Sciences Po Émile Boutmy Scholarship 2027 — EUR 18,500 a Year for Master's Study

Sciences Po names its scholarship after the man who founded the school in 1872, and it still works the same way: the money is decided at the same moment as admission, by the same committee, from the same file. There is no separate scholarship essay and no second portal. For a non-EU student who wants a two-year master's in Paris, that makes the admissions application the only document that matters.

The 2027 cycle is halfway through. The first scholarship committee sat on 18 October 2026 and has already closed. The second sits on 29 November 2026, and that is the date that matters now.

WHAT THE SCHOLARSHIP COVERS

The Émile Boutmy scholarship gives a master's recipient a EUR 18,500 exemption from tuition fees for each of the two years of the programme, so EUR 37,000 across the degree. It is an exemption, not a stipend: nothing is paid to you and living costs in Paris are entirely yours to fund.

The amount is set at admission and Sciences Po warns that it may be recalculated annually if tuition fees rise. The scholarship is lost if you fail to validate the academic year, and it is lost if you defer admission. It also cannot be combined with other Sciences Po or partner scholarships, including the Mastercard Foundation award, CARE, the Fondation de France/René Seydoux award and the China Scholarship Council. It can be combined with external funding such as Eiffel, AEFE or French government scholarships — a detail that matters to applicants who are also chasing a French government award.

WHO CAN APPLY — ELIGIBILITY

Four conditions have to hold at once. You must be a first-time applicant to Sciences Po. You must come from a non-EU state. Your household must not file taxes within the European Union — and Sciences Po is explicit that it looks at the tax residence of your parents, not at yours. And you must be admitted to an eligible programme.

The exclusions are where most people discover they are ineligible after spending weeks on a file. Swiss and Norwegian nationals are excluded. Dual citizens holding an EU passport are excluded. Quebec candidates are excluded from the master's award. Candidates for the Joint Master's in Journalism and International Affairs and the Master in Journalism are excluded, as are most dual-degree candidates, with narrow exceptions for the Columbia journalism dual degree and the Fudan and Peking University routes open to Chinese nationals. One-year master's programmes, PhD study and exchange students are all outside the scheme.

Self-check questions: have I ever applied to Sciences Po before, in any programme? Do my parents file taxes in an EU country, even if I do not live there? Is my programme a two-year master's rather than a one-year or dual degree? Have I selected Émile Boutmy in the financial information section of the application form? Can I live in Paris on my own funds, since the award pays fees only?

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THE DEADLINE AND WHAT HAPPENS AFTER IT

The second master's committee closes on 29 November 2026, and results are published before 2 March 2027. The general admission deadline for most two-year master's programmes is later, on 21 February 2027, but that later date does not extend the scholarship: Sciences Po states plainly that applicants for Boutmy must submit before the scholarship deadline regardless of which programme they choose. If you apply to two programmes with different deadlines, the earliest one governs.

Only admitted students are reviewed for the scholarship, which produces an awkward sequence: you may receive an admission decision and then wait weeks for the funding decision. Sciences Po advises accepting the offer while waiting, because a deferral request forfeits the scholarship permanently.

HOW TO APPLY, STEP BY STEP

First, choose an eligible two-year master's programme and read its own language and document requirements, since these vary by school. Second, create an account in the Sciences Po admissions portal and complete the academic, professional and personal sections. Third, in the "Financial information" section select the Émile Boutmy scholarship — this is the only place the request exists. Fourth, attach the language test result the programme requires, plus transcripts, degree certificates, CV, references and any programme-specific material such as a GRE or GMAT score. Fifth, pay the application fee and submit a complete file before 29 November 2026, 11:59pm Paris time.

Your materials checklist: bachelor's diploma and transcripts with a grading explanation, English or French language evidence at the level the programme requires, two academic references, CV, motivation statement as specified by the programme, passport identity page, and certified translations for anything not already in English or French.

TIPS THAT ACTUALLY MOVE THE NEEDLE

Because the scholarship is awarded on the admission file, the "why this programme" section is doing double duty. Sciences Po's schools are professionally oriented, so a statement that names the policy problem you want to work on and the specific master's courses that address it will read better than one about the school's reputation.

Second, mind the household-tax rule before you invest effort. It is the single most common disqualifier for otherwise strong applicants from mixed-nationality families. Third, if you are applying in November, treat the language test as the critical path: a result that arrives in December cannot be attached to a file that closed in November.

MISTAKES THAT GET APPLICATIONS DROPPED

Applying after admission, or during your studies, for a scholarship that is only available at the point of application.

Submitting an incomplete file. Sciences Po's platform does not invalidate incomplete applications automatically; it simply does not assess them.

Assuming the general February admission deadline also covers the scholarship. It does not.

Applying for a one-year master's or most dual degrees.

Combining Boutmy with another Sciences Po award, which the rules forbid.

If your household's tax position is ambiguous, resolve it before you write anything else. An OEAC advisor can check your eligibility against the published criteria and the programme list before you spend a cycle on a file that cannot be funded.

Official deadlines and application route: https://www.sciencespo.fr/admissions/en/graduate/international-admissions/deadlines/

Source - Sciences Po, the Émile Boutmy scholarship: https://www.sciencespo.fr/students/en/fees-funding/bursaries-financial-aid/emile-boutmy-scholarship/

Photo: Wikimedia Commons file IEP de Paris, 27 rue Saint-Guillaume, Paris 7e.jpg — author and licence at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:IEP_de_Paris%2C_27_rue_Saint-Guillaume%2C_Paris_7e.jpg

Last updated: 23 October 2026