Nigerian undergraduate students have at least six major scholarship programmes they can apply for every year, and not one of them charges a fee to apply. Some pay a fixed cash amount once a year. A few cover your whole tuition, your hostel, and your feeding until you graduate. This post goes through the main ones, what each pays, who can apply, how the application actually works, and the real advantages and disadvantages of each so you can pick which ones are worth your time.
About the NLNG Undergraduate Scholarship Scheme
This one is only for students in their first year after just gaining admission. NLNG runs it every year for students who just got into a federal or state university, and most sources put the award at ₦300,000 a year, renewable for as long as your grades stay decent enough. A few 2026 reports say NLNG reworked the scheme down to ₦150,000 a year for a narrower group of students, so we gona confirm the exact figure on the NLNG scholarship portal whenever the new cycle opens rather than trusting any single number here pls.
To qualify, you need to meet all of the following:
- Be a Nigerian citizen currently living in the country
- Be a full-time first-year student at an accredited federal or state university
- Have at least five O’Level credits, including Mathematics and English, in one sitting
- Have a JAMB UTME score of 200 or above
- Be between 18 and 25 years old at the time you apply
- Not already be getting any other scholarship, bursary, or grant
- Not be the spouse, child, ward, or close relation of an NLNG staff member
You apply online, and you’ll need scanned copies of your passport photograph, O-Level and UTME results, admission letter, student ID card, birth certificate, LGA identification letter, and NIN slip ready before you start.
This is a straight cash grant, not a full ride. It doesn’t cover accommodation or feeding on its own, just an annual sum paid to your account.
Getting it isn’t too hard on paper. A UTME score of 200 is realistic for a lot of candidates, and the document list is nothing unusual. What makes it harder is timing and volume: the window is short, only first-year students in public universities qualify, and thousands of freshers apply for a scholarship scheme that doesn’t publish how many slots it actually has.
About the MTN Foundation Scholarship
MTN Foundation has been running this one since 2010, so it has a longer track record than most. It actually has four separate tracks. The Science and Technology track pays ₦300,000 a year to 300-level STEM students. A newer medical students track, added for the 2026 cycle, pays the same amount to 400-level medical students. The Scholarship for Blind Students pays ₦200,000 a year to visually impaired students in 200 or 300 level, in any course. And every year, the top 10 scorers in JAMB’s UTME are automatically given ₦300,000 a year from their first year, no separate application needed for that one.
For the 2026 cycle, MTN set aside 400 slots across the STS and medical tracks, with 100 of those reserved for medical students.
Who can apply, by track:
- STS: 300-level STEM students in public universities, polytechnics, or colleges of education, with a CGPA of 3.0 to 3.5 depending on the institution
- Medical track: 400-level medical students in public institutions
- Blind students track: 200 or 300 level, any course, CGPA of 2.0 to 2.5
- Top 10 UTME: automatic, based on JAMB’s own published list
You apply through MTN’s scholarship portal. It starts with a short eligibility check, and if you pass that, you move on to the full form and document upload.
This is renewable cash, paid yearly until you graduate as long as your grades hold up, and MTN adds mentoring and a Skill Up training programme on top of the money, so it’s not just a cash drop.
It’s moderately competitive. The CGPA requirement (second class upper, roughly) rules out a chunk of applicants before they even reach the document stage, but with 400 slots and a scheme running for over a decade, your odds are better here than on some of the newer, smaller programmes. Public tertiary institution students only, though. Private university students can’t apply.
About the NNPC/SEPLAT National Undergraduate Scholarship
This is a joint scheme between NNPC and Seplat Energy, and it pays ₦200,000 a year, renewable, to undergraduates in federal and state universities. Unlike NLNG, this one is not for freshers. You need to already be in your second year or above.
What you need to qualify:
- Be in 200 level or above at a federal or state university
- Have at least five O’Level credits, including English and Mathematics, in one sitting
- Have a CGPA of 3.5 or higher
- Be studying one of the approved courses, mainly engineering, medicine, law, accountancy, economics, geology, and petroleum engineering
You apply through an online form on Seplat’s website, and there’s no document upload at that first stage. If you’re shortlisted, you’re invited to sit an aptitude test before any award is confirmed.
The Seplat scholarship portal usually get overwhelmed with a lot of traffic during the day as plenty people trying to apply at once. So you try your during the night when everywhere is calmed.
