Funding

Fully Funded · Partial / Stipend

Master's Scholarship•Denmark · Copenhagen

Danish Government Scholarships at the University of Copenhagen

University of Copenhagen

Application Deadline

January 15, 2027

Official Page

The Danish Government Scholarship is a state-funded award that Denmark allocates to its universities each year, and the University of Copenhagen distributes its share among the international students it admits to master’s programmes. It is the main route by which an applicant from outside Europe avoids paying tuition in Copenhagen, and in the strongest cases it also pays for living costs. Every faculty runs its own selection and holds its own small quota, so a Science applicant and a Theology applicant compete in separate pools on different terms.

The University awards the scholarships solely on the basis of academic achievement, and financial need is not taken into consideration. There is no scholarship form: every eligible non-EU/EEA applicant offered admission is automatically assessed. Recipients study on campus in Copenhagen for the length of their master’s programme, normally two years.

Benefits & funding

  • The award is granted either as a full or partial tuition fee waiver, or as an amount covering basic living expenses, or as both.
  • At the Faculty of Science the scholarship covers tuition fees plus living expenses for 22 months, the full length of a two-year MSc.
  • At the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences a very limited number of awards cover both tuition and living expenses; others cover the tuition fee alone.
  • The Faculty of Social Sciences has generally 2–3 awards a year, granted only in connection with the September intake.
  • The Faculty of Theology grants generally fewer than four a year, and only as partial tuition fee waivers with no living-cost element.
  • Second-year funding exists at Science for fee-paying students who excel in year one, covering tuition and living expenses of the second year; a maximum of three recipients may share the same nationality.
  • Health and Medical Sciences awards approximately two second-year scholarships per academic year, to students holding a GPA of 10 or higher on the Danish grading scale.
  • Tuition fees vary by programme, and citizens from outside the EU/EEA and the non-Nordic countries pay them unless exempt, so a full waiver is the largest single benefit.

Eligibility

  • The applicant must be a citizen of a country outside the EU, the EEA or Switzerland.
  • The applicant must be admitted to a master’s (MA/MSc) degree programme at the University of Copenhagen.
  • The applicant must be granted a time-limited residence permit for the purpose of studying a higher educational programme in Denmark.
  • Selection rests on academic achievement alone; financial need plays no part.
  • The Faculty of Science considers applicants with a bachelor grade point average above 90%, and only where the applicant is admitted to their first-priority application. In 2025 its recipients had a GPA of at least 98%.
  • The Faculty of Humanities considers every non-EU/EEA master’s applicant automatically.
  • No separate scholarship application exists, and no age limit, work experience requirement or gender requirement is published.
  • Citizens of the EU, the EEA and Switzerland pay no tuition at the University and fall outside this scheme.

Can you apply?

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Decoded from the official rules. A free account checks them against your passport, degree and age in seconds.

  • Education required

    Bachelor

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Application process

  1. 1
    Choose a master’s programme and confirm its intake; at the Faculty of Social Sciences the scholarships attach to the September intake only.
  2. 2
    Wait for the admission portal to open for applicants from outside the EU/EEA and Switzerland on 15 November.
  3. 3
    Submit the complete admission application by 15 January at 23:59. This is the effective scholarship deadline, because there is no separate scholarship form.
  4. 4
    Rank the intended programme as the first-priority choice where the faculty restricts scholarships to first-priority admissions, as the Faculty of Science does.
  5. 5
    Wait for the admission decision, sent 13 March for the September intake at most faculties and between March and May at the Faculty of Science.
  6. 6
    Accept the offered place by 18 March, or within five days of the offer at the Faculty of Science, or the place is forfeited.
  7. 7
    Meet the faculty’s payment date if no waiver is granted; Faculty of Science sets tuition fee payment at 15 April.

Program timeline

  1. Application portal opens for applicants from outside the EU, the EEA and Switzerland

    Nov 15, 2026

  2. Admission application deadline at 23:59, and the cut-off for scholarship consideration

    Jan 15, 2027

  3. Admission decisions sent for the September intake

    Mar 13, 2027

  4. Deadline to accept an offered place

    Mar 18, 2027

  5. Tuition fee payment date for Faculty of Science admits

    Apr 15, 2027

  6. Studies begin in Copenhagen

    Early September 2027

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