Scholarship season doesn’t wait, and this month several major funding windows are open at once, with a couple closing within days. If you’re an African student weighing your options for postgraduate or undergraduate funding abroad, timing is often as important as your grades: many of the world’s best scholarships only open for a few weeks a year, and once the window shuts you’re waiting twelve months for the next one. Below is our refreshed roundup of fully funded opportunities that are genuinely open right now, each one checked against its official deadline as of this update. You can browse the complete, continuously-updated list any time in our scholarships directory, where expired listings are automatically removed so you never waste time on a closed application.
1. Chevening Scholarship 2027/28 (UK)
The UK government’s flagship scholarship opened its 2027/28 cycle on 4 August 2026 and closes 6 October 2026 at 11:00 UTC. It funds a full year of master’s study at a UK university — tuition, travel, and a stipend of roughly £1,347 a month — for applicants with at least 2,800 hours of work experience after their first degree. Chevening is open to citizens of more than 160 countries, including most of Sub-Saharan Africa. Selection weighs four things: leadership and influence, networking ability, a clear career plan for how the UK degree helps you make an impact at home, and the strength of your study proposal. It’s competitive — roughly 1,800 scholarships are awarded globally each year against tens of thousands of applicants — so a strong, specific personal statement matters more here than almost anywhere else.
2. Rhodes Scholarship 2027 (East Africa & Kenya)
Oxford’s oldest scholarship closes soon — 27 August 2026 at 23:59 EAT — so this is a sprint, not a marathon. Applicants from Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Burundi apply through the East Africa constituency; Kenyan citizens apply separately through the dedicated Kenya constituency, which awards two scholarships a year. It covers full Oxford tuition and college fees plus an annual stipend of around £20,400. Selection is holistic rather than purely academic: the Rhodes Trust looks for leadership, energy, and a demonstrated commitment to public service alongside strong grades, so your application essay should say as much about what you’ve done as what you’ve studied.
3. Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung–SAIIA Scholarship 2027
Aimed at young people across Sub-Saharan Africa, this scholarship supports postgraduate study with a focus on governance, international relations, and policy-related fields. It’s a good fit if you’re heading into public policy, diplomacy, or development work rather than a technical or scientific field. Applications close 1 September 2026.
4. Heinrich Böll Foundation Scholarships 2026/2027
Germany’s Heinrich Böll Foundation offers scholarships to highly motivated international students and doctoral candidates, with particular interest in applicants engaged in civil society, ecology, or social justice work. If your academic interests overlap with environmental policy, human rights, or grassroots organising, this is worth the extra application effort. This round also closes 1 September 2026.
5. University of Bayreuth “Alexander von Humboldt” Starter Grant 2027
A research-focused grant from Bayreuth’s Centre of International Excellence, aimed at supporting early-career researchers rather than taught-degree students. If you’re finishing a master’s and considering a research career or a PhD track, this is a smaller but useful funding line to have on your radar — it closes 15 September 2026.
6. DAAD/EPOS Scholarships 2027/2028
DAAD’s EPOS programme funds postgraduate study in development-related fields — environmental governance among them — with tuition support, a monthly stipend, and health insurance. It’s one of the more reliable funding lines for African applicants because DAAD runs it every year with a predictable structure. Applications close 15 October 2026.
7. Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program
Still one of the most complete funding packages available: tuition, accommodation, meals, a laptop, and structured mentorship, delivered through partner universities across Africa, North America, and the UK, including Makerere University here in Uganda. Unlike the others on this list, it doesn’t run on a single global deadline — it’s delivered through partner institutions, so your actual application window depends on your target university’s own admissions calendar. If Makerere or another partner school is on your list, check their admissions office directly for the current intake dates.
8. Commonwealth Scholarships (UK) — opening soon
Commonwealth Scholarships for citizens of developing Commonwealth countries — Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda among them — typically open their next round in September or October, covering full UK Master’s and PhD study including tuition, living costs, and airfare. Nothing to apply for yet, but worth bookmarking now so you’re ready the day applications go live rather than scrambling once you hear about it secondhand.
How to give yourself the best shot
Strong scholarship applications take weeks, not days, mainly because the strongest ones are rewritten several times. Start gathering your transcripts and reference letters now, even for scholarships that don’t close for another two months — referees are slower to respond than you’d like, and transcript requests at Ugandan and Kenyan universities can take longer than expected during busy periods.
Once you have a draft personal statement, use our free Personal Statement Writer to build a first version tailored to African applicants, then run it through our Essay Analyzer for feedback before you submit. Both tools are built specifically to catch the generic phrasing that reviewers see hundreds of times a cycle and reward the specific, personal detail that actually gets an application shortlisted.
Finally, bookmark our scholarships directory and check back often. Unlike static roundup articles, the directory updates continuously and automatically retires listings once their deadline passes, so what you see there is always current — no dead links, no scholarships you’re too late for.
Frequently asked questions
Can I apply for more than one of these scholarships at once?
Yes, and you generally should. None of the programmes above require exclusivity while you’re still in the application stage, and applying to several in the same cycle spreads your risk. Just budget enough time to tailor each personal statement — reviewers can tell when an essay was written for a different scholarship and lightly edited.
Do I need an admission offer before I apply for funding like Chevening or Rhodes?
Not for Chevening — you apply for the scholarship and your university course applications in parallel, and only need an unconditional offer later, closer to mid-2027. Rhodes candidates likewise apply for the scholarship first and confirm their Oxford course afterwards with support from the Rhodes Trust.
What if a scholarship’s deadline has already passed?
It won’t show up in our scholarships directory at all — the directory automatically archives listings once their deadline passes, so everything you see there is still open for applications. If you spot a scholarship elsewhere that looks tempting but the date has slipped by, most funders run the same programme annually, so it’s worth noting the provider and checking back for the next cycle.