The funding here is a fixed annual grant, renewed on satisfactory performance, not a full ride.
A CGPA of 3.5 is a genuinely high bar, closer to a strong second class upper than an average result, and the course list narrows the pool further. Add the aptitude test on top of that, and this one leans hard rather than easy. It’s backed by two big companies though, the process is transparent, and it costs nothing to try.
About the Federal Government Scholarship Board Award
This one comes straight from the Federal Ministry of Education, through the Federal Scholarship Board. The amount has moved around from cycle to cycle, anywhere from ₦150,000 to ₦450,000 a year depending on your level of study and the current administration’s budget, so treat any single figure you see online as a starting estimate rather than a guarantee.
To qualify, you generally need:
- To be a registered full-time student in your second year or above at a federal or state university, polytechnic, monotechnic, or college of education
- A CGPA around 4.0 on a 5-point scale, which is close to a first class result
- A valid NIN
Applying means going to the Federal Ministry of Education’s website, clicking through to the Federal Scholarship Board section, and filling out the online nomination form. After that, shortlisted candidates sit a Computer-Based Test before any award is confirmed.
Because it’s a government scheme, the timing isn’t always predictable the way a corporate scholarship’s is. Some years the nomination window opens early in the year, other years it slides later, so check the ministry’s page rather than assuming last year’s dates will repeat.
This is one of the hardest ones on this list to actually win. A CGPA near first class already knocks out most of the applicant pool, and the CBT is a second filter on top of that. What you get in return is a scholarship that isn’t tied to one company or one course, and the amount, when it lands at the higher end, beats most of the corporate options here.
About the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program at Pan-Atlantic University
This is one of the few genuinely fully funded undergraduate scholarships a Nigerian student can get without leaving the country. It covers tuition, accommodation, and living expenses for your entire degree at Pan-Atlantic University in Lagos, and it comes with mentorship, leadership training, internships, and career support built in.
The programme gives priority to young women, refugees or internally displaced youth, and young people with disabilities, though students outside those groups can still apply. Fields of study are limited to Management and Social Sciences, Media and Communication, and Science and Technology. Slots are small: one recent cycle had only 70 spots, out of a stated ten-year plan to admit 650 scholars in total.
You apply online, for free, through PAU’s admissions portal, alongside your regular application to the university. The selection looks at your academic record and, just as much, at your story: community involvement, resilience, and leadership, not only your grades.
This is about as good as undergraduate funding gets in Nigeria, tuition, housing, and upkeep all covered, plus real support after graduation. The catch is that it’s tied to one school. You can’t take the money and study wherever you like, you have to be admitted to Pan-Atlantic. And with so few slots against a large applicant pool, and priority going to specific groups, a student outside those priority categories, even with strong grades, may find this one of the toughest to land.
About the Bridge Scholarship Foundation Award
Bridge Scholarship Foundation also runs a full ride, and it’s less restrictive than the Mastercard programme in one key way: it’s open to public university students from year one all the way to their second-to-last year, not just entering freshers, and not tied to a single institution.
It covers full tuition, accommodation, a living stipend, mentorship, and career development, and support is meant to continue “through graduation and beyond,” according to the foundation, though the exact naira value of the stipend isn’t published anywhere.
Who can apply:
- Be enrolled in any public university in Nigeria
- Be in your first year through your second-to-last year, not final year
- Have a CGPA of 3.5 or above
- Show genuine financial need
- Have some record of community service or extracurricular involvement
You apply through an online form on the foundation’s own website, no fee involved, and incomplete applications are simply not processed, so get every document ready before you start.
The full-ride coverage puts this in the same tier as Mastercard’s programme, and it’s arguably easier to qualify for since it’s not locked to one university. That said, a CGPA of 3.5 will still shut out students with a rough first year, and because the foundation hasn’t published exact figures for the stipend, you won’t know precisely what you’re getting until you’re already selected.
Which of these is actually worth applying to
If you just entered university this year, NLNG is the one built for you, and MTN’s top 10 UTME track if your JAMB score puts you there. If you’re already past first year with strong grades, NNPC/SEPLAT, FSB, and Bridge Scholarship Foundation are all live options, and there’s nothing stopping you from applying to more than one at once since none of them charge a fee. If your CGPA and course of study put you in range for Mastercard’s programme at Pan-Atlantic, that one is worth the extra effort. It’s the single best-paying scholarship on this list.
