Scholarships for foreign citizens and Italian citizens living abroad awarded by the Italian Government for the academic year 2026-2027
Pakistan was dropped from the country list for this cycle
- What it pays€900 to €1,000about PKR 289,000 to PKR 321,000
- Paid over9 monthspaid once
- Closes26 March 202614:00 Italian time, closed on 26 March 2026
- LevelMaster's degree or PhD
- Country list146 countriesFull list below
- Alongside another awardNo
MAECI, list of eligible foreign countries and other territories, academic year 2026-2027checked
What this figure depends on
cash, per academic year, paid into an Italian bank account in three instalments
€10,800 in total.
The full 10,800 euros is only for winners who are in Italy by 15 November 2026. Arrive on or after 16 November and the amount is cut in proportion to your arrival date. The third instalment of 3,000 euros is released only if you have earned 27 university credits during the year.
€1 = PKR 321.43, 30 August 2026
The 146 countries on the eligibility list
- Afghanistan
- Albania
- Algeria
- Angola
- Argentina
- Armenia
- Australia
- Austria
- Azerbaijan
- Bahamas
- Bahrain
- Bangladesh
- Belgium
- Benin
- Belarus
- Bolivia
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Botswana
- Brazil
- Bulgaria
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cambodia
- Cameroon
- Canada
- Cape Verde
- Chad
- Chile
- China
- Cyprus
- Colombia
- Comoros
- Congo
- Congo Dem. Rep.
- South Korea
- Ivory Coast
- Costa Rica
- Croatia
- Cuba
- Ecuador
- Egypt
- El Salvador
- Eritrea
- Estonia
- eSwatini
- Ethiopia
- Russian Federation
- Philippines
- France
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Georgia
- Germany
- Ghana
- Japan
- Djibouti
- Jordan
- Greece
- Guatemala
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Equatorial Guinea
- India
- Indonesia
- Iran
- Iraq
- Israel
- Kazakhstan
- Kenya
- Kyrgyzstan
- Kosovo
- Kuwait
- Laos
- Lesotho
- Latvia
- Lebanon
- Liberia
- Libya
- Lithuania
- North Macedonia
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Malaysia
- Mali
- Malta
- Morocco
- Mauritania
- Mauritius
- Mexico
- Moldova
- Mongolia
- Montenegro
- Mozambique
- Myanmar
- Namibia
- Niger
- Nigeria
- Oman
- Panama
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Poland
- Portugal
- United Kingdom
- Czech Rep.
- Central African Rep.
- Dominican Rep.
- Romania
- Rwanda
- San Marino
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Senegal
- Serbia
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone
- Singapore
- Syria
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Somalia
- Spain
- Sri Lanka
- South Africa
- South Sudan
- Sudan
- Switzerland
- Tajikistan
- Taiwan
- Tanzania
- Palestinian Ter.
- Thailand
- Timor Leste
- Togo
- Tunisia
- Turkey
- Turkmenistan
- Ukraine
- Uganda
- Hungary
- Uruguay
- Uzbekistan
- Venezuela
- Vietnam
- Yemen
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
When the next call is expected
The 2026-2027 call was published in March 2026 and closed on 26 March 2026, which is the usual rhythm, so a 2027-2028 call would be expected in the first quarter of 2027 at studyinitaly.esteri.it/ListaBandi. The country annex is reissued with every call and it changed against Pakistan between 2025-2026 and 2026-2027, so it has to be reread rather than assumed.
- Opens
- Not published
- State today
- closed on 26 March 2026
Worked out from today’s date when this page was served, never typed in as “open”.
What it covers
What the money buys, and who it is for.
The Italian Government pays 10,800 euros for nine months of a master's degree in Italy, in three instalments, plus collective health insurance. Pakistan is not on the 2026-2027 list of eligible countries, so a Pakistani passport holder could not apply to this cycle even though Pakistan was eligible the year before.
Included
- A cash grant of 10,800 euros over nine months, from 1 November 2026 to 31 July 2027
- Collective health insurance contracted by MAECI, for illness and accident, for the duration of the scholarship only
What it does not cover
Tuition is not guaranteed. Some universities exempt scholarship holders from enrolment fees and contributions under university autonomy rules, and if yours does not, the fees are yours to pay and MAECI does not refund them. Regional right-to-study fees are due in every case and are never refunded. The health insurance does not cover illness arising from pre-existing conditions, and does not cover dental care. The call funds no bachelor's degree programmes except AFAM courses, no single cycle degrees, no first or second level Master Universitari, no specialisation or one-year courses, and no single courses. Students enrolled beyond the legal duration of their programme, and part-time students, are not funded. The grant is not paid during study, research or an internship outside Italy.
