July 2024 – Education Expo Dawn

Top 10 Scholarships to Study Abroad for Pakistani Students

Posted on July 28, 2024December 16, 2025 by Shanzeh Rashid

Being an international student from Pakistan is certainly not the easiest task. With high costs and a complicated process, Pakistani students often feel alienated, confused, and simply underprepared. Do not worry we have you covered. There is certainly no mountain high enough to deter Pakistani youth so to help you with your search here is a list of the top 10 scholarship programs given to Pakistani students worldwide.

The Commonwealth Scholarships

These cover everything from tuition, visa, flights, insurance, and an additional living stipend. They exist at the masters level, and are offered to Pakistani students looking to study at any U.K. university!

The Chevening scholarship

The Chevening scholarship is fully funded, it lets you study at any university in the U.K., and has no upper age limit. We suggest applying after you have garnered some work experience post undergrad and you’re good to go!

Erasmus Mundus

Erasmus is a unique program where you study at a few universities across Europe (at least 3). It allows you to complete your masters at the top EU institutions. Scholarships for this program are available for Pakistani students and they cover everything down to a living stipend if you get them!

Fulbright

This is probably the scholarship you have heard the most about. Available to all Pakistani Students who have completed at least 16 years of Education in Pakistan, the Fulbright masters and PhD program covers your tuition, textbooks, airfare, and living within the United States!

Australia Awards Scholarship

Entirely funded by the Australian government, this scholarship allows you full tuition, a living stipend, return airfare, and overseas student healthcare coverage for your period of study! To apply, you must have a strong academic background, and be prepared for an interview with the Australian embassy.

DAAD scholarships in Germany

These scholarships cover full fees, living, and travel allowances! But the university you attend has to be one of the pre-approved institutions from their website, all of which are top-ranked and well-received for your masters.

MEXT scholarships in Japan

Funded wholly by the Japanese government, these are fully funded with additional stipends too! These are incredibly competitive, but worth every l effort that goes into the interviews, documents, and academic screenings. Unlike the other scholarships mentioned here, MEXT exists at the undergraduate and graduate level, but like some of the rest – you have to choose from a pre-approved institution list!

Cambridge Trust Scholarships

Ranging from partial scholarship, to full with an additional coverage of travel and living costs – Cambridge Trust scholarships support promising Pakistani students as they pursue a masters or PhD at the University of Cambridge.

Stanford International Fellowships

With a preference for individuals from countries like Pakistan, Stanford’s master and doctoral program scholarships include a competitive application process but high payout in the end – all in the form of full funding, travel allowance, a monthly living stipend, and the chance to have a Stanford degree.

Korean Government Scholarship Program

KGSP covers full tuition fees, round-trip airfare, and living costs – all while giving you the chance to study and research at a South Korean university! These scholarships are particularly common amongst STEM students, so if you’re one of them, apply as soon as possible!

After Graduation in UK: Next Steps and Career Options

Posted on July 25, 2024December 16, 2025 by Shanzeh Rashid

Did you finally wrap up your undergrad after three to four years of gruelling academics? Looking for further education or lost in the graduate job search? Confused about what to do after graduation in the UK? We list down the options for your next steps and career options.

Masters: If you fancy a career in sciences, you may want to follow up your undergrad in the UK with graduate and postgraduate degrees. For instance, further studies in STEM fields would increase your employability. In the United Kingdom, most masters programmes are one-year long. Imperial College, King’s College, and Bristol University are good options for a career in STEM. For humanities students, UCL, LSE and University of Edinburgh are great fits – they’re all interdisciplinary and help you evolve beyond just academia.
A gap year: If you’re still unsure, take a year off to travel after graduation to inspire some personal growth or find freelance opportunities as you go. Take up hobbies that can potentially turn into career options you can use to delve into the job market, and emerge as a stronger professional candidate. A gap year well spent is anything but a waste of time, and can go incredibly far in promoting your career.
Training programmes: Opt for graduate schemes such as internships for recent graduates in the UK or fellowships that would ease you into the workforce, and simplify the graduate job search. Many companies in the UK offer training programmes that span over a year or two and include rotations within the organisation, enabling the graduates to immerse themselves in different fields. These schemes usually culminate in full-time employment.

Though the steps you take now can be formative for your career, remember that the market is vast – and whatever you choose to do after graduation in the UK, all that matters is that you’re able to derive satisfaction out of your career in the long – term. Good luck!

Difference Between Scholarships & Grants

Posted on July 2, 2024December 16, 2025 by Shanzeh Rashid

Grants and Scholarships are both forms of higher education funding

One dollar is equivalent to 300rs, and so you, as the average Pakistani student and study – abroad aspirant probably need financial aid, in some form of the other. This then has likely pushed you down internet rabbit holes leading to articles like these where we show you the difference between two primary types of funding: scholarships, and grants.

Application and Eligibility: Scholarships and Grants

Scholarships are in most cases awarded by the university you’re hoping to attend, in some cases they may come from private organisations or the government of your home country. Most universities have scholarships listed on their website that you can easily check out, but they may also often give you a small entrance scholarship on a case by case basis. Private organisations that give scholarships are often those that expect you to work for them after you graduate, often for a set period of time – so keep that commitment in mind!

Grants, on the other hand, are funds given by governments, institutions, and organisations too – for specific purposes. With a scholarship, the goal is to simply cover your education. With a grant, the goal is to cover your education so that you can later make a specific contribution to your field – in the form of research, development or anything that leaves your field stronger than it was before you.

Scholarship applications and grant applications are both more or less the same – both require essays, transcripts, letters of recommendation. The specifics, of course, vary across institutions. Scholarships are often more common than grants, for grants, you must submit an application that’s focused on a smaller area in your field – and with a more personalised application process, comes an even more competitive one. Be prepared!

Once you get the scholarship – maintaining it requires keeping up your GPA, or meeting certain extracurricular goals. Grants may not have such a fixed approach – but within grants, you are expected to have a greater contribution by the end. As in – you must produce meaningful research that matches with your initial proposal. The initial process of applying for a grant involves that you make a proposal with an expected budget, that also clearly demonstrates your research goals – and it is these goals that you are required to meet.

Types of Scholarships:

(1) need based scholarships: these tend to be the most helpful, because they are given after an assessment of your income and assets, and tend to cover your needs regardless of qualification (2) merit – based scholarships (3) athletic scholarships (4) minority scholarships – these are meant to uplift of students from underrepresented backgrounds – so as to give them a push up the social mobility ladder (5) career or major specific scholarships.

Types of Grants:

(1) competitive research grants: awarded through processes wherein researchers submit proposals, and the most promising ones receive funding (2) mobility grants: these allow researchers to attend conferences, do workshops, and participate in practical field work on an often international level (3) research innovation grants: these focus on boosting new ideas in the field, and are reserved for the most cutting edge, and unique researchers (4) need – based grants: these are grants where your financial status is a consideration, but these are still rare and mostly based on the same merit – based criteria.

Characteristically, scholarships exist at the undergraduate and postgraduate level. Grants for research exist mostly at the postgraduate level, when a student is able to show potential in their field. So you’ll have to get working on a proposal asap!

At the undergraduate level – any grant is based almost entirely on need, and therefore they aren’t as many as scholarships, given that the distinction between the two at that point isn’t very important then.

So, which is better? The answer is both! As a student looking to study abroad in this economy, you should be applying for every single means of available funding. But, of course – your time is precious! So focus on seeking out opportunities that align most with the profile you’ve established, and the work you’ve put in.