Most Prestigious Scholarships in the World 2026

Beyond the normal college, government and external scholarships, there are scholarships known for their reach, coverage and popularity among international students. This article sheds light on the most prestigious scholarships in the world.

Given the high cost of education abroad, students always remain on the lookout for a 100% scholarship that not only pays their tuition fees but also covers their living and travelling expenses. For these reasons, the scholarships that cover most of the student’s expenses of studying abroad become the most chosen and popular scholarship worldwide in no time.

The most prestigious fully-funded international scholarships - often defined by intense competition and global impact include the Rhodes Scholarship (Oxford), Gates Cambridge (Cambridge), Marshall Scholarship (UK) and Fulbright Scholarships (USA). These scholarships mostly cover all tuition, living expenses and travel for postgraduate study. You may be required to be very very specific in your SOP about your passion for the subject and why are you choosing it, how you want to work for the society by the means of the education you're getting and more - to be selected for the award by the scholarship committee. You may also check the top 5 points that you must add in your SOP to add value to it. We have listed some of such prestigious scholarships in the world for international students looking to study abroad but at an affordable price. 

Top 10 Most Prestigious Scholarships in the World 2026

Check out the list of the most popular scholarships in the world below. We’ll provide details on each of these in the coming sections. 

Let us now understand what these prestigious and well-known scholarships have to offer to the students going to study abroad. 

Rhodes Scholarship (UK, Oxford University)

Rhodes Scholarship is provided to students coming to study at University of Oxford. Applications for Rhodes Scholarships for academic year 2026 are closed now.  

Rhodes Scholarship is a fully funded scholarship provided to students pursuing a PG courses at University of Oxford. This merit-based scholarship covers Oxford University’s tuition for most PG courses and also provides a stipend of £19,092 per annum (as of 2023-24) for living costs for up to three years. Scholarship further covers application fee, visa fee, International Health Surcharge (IHS) fee, two economy-class flight tickets to and from UK at beginning and end of course and a settling-in allowance upon arrival in UK.

Benefits-

Gates Cambridge Scholarship (UK, Cambridge University)

80 full-cost Gates Cambridge Scholarships are provided to international students each year to study any available postgraduate and PhD programs at the University of Cambridge. The scholarship covers the university’s composition fee for the chosen course, a maintenance allowance (£21,000 for 12 months as of 2024-25, for up to 4 years for PhD), to and from economy flight tickets at the beginning and end of the course, visa cost and International Health Surcharge (IHS) fee. It also covers the extra discretionary funding. 

Additionally, the Gates Cambridge Scholarship also covers discretionary components such as academic development funding (ranging from £500 to up to £2,000) which can be used for attending conferences and courses, dependent children allowance (1 child), cost for fieldwork, maternity/paternity funding, and hardship funding for any unforeseen difficulty faced by the scholars. 

To be considered for the Gates Cambridge Scholarship, applicants must fill out the admission form and fill in the Gates-Cambridge portion of the funding section.

It must be noted that the Gates Cambridge Scholarship for this year, 2026, are closed now. However, scholarship applications for the year 2027-28 will open in Sep 2026. 

Benefits:

Commonwealth Scholarships (UK)

The prime scholarship program of the UK, the Commonwealth Scholarships aims to support the postgraduate studies of those meritorious international students who wish to bring about a change in the world but cannot support the cost of their education on their own. The scholarship is available only to students who are citizens or residents of a commonwealth country. 

The Commonwealth Scholarship applications are closed for the year 2026-27. 

Benefits:

GREAT Scholarships (UK)

Co-funded by the UK government, the British Council and the GREAT Britain Campaign, the GREAT Scholarships contribute a minimum of £10,000 towards the tuition fees of a 1-year postgraduate program. There are 12 postgraduate GREAT scholarships for Indian students to study in participating UK universities in 2026 and the applications are open now.

Chevening Scholarship (UK)

The Chevening Scholarships are provided to students from diverse backgrounds to study in the UK. These awards are available for 1-year full-time postgraduate program and cover complete tuition fee. Applications for scholarship are currently closed and students must keep visiting official website to avoid missing out on next application dates. Some other benefits of Chevening Scholarship for Indian students include-

DAAD Scholarship (Germany)

The DAAD Scholarships are provided to international students willing to pursue their higher education in Germany. The scholarship is also available for exchange students in Germany. The scholarship is aimed at boosting German education in the world and provides support to international students in terms of tuition fee coverage, living costs coverage, travel expense coverage and more. Available for all bachelor’s, master’s and PhD courses, the DAAD Scholarships provide the following benefits:

Japanese Government MEXT Scholarships (Japan)

The Monbukagakusho MEXT Scholarship is an initiative of the Japanese government to increase its mutual understanding with foreign countries and increase the strength and resources of Japanese universities. For this reason, winning a MEXT scholarship gets you an exemption from the college tuition fee (for most courses and colleges), a monthly living allowance based on your course and duration, and a round trip airfare. Application forms for MEXT Scholarship are closed for current year. Students willing to avail of MEXT Scholarship for year 2026 must note that the application window is now closed.

GKS Scholarship (South Korea)

The GKS Scholarship is the prime scholarship offered to international students to study in South Korea. The GKS Scholarship is a fully-funded scholarship that is offered by the government of South Korea for meritorious international students. For the application forms for the GKS Scholarship, one must check the official website. 

The scholarship is open to students who wish to pursue either a master’s, doctoral or research program in South Korea. The scholarship provides the following benefits:

Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships (Canada)

The Vanier scholarships can be availed for pursuing a doctoral program in Canada. Named after the first francophone Governor General of Canada, Major-General Georges P. Vanier, the Vanier Scholarship is provided for doctoral courses in any of the following subjects:

• Health research
• Social sciences and humanities
• Natural sciences and engineering

The scholarship provides a whopping amount of $50,000 per year for a period of three years during the doctoral studies. Note that there is no provision for self-application for the Vanier Scholarships in Canada, the candidate in fact must be nominated by his host institute/college/university that has a quota for doing so.

Eiffel Excellence Scholarship Programs (France)

The Eiffel Excellence Scholarship Program was established to attract the top meritorious students from countries outside France. The scholarship can be availed for pursuing a master’s or PhD program in France. It must be noted that applications are only accepted from the French higher institutes; so you must be nominated by your chosen host institute in France to be considered for this scholarship. Several benefits included with this prestigious France Eiffel Excellence Scholarship Program are:

Some other prestigious scholarships from different countries are-

• Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships- Switzerland
• Australia Awards Scholarship- Australia
• Erasmus Mundus Scholarship- European countries
• Netherlands Government Scholarship- Netherlands
• Government of Ireland Scholarships- Ireland
• K.C. Mahindra Scholarships for Post- Graduate Studies
• Inlaks Shivdasani Scholarships
• Chinese Government Scholarship- China
• McCall MacBain Scholarships- Canada
• Rotary Foundation Global Study Grants

It must be noted that it’s not only the monetary benefits that the students receive on winning one of these most prestigious scholarships, rather they also get the chance to be an esteemed scholarship alumni. These scholars often get the chance to attend the events conducted by the scholarship-providing bodies and are also very well-regarded during their course of study in college. 

Hence, if you get a chance to avail yourself of any of these scholarships, seize the opportunity and provide your best details in the application form.

This was all about the most prestigious scholarships to study abroad. If you wish to study abroad, then you can get assistance from Shiksha Counselling Services for free. You can also drop your queries in the comments section below.