Scholarships in Denmark for International Students

11 min read · Published on August 18, 2026 · Updated on August 19, 2026

Scholarships in Denmark for international students are worth applying for, but an Indian applicant should budget as if there is no award until one is confirmed in writing. Identify the exact programme, record how scholarship consideration starts and calculate the costs left uncovered. There is no single national form for a full-degree Danish Government Scholarship.

The university matrix below compares consideration methods and published benefits at Denmark’s eight research universities. It doesn’t list every eligible programme. Its official links lead to the programme and intake rules that need a fresh check for 2027 because eligible courses and amounts can change between rounds.

How do Denmark scholarships work?

The official Study in Denmark scholarship guidance says universities receive a limited number of government scholarships for highly qualified full-degree students from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland. Each university administers its own allocation.

“The government scholarship consists of two parts and can be given as full or partial tuition fee waivers and/or grants.”

Study in Denmark, scholarships

An Indian citizen applying from India normally fits the non-EU nationality condition. Eligibility still depends on admission to a full degree, fee status and the required study residence permit. A strong profile doesn’t create an entitlement because the allocations are limited.

SU means the Danish State Educational Grant. It is separate from a Danish Government Scholarship. The University of Copenhagen’s SU guidance says a non-Danish citizen needs equal status under Danish or EU rules. Equal status is a separate official decision that treats an eligible non-Danish student like a Danish citizen for SU. A new applicant coming directly from India can’t assume that status in the initial budget.

The main study in Denmark guide explains the wider study route. The Denmark cost guide provides the budget that a scholarship must reduce.

What does each funding type cover?

Every award has two separate questions. The first is how the applicant enters consideration. The second is which costs the award actually pays.

Three funding mechanismsThe published benefit controls the amount left to fund.

Mechanism	What it means	What you still need to check
Tuition waiver	The university cancels all or part of tuition	Rent, food, travel, deposits and any unwaived tuition
Living grant	The university pays a monthly amount towards living costs	Tax, start date, duration and whether the amount covers your budget
External award	An Indian government body, trust or another funder supports the student	Separate deadline, subjects, income rules and payment timing

Automatic consideration means the admission application is also assessed for funding. It doesn’t mean every admitted applicant receives an award. This page uses “embedded consideration” as a plain label for scholarship material placed inside the admission application, such as an indication, statement, CV or motivation letter. Missing that material can remove the funding assessment even when admission remains possible.

A full tuition waiver can still leave the entire living budget with the student. The university matrix therefore keeps tuition and living support in separate columns.

Which Danish universities offer scholarships?

This matrix separates the application action, tuition treatment and living support at Denmark’s eight research universities. It is a planning snapshot for 15 August 2026, not a promise for the 2027 round. ECTS means the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System. Thirty ECTS normally represents one full-time semester.

University award matrixCheck the programme and intake again before applying.

University	How consideration starts	Tuition covered	Living support published
University of Copenhagen	Automatic for eligible admitted non-EU master’s applicants.	Full or partial waiver	Some awards cover basic living expenses. Faculty conditions vary and tax can apply.
Aarhus University	Limited government awards. Automatic with a timely eligible admission application.	Full or partial waiver	Arts and Aarhus BSS typically include a monthly grant. Natural Sciences and Technical Sciences publish tuition-only awards.
Technical University of Denmark	Very limited MSc waivers. A separate statement is required inside the application by 15 January.	Full waiver for two years	No living grant is published. Autumn entry only.
Aalborg University	About 15 government awards a year. Automatic for non-EU master’s applicants.	Tuition waiver	DKK 11,225 a month for new students in 2026. Tax and registration delay can apply.
University of Southern Denmark	Limited government awards on named programmes. Automatic through the eligible admission application.	Full waiver for listed Vejle BSc and Sonderborg MSc programmes	No living grant is published. The waiver covers 30 ECTS per semester and depends on progress.
Copenhagen Business School	About 25 government awards a year. Indicate interest and upload a personal statement.	Tuition waiver	DKK 8,000 a month for up to 22 months. Taxable and not based on financial need.
Roskilde University	Limited government awards on selected programmes. Upload a motivation letter and CV.	Tuition waiver	DKK 7,800 a month for up to 22 months. September entry only and the programme list changes annually.
IT University of Copenhagen	Three or four state awards a year. Automatic among admitted non-EU MSc applicants.	Free tuition	Partial living coverage. The exact amount is not published.

