Nordic Council Scholarship Scheme: Funding for Nordic and Baltic Students

What the Nordic Council scholarship scheme actually is

The Nordic Council of Ministers does not run one single "Nordic scholarship" with a fixed amount and a shared deadline. It funds a network of programmes, the largest of which is Nordplus , which supports lifelong learning, student and staff mobility, and language study across Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and the three Baltic states.

Inside Nordplus, the Nordic Languages sub-programme is the part most relevant if you want funding to study Danish, Norwegian or Swedish as a second language, or to take part in a course, network, or project built around Nordic languages. It funds teachers, student teachers, and other higher education students taking a relevant programme.

The five Nordplus sub-programmes

Nordplus splits into five parts: Nordplus Higher Education, Nordplus Junior, Nordplus Adult, Nordplus Horizontal, and Nordplus Nordic Languages. Each one funds different activities, from student exchange between universities to teacher training and adult education projects. If Nordic-language study is your goal, start with Nordplus Nordic Languages and Nordplus Horizontal, since these two fund language networks and course participation directly.

Eligibility for funding

Eligibility depends on the sub-programme and your home country. In general, you need to be enrolled at, or affiliated with, an eligible higher education institution or school in one of the Nordic or Baltic countries participating in Nordplus. Individual mobility grants, network grants, and project grants each have their own rules, so check the specific call you plan to apply under before you commit time to an application.

Students from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden going to a Nordic language course in another Nordic country typically get a national grant that covers part of travel, board, lodging and course materials. The amount and the process differ by country, since your own national agency, not the Nordic Council of Ministers directly, pays out and administers the grant.

The reciprocal access agreement behind it

A separate but related piece of Nordic cooperation matters here too. Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden signed an agreement on admission to higher education that requires each country to admit applicants from the other four on the same terms as their own citizens for public higher education courses. This does not pay your fees or living costs, but it removes a major barrier: you compete for a place as a domestic applicant, not an international one.

How the application process works

• Find the correct sub-programme for what you want to do: individual mobility, language course, project or network grant.

• Contact your country's Nordplus national agency or your university's international office. They run the actual application round and set the deadline.

• Prepare proof of enrollment or affiliation with an eligible institution, plus a short motivation or project outline depending on the grant type.

• Apply within the national window. Nordplus rounds typically run on an annual cycle, but exact dates differ by country and by grant type, so confirm the date directly with your agency rather than assuming a single shared deadline.

What the money covers

Grants under this system are built to cover extra costs of studying or training away from home rather than replace your main income. Expect support toward travel, course fees, and sometimes accommodation, with the exact figure set by the national agency handling your grant, not by a single fixed Nordic Council of Ministers rate.

If your goal is a full degree in another Nordic country rather than a short course, the reciprocal access agreement and each country's own domestic student finance system matter more for your budget than Nordplus does.

Practical next step

Start at Nordic cooperation on languages for an overview, then go to your home country's Nordplus national agency page for the actual application form and deadline. Doing this in the right order saves you from applying to the wrong call.