There is more than one way to study abroad. A full scholarship funds a complete degree, while an exchange program lets you study abroad for a term or two and bring the credits home. Explore both paths below.
Graduate School Scholarships
Fully funded master’s and PhD scholarships — MEXT (Japan), the Global Korea Scholarship (Korea), and more.
Explore scholarships →Exchange Programs
Short‑term study at a partner university abroad, earning credits toward the degree you are already doing at home.
Explore exchanges →Which route suits you?
The two paths above answer different questions. A full scholarship is for people who want a complete degree abroad and are prepared for a long, competitive application. An exchange is for people already enrolled at home who want international experience without changing where their degree comes from. An exchange is usually easier to obtain, shorter, and depends on an agreement your university already has.
What “fully funded” usually does and does not mean
Fully funded is a broad label, and the details differ by programme. Most cover tuition and provide a living stipend; many add airfare, insurance and a language-training year. What is easy to overlook is what falls outside:
- Costs before departure — passport, document certification and translation, language tests, and sometimes medical checks.
- The gap between arriving and the first stipend payment.
- Family costs, if dependants travel with you.
- Anything the stipend does not stretch to in an expensive city.
What strong applications have in common
- A specific reason for that programme. A statement that could be sent to any university reads as exactly that.
- A narrow, feasible research idea where a proposal is required — one product, one measurable property, one clear comparison.
- Referees given enough notice, plus your CV and draft documents to write from.
- Documents prepared early. Certification and translation take longer than expected, and language-test results have a validity period.
- Evidence, not adjectives. “Ran a twelve-week shelf-life trial on a dried product” says more than “hard-working and passionate”.
Common reasons applications fail
- Starting too late — the most common cause by far.
- A research topic far too broad to be done in the time available.
- Missing or incorrectly certified documents.
- Applying to a department whose actual research does not match the stated interest.
- Relying on a summary — including this one — instead of the official programme page.
For detail on choosing a supervisor, writing a proposal and planning the timeline, see the graduate school page.