Sweden Announces an Increase in Scholarships for International Students

Sweden announced an increase in the budget for higher education grants for international students applying for Master’s degrees at Swedish universities. The grants budget is to be increased from SEK50 million to SEK100 million (US$15 million) and distributed across universities affiliated to the Swedish Institute in Stockholm from 2013.

Eligibility: students from OECD and Development Assistance Committee (DAC) countries, outside Europe. A further SEK60 million is to be provided for students from countries not on the DAC list. Some scholarships might cover both living costs and tuition fees, depending on the program.

Approximately 60 scholarships are given to citizens of the following countries which Sweden has long-term development assistance programs with: Bangladesh, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

Citizens from Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine can apply through the Visby Program.

Citizens from Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo and Serbia can apply to the Swedish Institute Scholarships for East Europe.

Applicants from Turkey can apply within the Swedish-Turkish Scholarship Program.

Scholarships cannot be granted for students who:

• Have already lived in Sweden for two years or more previous to the scholarship period.
• Have a Swedish permanent residence or work permit.
• Have previously been awarded a Swedish Institute scholarship for studies at Master’s level or for research at a Swedish university.
• Already hold a Master’s degree from a Swedish university/university college.
• Are currently enrolled in a study program on Bachelor’s or Master’s level at a Swedish university or university college.

Application instructions:

Please note that in order to apply for a Swedish Institute Study scholarship you must first be admitted to a Swedish university/university college. Swedish universities will call for applications from 1^st December until 15^th January, with some universities starting their application period as early as October.

Find more detailed information on how to apply for the Swedish Institute scholarships here. Information on applications for the next academic year will be announced in December 2012.

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Find out more about the structure of Swedish academic programs.