20 Scholarships for Studying AI in the USA

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20 Scholarships for Studying AI in the USA

The United States is building Artificial Intelligence revolution, and there are several scholarships that can put you in the room where it happens. This is a country that can be described as the global heart of artificial intelligence. It’s home to the labs and companies building today’s AI models and to universities like MIT, Stanford and Carnegie Mellon that train the field’s top researchers. Studying in the United States is expensive, but there are several fundings on offer ranging from full-ride university awards to tech-company PhD fellowships. Here are 20 scholarships that can help you study AI, machine learning or data science in the USA.

Government and Foundation Awards

1. Fulbright Foreign Student Program The U.S. Government’s flagship exchange program funds graduate study and research in the USA for students from more than 150 countries. You apply through the Fulbright Commission or U.S. Embassy in your home country, and deadlines vary by country.
2. AAUW International Fellowships Women who aren’t U.S. citizens can receive US$20,000 for a STEM master’s degree or US$25,000 for a doctorate. The 2027-28 round closed on 17 September 2026, and applications usually open each August.
3. Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans Immigrants and children of immigrants pursuing graduate school in the U.S. can receive up to US$90,000 over two years. It’s ideal if you already live in the U.S. and plan a master’s or PhD in AI.
4. Hertz Fellowship One of the most prestigious PhD awards in applied science and engineering, worth up to US$250,000 over five years. It’s limited to U.S. citizens and permanent residents.

Universities With Full Aid or Merit Awards

America’s richest universities don’t offer classic “scholarships” for undergraduates. Instead, a handful admit international students without looking at their finances and then cover 100% of what their family can’t pay. That makes them some of the best-funded routes into a computer science or AI degree anywhere.

5. Knight-Hennessy Scholars at Stanford Open to applicants from every country, this covers up to three years of tuition for any Stanford graduate degree, plus a living stipend and annual travel. The 2027 deadline was 6 October 2026, and the round typically closes each early October.
6. MIT Financial Aid MIT is need-blind and meets full need for all students, international included. Families earning under US$200,000 pay no tuition, and those under US$100,000 typically pay nothing at all.
7. Harvard College Financial Aid International students qualify for exactly the same aid as Americans, and about a quarter of Harvard families pay nothing to attend.
8. Yale Financial Aid for International Applicants Yale is need-blind worldwide and meets 100% of need without loans. Families earning under US$100,000 have the full cost of attendance covered.
9. Princeton Financial Aid for International Students Princeton is need-blind for international applicants and meets full need with grants, not loans.
10. Dartmouth Need-Blind International Admissions Since 2022 Dartmouth has admitted international students need-blind and met 100% of every admitted student’s demonstrated need.
11. Amherst College Financial Aid This top liberal arts college is need-blind for international applicants and meets full need. It’s a strong choice if you want a small-class computer science degree.
12. Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program at UC Berkeley Talented African students with financial need can study at UC Berkeley with comprehensive support. Check the program’s eligibility page, and use only official channels, as scam sites imitate it.
13. Arizona State University New American University Scholarship ASU, a leader in applied AI, awards this merit scholarship to strong first-year students, renewable for up to eight semesters. Amounts vary by campus and program.
14. University of Arizona Global Wildcat Award A competitive tuition award for international undergraduates, renewable for four years. It requires a separate application.

AI and Tech-Company PhD Fellowships

Once you’re in a U.S. PhD program, the companies building AI will pay you to research it. Most of these are open to international students already enrolled at a U.S. university.

15. NVIDIA Graduate Fellowship Worth up to US$60,000 for stipend and tuition, plus a research internship. It covers generative AI, language models, robotics and computer vision, and is open to international PhD students. The 2027-28 deadline is 30 October 2026, so move fast.
16. Google PhD Fellowship U.S. and Canadian fellows receive US$85,000 a year for up to two years, plus a Google Research mentor. Your university must nominate you; the 2026 window ran from March to April.
17. Microsoft Research Fellowship PhD students at U.S. universities can win US$47,000, including travel to collaborate with Microsoft researchers. Unlike most company fellowships, you can apply on your own behalf.
18. Apple Scholars in AI/ML Apple funds later-stage PhD students with about US$40,000 a year plus US$5,000 for research travel, along with mentorship and internship opportunities. Scholars are nominated by invited universities.
19. Bloomberg Data Science PhD Fellowship This covers full tuition, a US$45,000 stipend and a paid summer research internship, renewable for up to three years. Bloomberg doesn’t sponsor visas, so international students need their own work authorization, such as F-1 OPT.
20. Qualcomm Innovation Fellowship Qualcomm backs PhD students’ forward-thinking research ideas, with AI and machine learning among its core areas. Check the page for this year’s call.

Tips to Boost Your Chances

• Know the U.S. funding model. Most PhD programs in computer science fund admitted students through research or teaching assistantships, so a strong PhD application is itself a scholarship application.
• Start a year ahead. Many deadlines, including Knight-Hennessy, AAUW and NVIDIA, fall in September to December for study starting the following year.
• Prepare your tests. Have TOEFL, IELTS or Duolingo scores ready, and check whether your programs require the SAT or GRE.
• Fill in the CSS Profile carefully. Need-based aid at schools like MIT, Harvard and Yale depends on it.
• Beware of scams. Real scholarships never charge an application fee. Always apply through the official links.