Partial scholarships cover a portion of study costs — typically tuition, a percentage of tuition, or living expenses but not both. They are less competitive than fully funded awards and are often combined with personal funds, student loans, or family support to make studying abroad affordable.
Partial scholarships vary widely. Some waive a fixed percentage of tuition (e.g. 25%, 50%, or 75% off). Others are flat-amount awards toward tuition or living costs. A third common form is a fee waiver — the scholarship removes application or administrative fees but the student covers tuition themselves. Combining two or three partial scholarships is a realistic strategy that many successful students use.
Partial scholarships work well when (a) your family or savings can cover the remainder, (b) the host country allows international students to work part-time during studies (most do — typically 20 hours per week), or (c) you can stack a partial scholarship with student loans, grants, or a second scholarship. They are also a strong fallback when fully funded scholarships are unrealistic given the program or institution.
On Scholarar, you can filter for partial scholarships and sort by coverage percentage. The AI mentor can also help you build a "funding stack" by suggesting complementary scholarships, work-study programs, and country-specific tuition discounts.
