Fully funded arts and humanities degrees

Students of history, languages, philosophy, literature and the arts often hear that there is no money for their subject. That is not quite true. There are fewer subject-specific awards than in the sciences, but the funding that exists is open, and some of it is among the best value anywhere.

The cheapest route is tuition-free study in Central Europe. Freie Universität Berlin is strongest in the humanities and charges no tuition, the University of Vienna charges non-EU students a low fee, and Charles University is free in Czech. The catch is language: many bachelor's degrees are taught in German or Czech, so a year of language study is often part of the plan.

For undergraduates, American liberal arts colleges are the other big opportunity. Amherst and Bowdoin admit international students need-blind and meet their full need, and small classes in the humanities are their speciality.

For postgraduate study, the awards that accept every subject are your best friends: Chevening, Gates Cambridge, Rhodes and Erasmus Mundus all fund humanities degrees. Architects and designers should also look at Politecnico di Milano's merit awards, which can waive the full fee.

Also open to the arts and humanities

28 more routes fund the arts and humanities among other subjects: Berea College, Bowdoin College, Brown University, Chevening Scholarships, Commonwealth Master's Scholarships, Commonwealth Shared Scholarships, Dartmouth College, Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters, Fulbright Foreign Student Program, Gates Cambridge Scholarship, Government of Ireland: International Education Scholarships, Harvard University, Knight-Hennessy Scholars (Stanford), Master Mind Scholarships (Flanders), Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program, Mastercard Foundation Scholars: McGill, Mastercard Foundation Scholars: UC Berkeley, Princeton University, Rhodes Scholarships (Oxford), Romanian Government Scholarship, Stipendium Hungaricum, Türkiye Bursları, University of Bologna, University of British Columbia: International Scholars, University of Toronto: Pearson Scholarship, Universität Hamburg, Vanderbilt University, Yale University.

See them all on the scholarship board →

Common questions

Can I study the humanities for free in Europe?

Yes. Freie Universität Berlin charges no tuition, and the University of Vienna charges non-EU students a low fee. Many bachelor's programmes are taught in German, so check the language of instruction before you apply.

Do US liberal arts colleges fund international students?

Some do, generously. Amherst and Bowdoin are need-blind for international applicants and meet full need, and Colby meets full need with no application fee.

Are there funded PhDs in the humanities?

Fewer than in the sciences, but they exist. The University of Iceland's doctoral programmes are tuition-free, Research Ireland's postgraduate scholarships cover every discipline when a call is open, and Scandinavian universities sometimes advertise salaried humanities PhDs.