An engineering applicant at DTU adds the required waiver statement. Aarhus assesses a timely eligible admission file automatically and requests no separate scholarship statement for that route. These are different actions even when the degree field looks similar.

Decision timing also matters. Aarhus normally gives the scholarship result around the admission offer. Aalborg says its decision can arrive after the tuition deadline, with a later refund if an award follows. CPR is the Danish civil registration number. NemKonto is the bank account designated to receive public payments. Aalborg needs the CPR number, NemKonto and tax registration before stipend payment, although delayed instalments can later be paid retroactively. The recipient therefore needs arrival cash while registration is pending.

Can an international bachelor student get a scholarship?

Yes, but bachelor funding is much narrower than master’s funding. The clearest published exception is SDU’s full tuition waiver for four Vejle programmes. The list contains Artificial Intelligence, Computer Science, Interactive Technology Engineering and Software Engineering. uniTEST is SDU’s online admissions test. Applicants enter consideration through a 15 March admission application, then complete uniTEST and an online interview. The SDU award page says the waiver covers three years at 30 ECTS per semester, subject to satisfactory progress. The Denmark bachelor programmes guide explains how these university degrees differ from other undergraduate routes.

That narrow exception isn’t evidence of widespread bachelor funding. VIA University College’s live non-EU admission page, for example, says it offers no financial support to tuition-paying students from outside the EU and EEA.

Are there fully funded master’s scholarships?

Some awards combine a full tuition waiver with a living stipend. Aalborg, CBS and Roskilde publish both components, but tax, delayed payment, deposits, travel and a stipend below the student’s actual living costs can still leave a cash requirement.

Erasmus Mundus is a separate option. An Erasmus Mundus Joint Master is a consortium degree delivered by universities in several countries. Students apply directly to the chosen programme. The European Commission’s student page says full scholarships can cover participation costs and contribute to travel, visa and living expenses. Most programmes accept applications between October and January.

The Erasmus programme guide calculates the maximum student scholarship as EUR 1,400 per month multiplied by the master’s duration. A semester in Denmark isn’t sufficient by itself. The chosen joint programme must appear in the Erasmus Mundus catalogue and publish its own scholarship terms. The Denmark master’s guide covers admission to standard Danish degrees.

Is a Denmark PhD a scholarship or a job?

A funded PhD in Denmark is commonly an employment position. DTU says its PhD candidates are employees and normally receive a fixed-term contract for the three-year programme, with salary, employer-paid pension, holiday and other benefits. The candidate applies to an advertised position or another defined funding route, not to the taught-master’s scholarship matrix.

DTU’s published salary example gives approximately DKK 34,000 a month including pension for an employed PhD candidate with no seniority as of April 2024. It is a dated example rather than a 2027 salary promise. The vacancy and collective agreement in force at appointment control the actual amount.

The national PhD guide describes a normal three-year, 180 ECTS research degree and says applicants usually need a relevant master’s degree and good English. An Industrial PhD combines company employment with university enrolment. The exact vacancy states the salary, project, supervisor and enrolment terms.

Which scholarships can Indian students apply for?

Indian external funding can supplement or replace a Danish university award, but each scheme runs on its own calendar. Subject, income, institution and start-date rules can exclude an otherwise strong applicant.

Indian external fundingThese schemes are separate from Danish university selection.

Scheme	Published support	Who should examine it	Current caution
National Overseas Scholarship	Government support for eligible overseas master’s and PhD study	Low-income candidates from the specified marginalised communities	The official portal says the 2026 to 2027 first round ran from 24 April to 2 June 2026. The cycle guideline controls category, income, age, course and institution rules.
K C Mahindra Scholarship	Interest-free loan scholarship, up to INR 10 lakh for the top three fellows and INR 5 lakh for other awardees	Indian citizens with a first-class degree entering eligible postgraduate study	The 2026 overseas cycle closed on 30 April. This is repayable funding, not a grant.
Inlaks Scholarship	Up to USD 120,000 towards tuition, living, one-way travel, visa and health allowance in the 2026 cycle	Eligible young Indian graduates with admission to an institution that meets Inlaks’s own assessment	The 2026 cycle is closed. Published exclusions include Business, Computer Science, most Engineering, MBA and Medicine.

Inlaks can fit some architecture or humanities applicants, while its 2026 exclusions rule out Computer Science and MBA study. K C Mahindra supports a broader postgraduate plan as an interest-free loan that must be repaid. For home-budget orientation, Danmarks Nationalbank’s indicative rates on 24 July 2026 showed DKK 6.80 per INR 100 and DKK 657.08 per USD 100. That implies about INR 14.71 per DKK and INR 96.63 per USD, putting the USD 120,000 Inlaks ceiling near INR 1.16 crore. Bank and card rates will differ.

