Study in Canada, Europe, and the USA with Scholarships for International Students

Studying abroad is a cherished dream for millions of international students. The Ministry of External Affairs of India stated that in July 2018, the total number of Indian students studying abroad was 7,52,725, and in the US alone, over a million international students — 1,078,822 to be exact, were studying. However the rising cost of tuition fees for international students has been a major concern for students and parents heading out for their dream foreign education. The US alone has seen the fee for international students rise from 18,451 USD in 2009-2010 to 26290 USD in 2018-2019. The case is similar for other popular international study destinations such as Canada, UK, Australia etc.

Table of Content

1. Benefits of Getting Scholarships for Studying in Europe, Canada, USA
2. Tips to Avail Scholarships
3. Top/Popular Scholarships Country wise
   • Top Scholarships for Masters Program in United States
   • Top Scholarships for Masters Program in Europe
   • Top Scholarships for Masters Program in Canada

Indian students thus look out for various means to fund their study abroad dream, from taking an education loan for studying abroad to looking for scholarships. Infact, getting a scholarship is every student's dream! In this blog, we will take a closer look at some of the benefits of getting an education scholarship, tips on how to get an education abroad scholarship as well as discuss some of the popular scholarships that students can apply for the academic year 2019-2020.  

Benefits of Getting Scholarships for Studying in Europe, Canada, USA 

A scholarship is a grant or a monetary reward given to students to help them with a part of their study expenses. This is given in recognition to exceptional achievement in academics, extra-curricular, co-curricular or other achievements. They can be given by the government, private entities or the University itself. Let us look at some of the benefits that a scholarship offers when in pursuit of higher education. 

• No Repayment - One of the best things about any scholarship is that it does not have to be repaid! Since most Indian students graduate with debt, an abroad higher education scholarship would mean less financial burden for them. Depending on the amount of money they get in the scholarship, they can either repay the entire loan or part of it using the scholarship money. 
• Better Grades - Being under debt creates financial pressure on students and they try to look for part-time jobs to repay a part of their loan even when studying. A scholarship, at such a stage, would help them focus on their education without any thoughts on repaying their debt. This would undoubtedly help them perform better in their course.
• Employability Prospects High - A scholarship looks very good on a resume and makes the resume stand out amongst peers. Employers, almost always, are impressed by a student who has got a scholarship and tend to offer them lucrative jobs. A scholarship in the resume, along with relevant credentials, makes the tough task of finding a job after graduation a lot easier. 

Read more about: Study Abroad Scholarships for Indian Students

Tips to Avail Scholarships

Though scholarships have a number of benefits, getting one is not a child's play. The competition for majority of scholarships is very stiff. Let us take a look at a few tips that will increase the chances of our readers for getting a scholarship. 

• Develop Overall Profile - Most entities that award scholarships look for students with an all-round profile. This means that apart from grades and scores - which obviously need to be excellent, they also look at other ways in which the student has engaged himself. Pursuing activities such as passion in music or sports etc, doing a significant research work, taking an internship that was not mandatory, launching a start-up or even taking up some community work will help students score extra points from the committee that awards scholarships. Committees that award scholarship basically look for students who have not only demonstrated academic excellence but are also passionate about other things. Work-experience is another factor that helps students get a scholarship. Any work experience between 2 to 3 years is good enough. However, students must take care that when they apply for a scholarship, they should only list down activities that they have been genuinely passionate about and have pursued with utmost sincerity. 
• Assess Finances and Budget - Genuine financial need is another criteria that scholarship awarding committees consider when selecting students and thus students should demonstrate the need for financial assistance in their scholarship application. However, most scholarships cover only a portion of their expenses and the competition for these is very tough too. Thus, students should not rely on just the scholarship money and make other arrangements to fund their education. They should find out the exact amount that they would have to shell out for their study abroad dream, find out how much they can arrange as education loan and then apply for the loan too. The scholarship money, if received, can later be used to prepay a part of the loan amount. 
• Check Eligibility and Deadlines - Most students are unaware of the scholarships they might be eligible for or the deadlines and eligibility conditions for scholarships that they plan to apply to. We urge our readers to not make this mistake and be updated about the various scholarships they might be eligible for as well as the last date for applying too these. They can always take the help of GyanDhan’s scholarship finder for complete information. 

Top/Popular Scholarships Country wise 

Now that our readers are aware of a few tips that might help them get a scholarship, we list down some popular scholarships. Let us discuss the top scholarships in the United States, Europe and Canada that are popular among Indian students for higher studies.

1. Top Scholarships for Masters Program in United States

• Fulbright-Nehru Master’s Fellowship - This scholarship is one of the most coveted scholarships that every Indian student headed for Master’s in the US dreams to get. The scholarship is awarded by USIEF (The United States-India Educational Foundation) to outstanding Indian students who have demonstrated exceptional leadership qualities and have secured admission to a Masters program in a US University. It covers the entire tuition fee as well as the living expenses. It also covers round trip fare from India to US., J1 visa support, etc. Read more about: Fulbright-Nehru Master’s Fellowship
• Aga Khan Foundation International Scholarship Program - This scholarship is given for postgraduate studies to outstanding Indian students who have gained admission to a foreign University and have no other means to finance their study. This scholarship is on a 50% grant and 50% loan basis. For the year 2019-2020, students who plan to study in the UK, Sweden, Germany, Austria, The Netherlands, Denmark, Italy, Ireland and Norway cannot apply for this scholarship. Read more about: Aga Khan Foundation International Scholarship Program
• Inlaks Shivdasani Foundation Scholarships - This scholarship is awarded to Indian students who wish to study full-time in the USA, UK, and Europe. The scholarship covers the tuition fees as well as living expenses. However, the total value of the scholarship will not exceed US$100,000. Also, it is not given to students pursuing programs in Engineering, Computer Science, Business Studies, Medicine, Public Health, Fashion Design, Music, Film, and Film Animation. Students studying Engineering and Computer Science at Imperial College, London are however eligible to apply for this scholarship. Read more about Inlaks Shivdasani Foundation Scholarships
• Stanford Reliance Dhirubhai Fellowships - This scholarship is awarded by Reliance Industries Limited up to three Indian students who require financial assistance when studying MBA at Stanford. The scholarship covers 80% of the cost of tuition and living expenses. 

2. Top Scholarships for Masters Program in Europe

• GREAT Scholarship for Indian students by British Council - This scholarship is awarded to Indian students who plan to attend a full time Under-Graduate or Postgraduate course in participating institutions in the UK. The scholarship covers the tuition fee of the first year only. Students who have excellent academic as well as extra-curricular record are awarded this scholarship. 
• Chevening Scholarship - This is awarded by the UK Government to meritorious international/Indian students who wish to pursue a one year Master’s degree in the UK. This is a fully funded scholarship. 
• DAAD Scholarship - This scholarship is awarded by the German Academic Exchange Service to international students from developing and emerging economies to pursue Post Graduate courses related to development at select German Universities. The scholarship is either full or partial.
• Holland Scholarship - This scholarship is given to non-EU international students who wish to pursue an undergraduate or postgraduate program in Holland. This scholarship is mainly funded by Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and amounts to € 5,000. 
• Eiffel Excellence Scholarship Programme - The French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs awards these scholarships to international students for studying masters and PhD programs in France. Students applying for this scholarship must be less than 35 years of age.

Read more about: UK Scholarships for Indian Students