Funded PhD for Moroccan Students (2026)

Most "PhD funding for Moroccan students" searches default to the same US and UK-centric mix used for other countries, Fulbright, Chevening, Commonwealth, without accounting for where Moroccan graduate students actually go. The real numbers point somewhere else first, and the named-program picture that follows looks noticeably different from what a generic Africa-wide scholarship list would suggest.

The France reality, in real numbers

Moroccan students form the single largest foreign-national group studying in France, with 42,015 enrolled in 2024-2025, roughly 10% of all international students in the country, according to Campus France's own mobility reporting. That figure has declined for three consecutive years, from 45,162 in 2022-2023 to 43,354 in 2023-2024 and now 42,015, but France remains the dominant destination by a wide margin, with 56% of Moroccan students enrolled at universities, 19% at business schools, and 14% at engineering schools. France's own funding mechanism, the Bourses du Gouvernement Français (BGF), supports both master's and PhD study, and a bilateral agreement allocated 200 BCS scholarships for 2024-2025 specifically for Moroccan students admitted to French engineering and business grandes écoles.

Fulbright: a master's program, and a split-site PhD model

Fulbright's Study Grant, administered locally by MACECE, the Moroccan-American Commission for Educational and Cultural Exchange, funds master's degree study in the US, MBA applicants specifically need at least a year of work experience. Doctoral-level Moroccan researchers are served through a separate Fulbright Joint-Supervision Program, a visiting-researcher, split-site model that requires securing a US host professor rather than a traditional standalone funded PhD track. MACECE reports over 3,000 scholarships awarded across more than 30 programs since the early 1980s, with an alumni network of around 4,000. Our Fulbright Foreign Student Program application guide covers the general selection mechanics that apply on top of Morocco's specific program structure.

Chevening: real, but not excluded for the reason people think

Morocco has its own official Chevening country page, and Chevening funds a one-year taught master's degree at any UK university, with the standard requirement of two years of work experience and a two-year return commitment. One myth worth correcting directly: some scholarship blogs claim Morocco is excluded from Chevening because it isn't a Commonwealth country, this is false. Chevening is a UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office program entirely separate from Commonwealth of Nations membership; the real limitation for Moroccan applicants is that Chevening simply doesn't fund a PhD, for any country. Our guide to writing a Chevening personal statement covers its application format.

Not eligible: the Commonwealth Scholarship

Morocco has never been a British colony and is not a member state of the Commonwealth of Nations, for an entirely separate reason from the Chevening myth above, so it doesn't appear on the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission's eligible-country lists at all.

Australia Awards and Erasmus Mundus: both master's only

Morocco is eligible under the Australia Awards Africa program, which is master's-focused, typically requiring applicants to be at least 25 years old with five or more years of post-graduate work experience. Moroccan applicants also qualify for Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters as a standard non-EU "Partner Country" scholar, eligible for the full funding package on any joint program, master's-only by design since Erasmus Mundus has no joint-PhD equivalent.

DAAD's Middle East and North Africa track: distinct from the Sub-Saharan Africa programme

Germany's DAAD runs a separate In-Region Scholarship Programme specifically for the Middle East and North Africa, distinct from its better-known Sub-Saharan Africa in-region track that appears in guides for countries like Ethiopia. Morocco is grouped within this MENA track alongside countries like Jordan, Lebanon, Tunisia, and the Palestinian Territories. It funds both master's and doctoral study, aimed mainly at future university faculty and public-sector staff, funded by Germany's development ministry, with study taking place in-region or partly in Germany, worth checking DAAD's own current listings directly for exact award numbers, which vary by cycle.

ONOUSC: Morocco's own outbound scholarship, and a common mix-up to avoid

Morocco runs its own outbound scholarship program through ONOUSC, the Office National des Œuvres Universitaires, Sociales et Culturelles, under Decree n°2.18.512, covering engineering, master's, and PhD- level study abroad, with priority given specifically to co-supervised, or cotutelle, PhD candidates who don't already hold other funding. A common mix-up worth avoiding: AMCI, the Agence Marocaine de Coopération Internationale, is not this program, AMCI funds foreign students to come study in Morocco, the opposite direction, so don't confuse the two when researching Morocco's own government scholarship options.

Where professor outreach fits alongside all of this

Outside of ONOUSC's cotutelle priority and DAAD's MENA track, most of the named programs above either fund a master's only or route PhD-level support through a split-site model requiring you to already have a host supervisor lined up. A direct relationship with a professor whose research fits your background is useful groundwork for nearly every route on this list, not a separate alternative to it, since Fulbright's Joint- Supervision model and ONOUSC's cotutelle preference both effectively require one already. GradScoutFunding searches professors by field and country, confirms they're actively publishing, and drafts a personalized outreach email grounded in a real recent paper of theirs, for you to review and send yourself. Your first 2 credits are free, no card required.

Building a plan across destinations

Given how heavily Moroccan graduate mobility concentrates on France, it's worth treating BGF and a French grande école or university application as a serious default option to research early, alongside DAAD's MENA track and ONOUSC's cotutelle route if a genuinely funded PhD, not a master's, is your specific target. Map every program's deadline you're eligible for onto one calendar, and start securing a potential supervisor relationship now, since it strengthens a cotutelle application, a Fulbright Joint-Supervision case, and a general DAAD or professor-funded application all at the same time.

Common questions