MAECI, list of eligible foreign countries and other territories, academic year 2026-2027checked
The catch
Pakistan was dropped from the country list for this cycle
Why
Selection is made on citizenship, and the call works off a closed annex of 146 countries and territories. In the 2026-2027 annex the list runs Nigeria, Oman, Panama, Paraguay, with nothing between Oman and Panama. Pakistan is not there. The Italian Embassy in Islamabad published a final ranking of Italian Government scholarships for Pakistan for 2025-2026, so the country was eligible the year before and was taken off for this one. Aggregator sites and Pakistani consultancy pages still list Pakistan as eligible and quote a monthly stipend of 900 euros. Both are wrong for this call. Read the country annex first, because nothing else in the call matters if your citizenship is not in it.
Where you apply
The portal, the papers, and one thing to check yourself.
You apply on the call's own portal, never through us.
We do not file this application for you and nobody can guarantee the award.
Where you apply, and who runs it
Online only, on the Study in Italy portal at studyinitaly.esteri.it. Nothing is accepted by email. You may enter the selection for one country only, and the country is decided by your citizenship, so a dual national has to pick one and declare it in the Cittadinanza field.
MAECI funds and runs it under Law 288/55, applications are taken only on the Study in Italy portal, and the Italian diplomatic mission covering your country of citizenship carries out the selection, publishes the merit ranking and issues the awarding letter.
7 documents the call asks for
See all 7, in the order the portal asks
- A readable copy of a valid passport or identity document, uploaded at registration, on pain of exclusion
- The certificate proving you already hold the qualification that admits you to the chosen course, or a declaration that you do not hold it yet
- For English taught master's courses, a certificate showing English at CEFR B2 or above, or proof that your bachelor's was taught entirely in English
- For Italian taught master's courses, a certificate showing Italian at CEFR B2 or above
- For a PhD, the admission letter itself, since a pre-admission letter is never accepted, or a tutor's invitation letter in its place
- For a research project, a tutor's invitation letter and the research project, both at the moment of application
- For a renewal, a certificate or signed self-declaration of credits earned, and for a PhD a positive evaluation letter from the supervisor
Check this yourself before you plan around it
MAECI does not publish the per country quota, so there is no verified figure for how many scholarships any one country receives, and there is no official statement yet on whether Pakistan returns to the annex for 2027-2028.
Asked about this award
The questions this one gets.
Short answers. Where the honest answer is that nobody publishes it, that is the answer given.
Is this the scholarship that pays 900 euros a month?
No. The 2026-2027 call pays a total of 10,800 euros in three instalments of 5,500, 2,300 and 3,000 euros, not a monthly stipend. The monthly framing comes from older cycles and from aggregator write ups.
Do I need Italian?
Not for a master's taught entirely in English. The call states that no proof of proficiency in Italian is required for programmes entirely taught in English. You do need English at CEFR B2 or above.
Is there an age limit?
Yes. For a master's degree you must not exceed 28 by the closing date, meaning born on or after 27 March 1997. For a PhD the limit is 30, and for a research project it is 40.
Can I take it alongside a regional right to study grant?
No. The call states the scholarship is incompatible with any other scholarship offered by the Italian Government or any other Italian public institution, including the regional right to education ones. It is compatible with Erasmus and Erasmus Plus, but it is not paid for periods spent outside Italy.
Can I apply if I already studied in Italy?
No. You must not be enrolled in, or hold a qualification from, an Italian secondary school in Italy, an Italian higher education institution, or a foreign higher education institution located in Italy.
Find out whether you fit this one.
You will see the degree you would apply for and what the visa wants in the bank. You will also see how much of the calendar is left.
We do not award any of the funding on this page. We cannot promise you any of it. Meeting a stated criterion is a fact. Being given the money is a decision somebody else makes.
The three questions
- What have you studied, and how did you do?
- What do you want to study in Italy?
- What can your family put behind it?
The full answer is on screen, free, with no account and no email. You get it whether or not it is the one you wanted.
Closed for this cycle€900 to €1,000 in total
Check Pakistan eligibility