How should you plan the applications?

The funding plan needs to be complete before the first university deadline. A scholarship result can come after an application fee, tuition invoice or loan deadline, so a financially viable alternative remains necessary until the award is in writing.

Build one programme record
Save the official eligibility page, consideration method, required material, benefit, decision date and tuition-payment date.
Price the uncovered amount
Add tuition not waived, the personal living budget, travel and arrival costs. Count only written awards.
Convert gross support into usable cash
Estimate tax and payment delays before subtracting a stipend from the family budget.
Keep a viable funding alternative
Housing deposits or tuition can fall due before the scholarship result or first stipend payment.

The same calculation can be applied to each offer.

Remaining cash need = tuition not waived + personal living budget + travel and setup costs minus expected living cash after tax minus external funding actually received

Consider a CBS recipient with a 12-month living budget of DKK 120,000. The published gross stipend is DKK 8,000 a month, or DKK 96,000 across 12 months. DKK 24,000 is only the minimum pre-tax living shortfall. At the 24 July 2026 indicative rate above, that is about INR 3.53 lakh. The actual cash requirement is DKK 24,000 plus tax withheld, setup costs and any payment delay, so the gross stipend cannot be used as expected net funding.

An unconfirmed scholarship contributes zero to this calculation. The remaining amount also needs to align with the Denmark student residence permit guide before the offer is accepted.

Key takeaways

The university matrix compares institution-level methods. The official award page controls exact programme eligibility.
Application method and financial benefit are separate facts. Record both for every option.
DTU, CBS and Roskilde University require scholarship-specific material inside the admission application.
CPR, NemKonto and tax registration can delay stipend cash after arrival.
A gross taxable stipend cannot be subtracted from the budget as if it were net cash.
Indian external awards have independent calendars, subjects and institution rules.

Frequently asked questions

Can Indian students get scholarships in Denmark?

Yes. Indian citizens normally fall within the non-EU group considered for Danish government allocations at universities. Admission, fee liability, residence-permit status and academic selection still apply. The university decides the recipient and benefit, so check the exact programme rather than looking for one national application form.

Is the Danish Government Scholarship fully funded?

Not always. The national guidance allows a full or partial tuition waiver, a living grant, or both. DTU currently publishes tuition-only waivers, while Aalborg, CBS and Roskilde publish tuition plus monthly support. Tax, payment timing, travel and personal living costs can still leave a funding requirement.

Do I need a separate scholarship application?

It depends on the university. Aarhus, Aalborg, UCPH, SDU and ITU publish automatic consideration for the relevant applicants. DTU requires a waiver statement, CBS requires an indication and personal statement, and Roskilde requires a motivation letter and CV within the admission application.

Are there bachelor scholarships in Denmark?

There are limited options. SDU currently offers a full tuition waiver for four named Vejle bachelor programmes in computing and technology. Applicants apply by 15 March and selection uses uniTEST and an interview. The same award cannot be assumed at universities, university colleges or other bachelor programmes.

Which Denmark universities give a living stipend?

Aalborg publishes DKK 11,225 a month for new students in 2026, CBS DKK 8,000, and Roskilde DKK 7,800. At Danmarks Nationalbank’s 24 July 2026 indicative rate, DKK 1 was about INR 14.71. Tax, payment timing, eligible programmes and the exchange rate can change the usable amount.

Can I get Erasmus Mundus funding for Denmark?

Yes, if you apply to a listed Erasmus Mundus Joint Master that includes a Danish institution or study period. The scholarship can cover participation costs and contribute to travel, visa and living expenses. It does not apply to a standard Danish master’s programme outside the Erasmus Mundus catalogue.

Are PhD scholarships in Denmark paid?

Many funded PhD positions are paid jobs. DTU says its PhD candidates normally receive a three-year fixed-term employment contract with salary, pension and holiday benefits. Apply to the advertised vacancy and read its employment terms. A self-funded or externally funded enrolment can follow a different financial arrangement.

When should I apply for Denmark scholarships?

Scholarship preparation starts before the admission deadline. Aarhus calls September entry “summer start” and uses 15 January for that award consideration. DTU’s autumn waiver and CBS’s main round also use 15 January. Erasmus Mundus commonly runs from October to January, while Indian awards follow separate calendars.