Every Scholarship Available for Norway in 2027: The Honest List
No clickbait, no expired programmes, no inflated numbers. Here is every real funding option for international students in Norway for the 2027 intake, with an honest assessment of each.
ScholarshipUnion Editorial
7 min read
Updated Oct 6, 2026
The Norwegian government offers no individual scholarships open to all international students — the official Study in Norway site says so. What follows is every real option that exists. Some are competitive, some are limited to specific countries, and most are not “fully funded” the way clickbait websites describe. Students deserve accurate information, not traffic-farming headlines.
Scholarships that actually exist
These programmes are currently active. Each entry shows who is actually eligible, what it actually covers and how competitive it actually is.
1. BI Presidential Scholarship Master’s
| Institution | BI Norwegian Business School |
| Level | Master’s (first master’s degree only) |
| Coverage | Full tuition for up to two years + NOK 50,000 per semester living stipend for international students |
| Deadline | 1 March (1 March 2027 for autumn 2027 entry) |
| Requirements | GPA of A on the ECTS scale; admitted to an MSc at BI’s Oslo or Bergen campus; must meet BI’s academic progression requirements to keep it |
| Open to | International students |
Honest take: This is probably the single best scholarship available in Norway for international master’s students. BI is a private institution, so this is the exception. It is genuinely generous — but the GPA bar is very high. Applying also puts you in the running for BI’s Master International Scholarship (full tuition, minimum GPA 4.0 on the ECTS scale, international applicants not resident in Norway). African citizens can also be considered for the Future African Leader Scholarship, which adds the same NOK 50,000-a-semester stipend. All three use the 1 March deadline (BI scholarships).
2. Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters EU-funded
| Norwegian institutions | Participate in ~16 programmes |
| Eligibility | Open to students worldwide (master’s level) |
| Coverage | Full tuition + travel + living allowance |
| Apply through | The Erasmus Mundus Catalogue (European Commission) |
Honest take: A genuinely excellent scholarship — but not Norway-specific. You study across several European countries, and Norwegian universities happen to take part in some consortia. Highly competitive, with thousands of applicants globally. Don’t think of it as a “Norway scholarship”. See our Erasmus Mundus guide.
3. Fulbright Norway US citizens only
| Eligibility | US citizens only |
| Coverage | Tuition exemption at public universities (including both years of a full master’s) + living stipend |
| Awards | About 15 grants a year, mid-August to mid-June |
| 2027–28 cycle | US national deadline 6 October 2026, 5 pm Eastern Time |
| Key condition | Preference for candidates who have not lived or studied in Norway for more than six months |
Honest take: A legitimate, well-funded programme — but only for Americans. If you are not a US citizen, it does not apply to you, whatever aggregator sites imply. Details: Fulbright Norway and our Fulbright guide.
4. NORAM Scholarship US citizens only
| Eligibility | American citizens with a bachelor’s degree |
| Amount | Up to NOK 40,000 (NOT full funding) |
| Deadline | 1 April each year, for the following academic year |
| Requirement | Non-refundable application fee; full-time graduate study in Norway |
Honest take: The maximum of NOK 40,000 is roughly EUR 3,400. It will cover a month or two of living expenses, maybe. It helps, but it is nowhere near “fully funded” — think of it as supplemental support. (NORAM)
5. Anglo-Norse Society awards British citizens only
| Eligibility | British students with a First or good Upper Second degree, accepted to a master’s |
| Amount | GBP 3,000, one-year scholarship |
| Institutions | UiT (Tromsø) or NTNU (Trondheim) |
| How to get it | NTNU selects recipients on first-degree results with the Society; UiT applicants apply to the Society by 19 June with acceptance letter, degree certificate, reference, CV and a 500–1,000-word letter |
| Status | Both schemes have been extended to run until 2026–27; 2027–28 is not yet confirmed |
Honest take: One of the more accessible awards, but GBP 3,000 will not cover living costs, it is limited to two universities, and the Society has only confirmed it through 2026–27. Check the Anglo-Norse Society before counting on it for 2027.
6. High North Fellowship Unconfirmed for 2027
| Eligible countries | Canada, US, Japan, South Korea, Russia |
| Location | Northern Norway institutions only |
| Stipend | ~NOK 9,440/month + travel allowance |
| Key condition | Requires a cooperation agreement between home and host institution |
We could not confirm this scheme’s current terms on an official page, and Study in Norway’s scholarship pages do not list it. Treat the details above as unconfirmed and check with UiT or your home university.
