Masters in Business Administration Scholarships: MBA Funding for 2026

How to read this MBA scholarship list

Every award below comes from our own listings, so the amounts and deadlines are the ones we track. Start with the funding type, because a full-tuition award and a fixed CHF 20,000 grant do very different things to your budget.

Then check the eligible nationality or region. Many MBA scholarships are tied to where you come from, not where you want to study. Finally, note the deadline: some fall months before the MBA intake, and a few run on a rolling basis alongside admission rounds.

For the full, always-current set of openings, use the filtered list for this page or the wider List of MBA Scholarships, Grants, and Fellowships for International Students.

Full-tuition and full-cost MBA scholarships

These awards cover the tuition side of the MBA in full, and some add living or travel costs.

• Skoll MBA Scholarships at Said Business School, University of Oxford covers the full cost of tuition and college fees for the MBA programme and adds funds towards living expenses. It is aimed at social entrepreneurship.
• Kofi Annan MBA Scholarships at ESMT Berlin for Developing Country Students gives a full tuition scholarship of €43,500 for MBA students and €25,000 for MIM students, plus compensation for travel and accommodation, programme fees and support for visa, housing, insurance, placement and networking.
• Stanford Africa MBA Fellowship at Stanford Graduate School of Business covers Stanford MBA tuition and associated fees for the full two-year course. It is directed at tuition rather than living costs.
• Oxford Pershing Square Graduate Scholarships (MBA/Masters) funds course fees for both your Master's and MBA programme and provides at least £15,609 towards living expenses for both years.

Note that the Pershing Square award is a one-plus-one structure: you apply for the linked Master's and MBA, not the MBA alone.

Fixed-sum MBA scholarships and bursaries

Many business schools offer bursaries as a set amount off the cost. They are easier to win than full awards and often stack with other funding.

The IMD awards are separate scholarships with separate criteria, so read each one before deciding which to target.

MBA scholarships for specific regions and groups

Several awards exist to widen access for applicants from particular regions or backgrounds. These are usually the most winnable, because the pool is smaller.

• Alma Graduate School Africa MBA Scholarship Program, University of Bologna is aimed at African applicants.
• INSEAD Greendale Foundation MBA Scholarship for Southern and Eastern Africa targets that region.
• Bristol MBA International Scholarship at UWE Bristol is open to international MBA candidates.
• Canon Collins Distance Learning MBA Scholarships for Africans pays all tuition, learning materials and examination fees for a distance-learning MBA, with materials online and by post. Travel to exam centres and graduation costs are not covered.
• Nestlé Scholarship for Women at IMD is reserved for women from developing countries.

If your country or gender is named in the criteria, apply there first. General merit awards attract far more applications.

Business, finance and accounting master's scholarships worth checking

If you are searching for masters in finance scholarships, accounting master's funding or masters in economics scholarships, the MBA-adjacent awards below are the ones in our listings. Most are open to business and management programmes rather than MBA only.

• SDA Bocconi MBA Scholarships are merit tuition waivers covering 50% to 100% of the tuition fee.
• Nottingham University Business School Scholarships are for master's entry at the business school.
• ASBS Global Impact Scholarship, Glasgow University is a full fee waiver for a master's degree.
• International Excellence Scholarships, University of Leeds gives £3,000, £6,000 or £16,000 off tuition, paid as a fee reduction in your first year only.
• UCL Global Masters Scholarships for International Students is worth £15,000 for one year, split across two years if the programme runs that long.

For subject-specific lists, see the List of Economics & Finance Scholarships.

Government and foundation funding that covers an MBA or master's

Some of the largest awards are not branded as MBA scholarships but fund a master's in business or a related field.

• Chevening Scholarships in the UK for International Master's Students covers tuition, a monthly living allowance, travel to and from the UK, allowances and a visa cost.
• DAAD Development-Related Postgraduate Scholarships in Germany pays €992 a month for graduates, plus insurance and a travel allowance, with a possible rent subsidy.
• Orange Knowledge Programme (OKP) in the Netherlands adds to the salary you keep receiving and goes towards living costs, tuition, visa, travel and insurance.
• AAUW International Fellowships in USA for Women pays $20,000 at master's or professional level.
• Oxford Graduate Scholarships for International Students covers 100% of university and college fees plus a living-cost grant.

These awards often require you to return home or work in a related field afterwards, so read the conditions.

Who these scholarships suit and who should look elsewhere

They suit you if you already have a clear MBA target school and can align your application with its named awards, or if you come from a region or group that a funder has named in its criteria. They also suit candidates who can move fast: several deadlines fall in January or June, months before the intake.

Look elsewhere if you need full living costs as well as tuition and the only awards you qualify for are fixed-sum bursaries. A CHF 20,000 grant against a full MBA budget leaves a gap you must fund yourself. If you are not yet admitted, apply to the school first: most MBA scholarships are assessed after or alongside admission.

How to apply for an MBA scholarship step by step

1. Shortlist three to five awards whose nationality, gender or programme criteria you actually meet.
2. Check each deadline against the school's admission rounds and work backwards at least two months.
3. Submit the MBA application first where the scholarship is assessed at admission.
4. Write the scholarship essay or motivation letter around the funder's stated purpose, not your general career story.
5. Request references early and brief each referee on the specific award.
6. Upload transcripts, test scores, CV and proof of nationality exactly as named in the checklist.
7. Keep a copy of every submission and note the decision date.

Documents and timeline

Deadlines in our listings run from January through September depending on the award, with some rolling. The official page carries the current date for the round you are entering.

Common mistakes on MBA scholarship applications

• Applying only to full-tuition awards and ignoring fixed-sum bursaries you are far more likely to win.
• Missing that an award is tied to a region, as with the Africa, Southern and Eastern Africa or emerging-markets scholarships.
• Sending a generic essay that never mentions the funder's purpose, such as social entrepreneurship for Skoll.
• Assuming a fee waiver pays living costs. Most waivers reduce tuition only.
• Leaving the scholarship application until after the admission deadline when the two are assessed together.
• Overlooking distance-learning options such as the Canon Collins award when you cannot relocate.

Alternatives if you do not win an MBA scholarship

Widen the search to master's funding in business, finance and management. The MBA scholarships category and the economics and finance list both hold awards that accept MBA-adjacent programmes.

Country pages are the next stop: Scholarships in United Kingdom, Scholarships in United States, Scholarships in Germany, Scholarships in the Netherlands, Scholarships in Switzerland, Scholarships in France and Scholarships in Italy.

Also look at employer sponsorship, school merit awards not listed publicly, and part-time or online MBAs that lower the total cost. Our Scholarship tips and All guides cover essay and reference strategy.