ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has maintained its position as the world’s top recipient of Erasmus Mundus scholarships for the fifth consecutive year, with students once again earning the highest number of selections under the European Union-funded postgraduate programme.
According to the latest Erasmus Mundus selection cycle data shared through official Erasmus+ channels, Pakistani students were awarded 98 fully funded scholarships in the 2026 cycle, putting the country ahead of all other participating nations. the newThis is what he reported.
South Asian countries dominated the highly competitive scholarship program, with Bangladesh coming in second with 80 scholarship recipients, followed by India with 75. The United States and Italy rounded out the top five with 68 and 67 scholarship recipients, respectively.
In total, 1,872 fully funded scholarships were awarded to students from 135 countries in the last cycle.
The Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters program is considered one of the most competitive international scholarship programs in the world and offers students the opportunity to pursue joint masters at multiple European universities with all major expenses covered.
This achievement also adds to the good results of previous years. In 2025, a total of 114 Pakistani students were awarded scholarships under the Erasmus+ Joint Masters program from a global pool of 2,176 selected candidates representing 137 countries.
Similarly, in 2024, Pakistan produced 189 Erasmus Mundus scholarship winners among 2,603 students selected worldwide from 137 countries.
The Erasmus Mundus programme, funded by the European Union under Erasmus+, supports academic mobility and intercultural learning by allowing students to study in several European countries during the course of their degree programmes. It covers tuition, travel, visa costs and living allowances.
