About ScholarshipUnion Guides
We build practical, honest guides for students applying to the world’s top scholarships. No fluff. No filler. Just the stuff you actually need to know.
ScholarshipUnion Editorial
4 min read
Updated Oct 6, 2026
Who we are
ScholarshipUnion is a platform dedicated to helping students find and win scholarships. We maintain a searchable database of scholarship opportunities and provide tools to match students with programs they’re eligible for.
The Guides section — which you’re reading right now — is where we go deeper. Instead of just listing scholarships, we create in-depth, practical handbooks that walk you through the entire application process. Think of each guide as the advice you’d get from a friend who already went through it and wants to save you from making the same mistakes.
We started with the DAAD scholarship guide because it’s one of the most popular and most confusing scholarships for international students. Since then, we’ve expanded to cover 48 scholarship programs across Europe, Asia & Pacific, the Americas, and global awards — from government-funded programs like Chevening and MEXT to university awards like Gates Cambridge and Rhodes — plus six country guides on the cost of living, housing and student life.
Why we built this
If you’ve ever tried to figure out a scholarship application by reading the official website alone, you know the problem. The information is there — technically — but it’s buried in bureaucratic language, spread across dozens of pages, and sometimes contradicts itself between the FAQ and the actual guidelines.
Students end up piecing together information from Reddit threads, YouTube videos, random blog posts, and WhatsApp groups. Some of that information is helpful. A lot of it is outdated, wrong, or just someone’s personal opinion presented as fact.
We wanted one place where you can find everything you need for a specific scholarship, verified against official sources and written in plain language.
Eligibility requirements, application steps, document checklists, timeline, tips from successful applicants, and practical information about living in the host country. That’s what these guides are. Nothing more, nothing less.
How we research our content
Every guide we publish goes through a research process that we take seriously:
- Official sources first. We start with the scholarship provider’s official website, application portal, guidelines documents, and FAQs. These are our primary sources, and we link to them throughout our guides so you can verify anything yourself.
- Cross-reference with real experiences. Official information tells you what the rules are. It doesn’t always tell you what the process is actually like. We read through forums, Reddit communities, and social media groups where applicants share their experiences. This helps us identify common pain points, unofficial tips, and things the official sources don’t mention.
- Regular updates. Scholarships change their rules, deadlines, and requirements. We review our guides regularly and update them when things change. Every page shows an “updated” date so you know how current the information is. In October 2026 every guide was re-checked against its official sources for the current cycle.
- We say when we’re not sure. If something is unclear — even on the official website — we say so. We’d rather tell you “this isn’t clear, here’s what we think it means, but contact the scholarship office to confirm” than present a guess as a fact. Figures we could not confirm, such as living costs, are labelled as estimates, and dates for cycles that haven’t been announced are marked as expected.
We’re not affiliated with any scholarship organization. We don’t receive funding from DAAD, Chevening, Fulbright, or any other scholarship provider. Our guides represent our independent research and analysis.
Our content philosophy
Every paragraph tells you something useful. If a section doesn’t help you understand the scholarship better, it doesn’t belong.
We write straightforward guides that respect your time. No “10 SHOCKING Things” or “You Won’t BELIEVE” titles.
We write like we’re explaining things to a friend. If the official site uses jargon, we tell you what it actually means.
If something is difficult or expensive, we say so. We give you real numbers and let you decide.
We always link to the official scholarship website and documents. Our guides complement — not replace — official info.
Good information should be accessible. Applying for scholarships is stressful enough without paywalls.
What we cover
We currently cover 60 scholarship programs spanning government-funded opportunities, foundation grants, and prestigious university awards. Each guide follows the same approach: thorough research, plain language, practical advice, and regular updates.
Our coverage includes programs like the DAAD Scholarship (Germany), Chevening (UK), MEXT (Japan), Fulbright (US), Erasmus Mundus (EU), Gates Cambridge, CSC (China), and many more. Our country guides cover Germany, the UK, France, the Netherlands, Japan and the USA.
We’re always expanding. If there’s a scholarship you’d like us to cover, let us know. We prioritize based on demand and how much value a guide would add beyond what’s already available online.
Get in touch
Found an error in one of our guides? Have a suggestion? Just want to say hi? Email us at hello@scholarshipunion.com. We read every email.
If you’ve spotted outdated information or something unclear, we genuinely want to know so we can fix it. These guides are a living resource, and feedback from readers makes them better.
You can also visit our main platform at scholarshipunion.com to search for scholarships, set up alerts, and explore opportunities that match your profile.
Browse all 60 scholarship guides or search for opportunities on ScholarshipUnion.