Scholarships for Tunisian students

Tunisia sits in an unusual position: it qualifies for several European schemes that exclude most non-European countries, and it is worth knowing which.

The Eiffel Excellence Scholarship is open to Tunisians. It takes all nationalities, with dual French nationals the only exclusion, and it is applied for through the French host institution rather than by the student directly. This is worth stating plainly because Eiffel operates priority-country lists in some regions that shut other applicants out entirely; Tunisia is not affected by them.

ARES names Tunisia among roughly 32 eligible partner countries for the Wallonia-Brussels Federation's fully funded international training scholarships. Erasmus Mundus reaches Tunisia through the EU's NDICI-eligible region, and at least one live consortium names Tunisia specifically. The AUF's Eugen Ionescu programme lists Tunisia among the 46 countries of origin its grantees have come from since the programme began. Stipendium Hungaricum maintains a dedicated Tunisia country page, which removes the ambiguity that affects several other markets.

Quebec's PBEEE accepts Tunisians under its general all-countries track. There is no dedicated Tunisian stream, which matters practically: you compete in the widest possible pool rather than a reserved one.

Two schemes require Tunisian citizenship specifically rather than residence. Fulbright, administered in-country by Amideast Tunisia with the US Embassy, states the citizenship requirement explicitly. Tunisia's own MESRS bourses nationales are by definition national.

One eligibility factor here has nothing to do with academics. Tunisian men under 28 who are called up for national service can request a sursis militaire, a deferment, if they are continuing studies in Tunisia or abroad at a recognised public institution. Men already resident abroad follow a separate procedure. This is not a scholarship rule, but it decides whether you can take up an award, and it is administered on its own timetable.

On the recurring question of whether an excellent Tunisian student can study abroad free: the honest answer is that the fully funded routes are concentrated at master's and doctoral level. Chevening, Fulbright, ARES, PBEEE, Eugen Ionescu and the MESRS national scholarship are all postgraduate. The undergraduate routes that exist are Türkiye Bursları, whose delegation has run recruitment events in Tunisian schools, and MEXT's College of Technology track through the Japanese Embassy.

There are three distinct application patterns here and mixing them up costs a cycle.

Apply through the host institution. Eiffel works this way — the French university nominates you, so your task is to secure a place and persuade the institution to put you forward, not to submit to Campus France yourself. PBEEE is similar in shape: each Quebec university runs its own internal pre-selection with an earlier deadline of its own, and only pre-selected files go to the FRQ, which set 2 December 2026 as its own deadline for the 2027-2028 cycle.

Apply through a national platform. ARES uses GIRAF and closes at 12:00 Belgian time on 18 September 2026 for 2027-2028. Tunisia's MESRS bourses nationales run on a national call that historically opens between August and October, with results the following January — the Master's and PhD-abroad results for the most recent round were announced on 30 January 2026.

Apply through an embassy. MEXT runs through the Embassy of Japan in Tunis, which explicitly names Tunisians as eligible and operates both a Research Students track and a College of Technology Student track. The 2027 Research Students round was announced on 24 April 2026 and closed for embassy submission by postmark on 22 May 2026, with final MEXT results due in January or February 2027 for arrival in April or October. The Global Korea Scholarship likewise runs an embassy-track recommendation and notification process through the Korean Embassy in Tunisia. Italy's MAECI scholarships were published directly to Tunisian applicants by the Italian Embassy in Tunis, with the 2026-2027 call closing on 26 March 2026 at 14:00 Italian time.

Germany sits slightly apart: DAAD runs a full regional office in Tunis covering Tunisia, Libya, Morocco and Algeria, with its own scholarship database and a country-of-origin filter for Tunisia. Deadlines are set per programme rather than centrally.

Whichever pattern applies, start the certification and translation steps below early. Since March 2025 diploma certification requires an in-person visit, and it cannot be done remotely at the last minute.

Tunisia's document chain changed recently and one step now requires you to be physically present.

Diploma and transcript certification moved to the university presidency. Since 17 March 2025, Tunisian graduates needing certification of a diploma or transcript — which most foreign applications and the apostille process both require — must attend the presidency of the issuing university in person. Plan for it before a deadline rather than during one.

Apostille, not consular legalisation. Tunisia has issued Hague Apostille certificates for Tunisian documents since 1 March 2019, which replaced the older multi-step consular chain for use in the roughly 120 other Convention countries. Guidance written before 2019 still describes the old process and is worth ignoring. The apostille comes after certification, not instead of it.

Certified English translations for Japan. The Japanese Embassy's MEXT application requires an original English translation of every annual transcript alongside the French or Arabic original, because Tunisian transcripts are not issued in English. This is a per-year requirement rather than a single document, so a full degree can mean three or four translations — budget the time and the cost.

Sursis militaire for men under 28. Male citizens called up for national service who are continuing studies, in Tunisia or abroad, at a recognised public institution can request a deferment. Those already living abroad follow a separate procedure. An award you cannot take up because the deferment has not come through is a real failure mode, so treat it as part of the application rather than an afterthought.

On language: Tunisia's Francophone system is an advantage for France, Belgium, Quebec and the AUF network, where no English test is needed at all. It becomes a cost for the English-language and Japanese routes, where translation and testing are both required.