Federal Government Bilateral Educational Agreement (BEA) Scholarships for Undergraduate and Postgraduate Students for Overseas Study

   Federal scholarship board by the federal ministry of education of Nigeria offers the bilateral Educational Agreement scholarship for undergraduate and postgraduate(MSC and PHD) students to study abroad. 

      Undergraduate candidates are awarded maintainable studies in Russia, Morocco, Algeria, Serbia, Hungary, Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey, Cuba, Romania, Japan, Macedonia. Postgraduate candidates are awarded  maintainable studies in (for those whose first degrees were obtained from Russia), China, Hungary, Serbia, Turkey, Japan, Mexico, South Korea.

 Eligible country: Applicants must be from Nigeria only.

Date for applications: the bilateral Educational Agreement scholarship is awarded annually(yearly)

About the federal scholarship: the minister of education invites well-meaning and qualified Nigeria to participate in the yearly scholarship programme.

Eligible applicants: the bilateral Educational Agreement scholarship is for both the undergraduate and postgraduate categories.

Criteria for Undergraduate Scholarship:

• All applicants for the undergraduate degree category must possess a minimum qualification of Five (5) Distinctions (As & Bs) in the Senior Secondary School Certificate(ssce) WAEC (May/June) only in the relevant subjects of their fields of study including English Language and Mathematics. The Certificates should not be more than two (2) years.
• The age limit is from 18 to 20 years.

Criteria for Postgraduate Scholarship:

• All applicants must hold a First Degree with at least 2nd Class Upper Division(2.1)
• The applicants who are previous recipients of Foreign Awards must have completed at least two (2) years post qualification or employment practice in Nigeria.
• All applicants must have completed the mandatory  national youth service ( n.y.s c)
• Age limit is 35 years for Masters and 40 years for Ph.D.
• Evidence of readiness to be released by the employer(if available)
• Applicants for Postgraduate studies should possess a minimum first-degree result of  Second Class Honours Upper Division(2.1). 
• Applicants must be registered full-time students of Federal or State Universities.
• All other applicants (undergraduate, HND, NCE) must be registered full-time students in their second year or above in Federal or State Universities, Polytechnics, Monotechnics, and Colleges of Education. All undergraduate Scholarship applicants (Physically challenged inclusive) must have at least 4.0 Cumulative Grade Points Aggregate (CGPA) on a five (5) point scale or its equivalents or 5.0 on a 7 point scale.

About the award: the countries participating in the scholarships are responsible for each awarded candidate tuition and accommodation fee, while the Nigeria government takes responsibility  for other necessities which includes:

1. Health insurance 
2. Warm clothing 
3. Research grant ( if applicable)

The Nigeria Award (NA) Sustainable development goal(SDG)  Scholarship award is to assist the scholar in the payment of:

• Institutional charges and fees and
• For Personal maintenance.

The sustainable development goal(SDG) scholarships are awarded to girls only.

Criteria necessary for the interview:

All suitable applicants go for their interview at the various venues scheduled for their respective Zones of origin for proper identification. Two sets of the Printed and Completed application forms are usually submitted at the various interview centres with the following attachments:

• Two sets of Photocopy of Educational Certificates and Testimonials of previous schools attended with the originals for verification.
• Only one o’level certificate is accepted i.e SSCE of that particular year or outmost 2 years before, only for undergraduate applicants.
• Two copies of the candidate’s date of birth certificate from the National Population Commission.
• Local government certificate signed, stamped, and dated;
• Four (4) passport-sized coloured white background photographs 
• Academic transcripts and NYSC discharge or Exemption certificates will be required from applicants for the Postgraduate Studies category. 

Duration of scholarship:

The duration of the scholarship offer ranges from 4- 9 years depending on the level of study and the participating country.

 the federal government uses the Bilateral Educational Agreement (BEA) scholarships as a means of supporting the indigenous people of its country for a better academic experience.