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Aga Khan Foundation International Scholarship Programme

The Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) International Scholarship Programme is a well-known 50% grant / 50% interest-free loan award for postgraduate study at top global universities — and Sri Lankan students ask us about it constantly. The honest answer is that **Sri Lanka is not an eligible country**. AKF runs the programme only through its country offices in Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Kenya, the Kyrgyz Republic, Madagascar, Mozambique, New Zealand, Pakistan, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania and Uganda. In Canada, Portugal and the USA, applications are accepted only from people originally from one of those countries. There is no AKF country office in Sri Lanka and no South Asia office that accepts Sri Lankan nationals. We keep this page up because the scholarship is widely mis-listed on aggregator sites as open to Sri Lankans, and we would rather you spent those weeks on an award you can actually win — see the Commonwealth, Chevening and Gates Cambridge routes, all of which name Sri Lanka explicitly.

Not open to Sri Lankan nationals — no application route exists from Sri Lanka

Aga Khan Foundation (tenable at top global universities)

External Organization-funded

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Sri Lanka eligible?

No — not on the country list

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Award (eligible countries)

50% grant + 50% interest-free loan

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Level

Master's and PhD

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Where it does run

15 countries incl. Pakistan, India, Bangladesh

info How this award actually works

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This is a separate, highly competitive application

Awards from external organisations like this one run their own selection round against applicants from across the world, and success rates are usually in the low single digits. Lanka Scholar does not administer it and cannot submit it for you. Treat it as a bonus on top of a funded study plan — never as the plan itself.

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Who awards it

Aga Khan Foundation (tenable at top global universities) — not Lanka Scholar. We are not the awarding body and cannot grant, reserve or guarantee this award.

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How you are considered

Through a separate application round run by the funder, with its own forms, deadlines and shortlisting. You submit it yourself — it is not part of a university admission application.

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What it covers

Not available to Sri Lankan applicants. Read the terms carefully: even fully-funded awards rarely cover every cost, and any shortfall is yours to fund.

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Where we come in

We help you judge whether this award is worth your time, and build a realistic admission plan that works whether or not you win it.

fact_check Eligibility Criteria

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Sri Lanka is not on the eligible-country list

AKF runs the International Scholarship Programme only in Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Kenya, the Kyrgyz Republic, Madagascar, Mozambique, New Zealand, Pakistan, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania and Uganda. Sri Lanka has never been added. Applications are made to an AKF country office, and there is no office that covers Sri Lankan nationals — including the Pakistan office, which serves Pakistan only.

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Dual nationals may qualify

If you hold citizenship of one of the eligible countries in addition to Sri Lankan citizenship, you may apply through that country's AKF office. Applying from Canada, Portugal or the USA is possible only if you are originally from an eligible country.

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What to apply for instead

Sri Lanka is explicitly named on the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission's eligible list, on Chevening's, and on Gates Cambridge's international round. Those are the closest equivalents in value and prestige, and Sri Lankan students win them every year.

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Why this page exists

Several scholarship aggregators list AKF as open to Sri Lankans. It is not. We have left the page up with the correction rather than deleting it, so that a search for this scholarship reaches an accurate answer.

account_tree Application Process

There is no application route from Sri Lanka

AKF accepts applications only through its own country offices, and none of them cover Sri Lanka. A Sri Lankan passport holder resident in Sri Lanka cannot submit an application to this programme.

Check the current list before you rule it out permanently

AKF reviews where it operates. Confirm the current country list on the official AKF site before assuming it has changed — do not rely on aggregator blogs, which are the source of the incorrect Sri Lanka listing.

Redirect your effort

Commonwealth Scholarships (Master's, PhD, Shared and Split-site), Chevening, and Gates Cambridge all name Sri Lanka. Their deadlines fall between August and December — talk to us about which fits your profile.

About the Aga Khan Foundation

The Aga Khan Foundation is part of the Aga Khan Development Network, one of the largest private development networks in the world. The International Scholarship Programme has run since 1969 — but it has always been delivered through a fixed set of country offices, and Sri Lanka is not among them.

15

Eligible Countries

Since 1969

Programme Running

Not SL

Sri Lanka Not Eligible

Looking for a scholarship because of the cost?

Then start here instead. Scholarships are competitive, usually partial, and decided by someone else — they are the least reliable way to make studying abroad affordable. Your destination and course choice move the number far more, and both are entirely within your control.

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