Honest take: A double restriction: you must be from one of five countries AND your home institution must already have a cooperation agreement with a northern Norwegian institution. Individual applicants cannot simply apply on their own.
7. Erasmus+ exchange grants EU/EEA only
| Eligibility | EU/EEA students with Erasmus+ agreements |
| Duration | 3–12 months at Norwegian partner institutions |
| Tuition | Exempt from tuition fees |
| Type | Exchange (not a full degree) |
Honest take: A solid option for EU/EEA students wanting a semester or two in Norway. But it is an exchange, not a degree scholarship — you remain enrolled at your home institution.
8. Nordplus Nordic/Baltic only
| Eligibility | Students from Nordic and Baltic countries only |
| Amount | Up to EUR 200/month + travel grant |
Honest take: EUR 200 a month is a token contribution in a country where rent alone exceeds EUR 600 in most cities. Pocket-money support, not a scholarship that makes Norway affordable.
Discontinued programmes still appearing on websites
These programmes have ended, been cancelled or are being phased out. If other websites list them as available, that information is outdated.
- 9. Norwegian Quota Scheme — ended in 2016. No new admissions for a decade. Many aggregator sites still list it as active. It is not.
- 10. NORSTIP — cancelled from the 2026 budget. Set up in 2023 specifically to offset the new fees for non-EU/EEA students, it lasted barely two years. That tells you something about the political priority of international student funding in Norway.
- 11. NORPART (Norwegian Partnership Programme for Global Academic Cooperation) — ending. The government proposed ending support in the 2025 budget. Only about seven projects were funded; existing projects run to completion but no new calls are expected. It was an institutional partnership programme — individuals could never apply directly anyway.
University-specific scholarship notes
| University | Scholarships for degree students? |
|---|---|
| University of Oslo (UiO) | No — does not offer its own scholarships for degree students |
| NTNU (Trondheim) | No — does not offer institutional scholarships |
| University of Bergen (UiB) | No — does not offer scholarships for degree students |
| UiT (Tromsø) | No — no institutional scholarships for full degrees |
| NHH (Bergen) | No — NHH says it offers no scholarships or other financial support |
| Private universities | May offer merit-based awards — check each institution |
PhD positions: not scholarships, but worth knowing
If you are considering doctoral studies, Norway is one of the best places in the world to do it — not because of scholarships, but because PhD positions are paid employment. You are hired as a university employee with a salary, not given a stipend.
- Positions are posted as job vacancies on jobbnorge.no
- Open to all nationalities — no country restrictions
- Among the best-paid PhD positions globally
- You apply as for any job — CV, cover letter, research proposal
If you want funded study in Norway without nationality restrictions, a PhD position is realistically the only path that is open to everyone, pays well, and doesn’t require you to already have money.
It is not a scholarship — it is better than one.
The clickbait problem
Search “scholarships in Norway” and you’ll find articles titled “25 Fully Funded Scholarships in Norway for International Students!” or “Top 30 Norway Scholarships — Apply Now!” Here is what is actually happening:
- They aggregate expired or extremely limited programmes. The Quota Scheme (ended 2016) and NORSTIP (cancelled 2026) still appear on most lists. Padding a list from three real options to 25 requires programmes that no longer exist.
- Institutional partnership programmes are listed as individual scholarships. High North Fellowship and NORPART require agreements between institutions. Individual applicants rarely get selected.
- “Fully funded” often means a tuition waiver without living costs. A waiver still leaves you needing about NOK 170,368 a year for living expenses — exactly the amount UDI wants documented for your study permit in 2026–27. That is not “fully funded” by any reasonable definition.
- If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If a blog says the University of Oslo offers “full scholarships for international students” but the university’s own site says otherwise, trust the university.
Our recommendation: before spending hours on an application, go directly to the official programme or university website and check the current year’s information. If the page hasn’t been updated in 12 months, it may be stale. Official sources include studyinnorway.no, university admissions pages and hkdir.no (the Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills).
What about Lånekassen?
Lånekassen (the Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund) is frequently mentioned in scholarship guides. Here is why it almost certainly does not apply to you.
| What it is | Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund |
| Structure | 40% grant + 60% loan (NOT a pure scholarship) |
| Primary audience | Norwegian citizens and permanent residents |
| International students | Generally CANNOT access it |
Limited exceptions exist for refugees with asylum status in Norway, permanent residents of Norway, and certain EEA citizens who are employed in Norway.
Lånekassen is a loan programme where 40% converts to a grant if you complete your degree. If you are an international student arriving in Norway for the first time, you are almost certainly not eligible. Do not plan your finances around it unless you fall into one of the narrow exceptions above.