and consortia. For Erasmus Mundus, search the official catalogue for programmes with a Norwegian partner and note which still offer scholarships for the 2027 intake.
3. Check tuition and exemption status for each programme. Fees are set per institution and programme since the 2026 rule change; confirm the exact 2027 fee on the programme page.
4. Prepare documents early (see the list below) — Norwegian admissions for non-EEA applicants often close as early as 1 December–15 January for autumn starts.
5. Apply for admission and funding together where the scheme requires it (BI: same portal, same 1 March deadline; Erasmus Mundus: the scholarship is decided within the consortium application).
6. For PhD positions, apply like a job applicant: tailored cover letter, CV, publication list and a short research statement matched to the advertised project.
7. Document your UDI finances as soon as you have an offer: living funds (NOK 170,368 for the year) plus tuition arrangements, in the form UDI specifies.
8. Apply for the study permit immediately after admission — processing times stretch in the summer peak.

Required Documents

• Passport and previous residence permits (if any)
• Diplomas and transcripts covering secondary and higher education, with certified English translations where required
• Proof of English proficiency as specified by the programme (IELTS/TOEFL or recognised alternatives)
• CV; for PhD positions, a publication list and research statement
• Motivation/scholarship letter (BI requires a one-page scholarship letter uploaded with the admission application)
• Letters of recommendation where the consortium or programme requests them
• Financial documentation for UDI: bank statements or deposit confirmation for living funds and tuition
• For StAR: nomination through an embassy, NGO or HK-dir channel — there is no direct applicant document set

Deadlines and Timeline for Autumn 2027 Entry

How to Improve Your Chances

For Erasmus Mundus: apply to more than one consortium if the rules allow, and write a motivation letter that engages with the programme’s actual curriculum and mobility path — generic ambition is the most common rejection reason after grades. For PhD positions: treat every advert as a job description and mirror its language: name the methods, datasets and literatures the project uses, and email the project leader a precise question before applying. For BI: the ‘A’-grade threshold for the Presidential Scholarship is real; if your grades convert to a B, target the other BI awards and strengthen the motivation letter instead. For partnership schemes: be the student your international office knows — mobility places inside NORPART and UTFORSK projects are often filled by internal recommendation. Finally, compare total costs across destinations with our student tools: a partial package in a cheaper country can beat a “full” package that leaves Oslo rent to you. Students weighing Scandinavia as a whole should also read our Finland fully funded scholarships guide.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Believing Norway is still tuition-free for everyone. That ended in autumn 2023 for non-EU/EEA students; budgeting on it will collapse your plan at the UDI stage.
• Applying for the Quota Scheme or expecting a “Norwegian Government Scholarship” portal. Neither exists. Any agent selling access to them is committing fraud.
• Assuming NTNU, UiO or UiB run general international scholarships. They largely do not — the University of Stavanger says so explicitly, and NTNU states it does not offer tuition scholarships for international master’s applicants.
• Missing the early non-EEA admission deadlines. Many Norwegian master’s programmes close to non-EU/EEA applicants in December or January, months before EU deadlines.
• Underestimating living costs. UDI’s NOK 170,368 yearly requirement is a floor, not a budget; Oslo rents push real costs higher. A tuition-only award is not a full ride in Norway.
• Treating NORSTIP as open. It was not announced for 2026. Build your 2027 plan on routes that exist today, and treat a NORSTIP revival as a bonus.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a fully funded Norwegian government scholarship for international students?

No. Norway does not operate a general government scholarship for incoming international degree students. The closest national schemes are NORSTIP (tuition exemption plus a stipend for students from selected partner institutions — not announced for 2026) and targeted programmes such as Students at Risk. Full funding realistically comes from Erasmus Mundus, salaried PhD employment, or BI’s Presidential Scholarship.

Is education free in Norway for international students in 2027?

Only for EU/EEA and Swiss citizens, PhD candidates, and exchange students. Since autumn 2023, other international students pay tuition at public universities; fees vary by institution and programme (recently roughly NOK 60,000–295,000 per year), and a 2026 rule change lets universities set their own fee levels, which must still be a real fee.

How much money do I need to show for a Norwegian study permit?

UDI requires documented living funds of NOK 170,368 for one academic year (rate as of October 2026, adjusted annually), in addition to paying or documenting your tuition where fees apply. The money must be evidenced in the form UDI specifies, typically via a Norwegian bank or university deposit account.

What is the best fully funded option for a master’s in Norway?

An Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters scholarship — €1,400 per month for up to 24 months with participation costs covered — if a consortium with a Norwegian partner matches your field. For business students, the BI Presidential Scholarship (full tuition plus NOK 50,000 per semester) is the other genuinely full package.

Are PhD students in Norway really paid a salary?

Yes. Doctoral candidates are employed by their university on standard employment contracts, with salaries advertised per position (University of Oslo adverts in 2026 were in the region of NOK 550,800–595,800 per year), pension contributions and no tuition fees. You apply for these as jobs, mainly via jobbnorge.no.

Can I apply to NORSTIP for 2027?

Not yet, and possibly not at all: NORSTIP was not announced for 2026 admission, as confirmed on the University of Stavanger’s official scheme page. Whether funding returns in the 2027 state budget is a policy decision — monitor HK-dir and your target university’s pages, but do not make NORSTIP your only plan.

Do Norwegian universities offer scholarships for bachelor’s degrees?

Effectively no fully funded bachelor’s scholarships exist for non-EEA students in Norway. Bachelor’s applicants from outside the EEA should budget for tuition plus living costs, or consider exchange semesters, which remain tuition-free under university agreements.

Can international students work while studying in Norway?

A student residence permit generally allows part-time work of up to 20 hours per week during term and full-time in holidays. Part-time work helps with living costs but cannot be counted in advance toward UDI’s financial documentation — you must show the full amount before arrival.

Sources & Verification

This article was researched in October 2026 against official sources: the University of Stavanger’s scholarships and costs page and its NORSTIP scheme page (including the notice that NORSTIP funding was not announced for 2026); HK-dir’s programme pages for NORPART and Students at Risk; the University of Agder’s Students at Risk page; the European Commission/EACEA Erasmus Mundus programme information (€1,400 monthly scholarship, participation costs covered); BI Norwegian Business School scholarship terms as published for the current cycle; and UDI living-cost requirements as published by Norwegian universities (NOK 170,368 for one academic year, October 2026).

Disclaimer: Fees, stipends and scheme availability change yearly — several Norwegian schemes in this guide are paused, restricted or nomination-based, as labelled. Always confirm the current figures and deadlines on the official programme or university website before applying. StudyGraduate is an independent information portal, not an agency — we cannot guarantee admission, funding or a residence permit, and no legitimate Norwegian scholarship charges an application fee.

Still comparing countries? Work through the full list in our study abroad guides.