BI Presidential Scholarship 2027 — Funded MSc in Norway
Fully funded tuition plus living-cost grant Master scholarship in Norway for International students students 2027
Apply now: a full tuition waiver and living-cost support for a two-year MSc at Norway's leading business school in Oslo.
Eligibility
- Top-grade applicants to the first year of a BI MSc in the autumn intake; one scholarship letter and CV uploaded in the admission portal's scholarship tab; merit-based; deadline 1 March for all master's applicants.
BI Norwegian Business School in Oslo runs one of the most generous entrance scholarship programmes in the Nordic region, and its flagship is the BI Presidential Scholarship: a full tuition waiver for a two-year Master of Science programme, with a living-cost grant for international recipients. Unlike most European awards, you do not compete against the whole world in one pool; every admitted strong applicant who files the one-page scholarship letter with their admission application is considered for all BI awards at once.
What the award actually covers
The Presidential Scholarship pays the full tuition fee for the MSc, which otherwise runs tens of thousands of Norwegian kroner per semester, and international recipients can also receive NOK 50,000 per semester toward living costs, which makes this one of the few Nordic business-school awards that reaches beyond tuition. Award decisions for international master's applicants roll through the spring, with most announced by late April, and the scholarship continues for the second year subject to satisfactory progress under BI's scholarship regulations.
Who can apply
You need to be applying for the first year of a BI MSc programme in the autumn intake, with top grades, and BI states plainly that scholarships are awarded on academic excellence, not financial need. International applicants apply in the scholarship tab of the admission application portal, combining the scholarship letter and CV into a single PDF. You cannot apply once you are already enrolled, and Norwegian citizens or those with a Norwegian bachelor's degree are treated as domestic for awarding purposes.
A quick self-check before 1 March:
- Is your weighted average genuinely at the top of your cohort? - Have you chosen your BI MSc programme and started the admission application? - Can your transcript be read by a Norwegian admissions office without explanation gaps?
The deadline
The scholarship deadline for all master's applicants is 1 March 2027, which is also the admission deadline for international applicants to Norwegian business schools. Because scholarship decisions for international applicants are made on a rolling basis through spring, late applications are not just penalised, they may simply arrive after the money is committed. Decisions are sent by email to all applicants, so check spam folders from April onward.
How to apply
Apply for admission to your chosen MSc through BI's application portal, and in the scholarship tab upload one PDF containing your scholarship letter and CV. The letter is short by design, one page, and its job is to argue academic merit: your grades, your standing in your class, and the specific reasons your profile fits the BI programme you chose. No separate letter is needed for the Presidential Scholarship itself; one letter enters you for every BI award you qualify for, including the Master International Scholarship and the Women in Finance and Tech Scholarship.
The official scholarship page, with the deadlines and the full list of awards, is here:
https://www.bi.edu/programmes-and-individual-courses/scholarships/
Materials checklist
- Admission application to a BI MSc programme, autumn intake - Scholarship letter, one page, arguing academic merit - CV, combined with the letter into a single PDF - Certified transcripts from your bachelor's degree - English proficiency documentation required for admission - Any programme-specific documents your chosen MSc requests
Common mistakes to avoid
The most common is missing the March 1 alignment: many applicants assume scholarships follow the admission deadline by weeks, when in fact the two close on the same day and the scholarship tab cannot be edited afterwards. The second is sending a generic letter; BI reviewers see hundreds of "passionate about business" letters, and the ones that advance quantify grades and ranking. The third is underestimating living costs in Oslo even with the stipend, so plan accommodation early because BI housing and Oslo rentals both fill well before the semester starts.
Tips to win
Choose the MSc that matches your bachelor's closely, because admission strength and scholarship strength are the same decision here. Put numbers in the first two lines of the letter: class rank, GPA on your own scale with the maximum stated, and any academic prize. Apply in the earliest admission round you can manage, since international awards roll out through spring and early files are read early. And if you miss the Presidential level, still apply, because BI's tier of international awards means several hundred strong applicants end up with some level of tuition support rather than nothing.
Use the single-letter rule to your advantage rather than seeing it as a limitation. Because one letter enters you for every BI award you qualify for, you should name the awards you are targeting in the first paragraph and say briefly why each criterion fits you: the Presidential Scholarship on overall academic standing, the Women in Finance and Tech Scholarship on gender and field, the A. Wilhelmsen Foundation Scholarship if you are preparing the extra letter it requires. The reviewers read the same letter for each award, so a letter written around your strongest verifiable evidence wins on every track at once.
Also read the small print on how BI defines "international" before you assume your category. Candidates with international citizenship who completed their bachelor's degree in Norway are counted as domestic for scholarship purposes, which changes both the pool you compete in and the awards you can hold. If that is your situation, email BI's admissions office early and ask which track applies to you, rather than building an application around an assumption. And keep April free for decisions: international master's awards are made on a rolling basis through spring, so respond to any offer quickly, because the acceptance deadline in the notification is enforced and declining-by-silence passes the money to the next candidate on the list.
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If you want an OEAC advisor to sharpen your one-page scholarship letter before 1 March, send it in and we will work through it together.
Last updated: 13 November 2026
Source: https://www.bi.edu/programmes-and-individual-courses/scholarships/
Always confirm the deadline and eligibility on the official page before you apply. Scholarship dates change between rounds, and this listing is a summary — the provider's own page is the authoritative source. OEAC Network lists scholarships for free and is not an agent for any university or funding body.
