Top 7 Countries for a Fully or Partially Funded Master’s Degree (2027 Intake)
A master's degree abroad does not have to mean a mountain of debt. Every year, thousands of Indian students win real, government-backed funding that covers part or all of their tuition and living costs. The trick is knowing where to look and which study abroad with scholarship options are actually open to you right now.
Quick answer: The strongest countries for scholarship backed master's programmes in 2027 are Germany, France, the Netherlands, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. Germany and France currently offer the best funding to cost ratio for Indian students, since Germany's public universities charge little to no tuition and France's Eiffel Excellence programme pays a fixed monthly stipend on top of a normal course fee. Australia and New Zealand also run scholarships built specifically for Indian applicants.
Below is a country by country breakdown, with the actual numbers, so you can shortlist based on real funding rather than guesswork.
1. Germany: Tuition Is Already Low, and DAAD Adds More
Germany is usually the first name that comes up when students search for scholarships in Germany, and for good reason.
On top of that, you still pay a semester contribution of roughly €150 to €350. This is not tuition. It covers your student union fee and usually a free regional transport pass.
The DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service), the country's largest scholarship body, runs a scholarship for master's and PhD students from developing countries, funded by Germany's Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. It pays a monthly stipend along with a full tuition waiver, travel allowance, and insurance.
For the visa itself, you will still need to show proof of funds through a blocked account. The government mandated amount for 2026 is €11,904 per year, or €992 a month, set by the German Federal Foreign Office and unchanged from 2025.
If your budget is tight, Germany usually delivers the lowest total cost of any Western European destination, scholarship or no scholarship. Our detailedstudy in Germany guide breaks down university shortlisting and course selection if this is your target country.
2. France: A Fixed Monthly Stipend Through Eiffel Excellence
France runs one of the more generous named scholarships for Indian postgraduate students.
The Eiffel Excellence Scholarship, funded by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and administered through Campus France, pays master's students a monthly allowance of €1,200 (effective from January 2026). PhD students receive €1,800 a month.
The scholarship also covers international and domestic travel, health insurance, and help finding accommodation.
It does not cover tuition fees directly, so you should budget for programme fees separately, but a stipend of this size covers most living costs in a mid sized French city.
Applications go through your chosen French university, not directly to Campus France, and the window typically opens in the last quarter of the year with a January deadline.
Seven fields of study are eligible, including engineering, economics and management, and law and political science, so this is not limited to STEM applicants. For course and university options, see ourstudy in France page.
3. The Netherlands: A Smaller Grant, but Easy to Combine
The Netherlands is often overlooked, but the Holland Scholarship is worth knowing about.
It is paid during your first year only and does not cover full tuition, so treat it as a discount rather than full funding.
Many Dutch universities also run their own top up scholarships, so it is common for students to combine the Holland Scholarship with an institution specific award.
4. Ireland: Full Tuition Waiver Plus a €10,000 Stipend
Ireland's flagship scheme is smaller in numbers but strong in value.
The Government of Ireland International Education Scholarship (GOI-IES), managed by the Higher Education Authority, awards around 60 scholarships a year.
Each award includes a €10,000 stipend for one year of full time study, and your host institution is required to give you a full tuition fee waiver for that year.
It is open only to students from outside the EU, EEA, Switzerland, and the UK, so Indian applicants qualify directly.
The catch is competition. With just 60 awards spread across the whole country, this is one of the more selective options on this list.
5. Australia: Government Funded Awards, Not Just University Discounts
If Australia is on your shortlist, be careful with older scholarship names still floating around online.
The Destination Australia Program, once popular for regional campus scholarships, is no longer accepting new applicants. The Australian Government confirmed there would be no further funding rounds from mid 2024 onward, so do not plan your budget around it.
What is still active is the Australia Awards Scholarship, a fully funded government program covering tuition, return airfare, a one time establishment allowance, and a fortnightly living allowance for eligible developing country applicants.
Beyond government schemes, most Australian universities also run their own merit scholarships for international postgraduate students, often worth 25 to 50 percent of tuition.
6. New Zealand: A Scholarship Built Specifically for Indian Students
New Zealand runs a scholarship scheme that exists purely to bring in Indian talent.
The New Zealand Excellence Awards (NZEA) is a joint initiative between Education New Zealand and the country's eight universities, and it is open exclusively to Indian citizens.
Because it targets a small applicant pool (Indian nationals only), the odds are noticeably better here than in scholarships open to every nationality worldwide.
7. Canada: Strong at the PhD Level, Thinner for Master's
Canada does not have one blanket master's scholarship the way Germany or France does. Its most prestigious award, the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship, pays CAD 50,000 a year for three years, but it is reserved for PhD students and jointly run by three federal research agencies.
For a master's degree, Canadian funding is mostly:
University specific entrance scholarships, often awarded automatically based on your admission profile
Provincial graduate scholarships tied to specific institutions
Research assistantships if your programme is thesis based
If your goal is a funded master's specifically, Canada should be your fourth or fifth choice on this list, not your first.
How to Actually Improve Your Scholarship Odds
Knowing the schemes is only half the job. A few things consistently separate successful applicants from the rest:
Apply to the country's scholarship deadline, not the course deadline. Eiffel Excellence and GOI-IES both close months before general admission cycles end.
Match your subject to the scholarship's eligible fields. DAAD and Eiffel both restrict funding to specific disciplines, so check this before you fall in love with a programme.
Keep your academic transcripts and English scores ready early. Most of these scholarships need documents submitted alongside, or even before, your university application.
Do not rely on one scholarship. Apply to your target university's own merit awards at the same time as the national scheme.
Talk to a counsellor who tracks deadlines across countries. Missing a scholarship window by even a week usually means waiting a full year for the next cycle.
If you want help matching your profile against these seven countries and their funding windows for the 2027 intake, WIKATI'sfinancial aid and scholarships service walks through eligibility for each scheme based on your target course. You can also read our broaderstudy abroad 2026 guide for a full country by country cost comparison, or reach out through ourcontact page to get a personalised shortlist.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which country offers the most scholarships for Indian master's students?
Germany and France currently offer the strongest combination of scholarship availability and low baseline costs. Germany's public universities already charge little to no tuition, and France's Eiffel Excellence programme pays a fixed monthly stipend regardless of which eligible subject you study.
What is the easiest country to get a fully funded master's in 2027?
There is no truly "easy" fully funded master's, but Ireland's GOI-IES and Germany's low tuition structure make partial funding more achievable than fully funded routes in countries like the UK or USA, where scholarships are rarer and more competitive.
Are German public universities really tuition-free for international students?
Yes, in 15 of Germany's 16 federal states. Only Baden-Württemberg charges non-EU students a tuition fee, set at €1,500 per semester. Everywhere else, you pay only a semester contribution of €150 to €350, which is not tuition.
How competitive are scholarships like DAAD and Eiffel Excellence?
Both are merit based and oversubscribed relative to the number of awards. DAAD scholarships generally require at least two years of relevant work experience for postgraduate applicants, while Eiffel Excellence typically expects a strong academic record and nomination through your chosen French university.
Which scholarships cover both tuition and living costs?
Ireland's GOI-IES is one of the few on this list to combine a full tuition waiver with a cash stipend (€10,000) in the same award. Germany's DAAD scholarship also covers tuition (where applicable) plus a monthly stipend, travel allowance, and insurance
