The United States hosts more international students than any other country through USA Scholarships for International Students, and its scholarship landscape reflects that scale — government programs, university-specific fellowships, and foundation-funded routes, each with its own process. This hub organizes the major verified programs by type, so you can find the right route for your profile instead of wading through dozens of scattered single-program posts.
Government-Funded: USA Scholarships for International Students
Fulbright
The U.S. government’s flagship international scholarship — but it’s not one program, Fulbright USA scholarship is roughly 160 country-specific processes run through local Fulbright Commissions or embassies. If you only read one thing before applying, make it the country-specific breakdown, not a generic overview: Fulbright Scholarship Guide
University-Specific Flagship Fellowships
Knight-Hennessy Scholars (Stanford University)
Stanford’s largest fully endowed graduate fellowship, funding any full-time graduate degree across Stanford’s seven schools — PhD, JD, MD, MBA, MS, and more — for up to three years.
- 2027 Cohort Knight-Hennessy Scholars deadline: October 6, 2026, 1:00 PM Pacific Time — currently open
- Separate Requirement: You must also apply to, and be accepted by, a Stanford graduate program, with that application due by the earlier of your program’s own deadline or December 1, 2026
- Eligibility: Earned your first bachelor’s degree in January 2020 or later (extended to January 2018 for military veterans); current students eligible if completing their degree by September 2027; no age limit, no institutional endorsement needed, open to all nationalities and fields of study
- Excluded Stanford Programs: The Honors Cooperative Program, Master of Liberal Arts, JSD, MLS, and some coterminal degree cases — confirm your specific program’s eligibility before applying
- Coverage: Full tuition, living and academic stipend, annual travel stipend, one-time relocation allowance, and a structured leadership development program
- History: Announced in 2016 with a founding gift from Nike co-founder Phil Knight and former Stanford president John Hennessy; welcomed its first cohort in 2018
Common mistake to flag clearly: treating the Knight-Hennessy application as sufficient on its own. It isn’t — a strong Knight-Hennessy application without a completed, accepted Stanford graduate program application gets you nowhere, and vice versa. Both are mandatory, separately.
Stanford General Scholarships
Beyond Knight-Hennessy, Stanford offers program-specific financial aid and merit scholarships across its schools — these vary significantly by department and degree level. Flagged for its own verification pass — see below
Yale University Scholarships
Yale runs several distinct funding routes for international students across its schools, plus specific programs like the Yale Young African Scholars Programme and Yale Peace Fellowship. Given multiple separate Yale posts currently exist on the site, these need to be audited together to check for the same duplicate/fragmentation pattern found in Knight-Hennessy before being linked here with full confidence. Flagged for its own verification pass — see below
Foundation and Government-Adjacent Fellowships
ACI Foundation Scholarships and Fellowships
$10,000 fellowships and $5,000 scholarships for concrete-related degree students at institutions in the USA, Canada, and Mexico, plus a separate MENA/Saudi Arabia award track: ACI Foundation Scholarships and Fellowships
Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program (UC Berkeley)
Funds Master’s-level study for students from Sub-Saharan Africa at UC Berkeley specifically — one of several Mastercard Foundation partner universities globally, each with its own terms: Mastercard Foundation Scholarship at UC Berkeley
The Gates Scholarship
A fully funded undergraduate award for U.S. high school seniors — worth knowing this is for U.S. citizens/permanent residents/eligible noncitizens only, not international applicants, but relevant if your audience includes US-domestic Pell-eligible students: The Gates Scholarship
Programs Requiring Their Own Verification Pass
The following USA-related posts exist on the site but haven’t been through this project’s verification process yet. Listed here so this hub can eventually link to all of them with confidence — treat each as a “check before fully trusting” item until individually audited:
- Yale University Scholarships
- AAUW International Fellowships
- Jack Kent Cooke Foundation College Scholarship Program
- Boston University Presidential Scholarship
- Clark University Scholarships
- VCU International Student Scholarship
- New Jersey Institute of Technology Merit Awards
- Woodrow Wilson Center Fellowship
- Humphrey Fellowship Program
- Critical Language Scholarship
- Hansen Leadership Institute Fellowship
- World Bank Legal Internship Program
- IMF Fund Paid Internship Program
- USAID Summer Pathways Student Trainee Program
- American College of Surgeons Medical Scholarships
- Global UGRAD Exchange Program
- The Africa-China Initiative Postdoctoral Fellowship
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Fulbright the only US government scholarship for international students?
No, though it’s the largest and most well-known. University-specific fellowships like Knight-Hennessy and foundation-funded programs like ACI Foundation and Mastercard Foundation operate independently of any single government scheme.
Do I need to apply to Knight-Hennessy and Stanford separately?
Yes. A Knight-Hennessy application and a Stanford graduate program application are both mandatory and submitted separately — neither substitutes for the other.
Is the Gates Scholarship open to international students?
No. It’s restricted to U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and other eligible noncitizens — not open to international applicants.
What’s the deadline for Knight-Hennessy Scholars?
October 6, 2026, 1:00 PM Pacific Time, for the 2027 cohort — currently open.
Explore More
This guide is part of our regional scholarship hub series. [Back to Fully Funded Scholarships for International Students →]
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