The Fulbright student grant from Fulbright Denmark is for U.S. graduate and PhD students who want to spend a full academic year studying or researching in Denmark. It pays DKK 125,000 over ten months. Undergraduates cannot apply, and neither can dual U.S.-Danish citizens.
If you fit the criteria, this is one of the cleaner routes into a Danish year abroad: the money is fixed, the length is fixed, and the main work on your side is finding a host institution that will back you.
Who can apply
The grant is aimed at master's and PhD level. Study in Denmark describes it as a grant for American scholars and postgraduate students at master or PhD level, covering a whole academic year of study or research.
Two exclusions are worth checking before you spend any time on the application. Undergraduates are not eligible. Dual U.S.-Danish citizens are not eligible either. If you hold both passports, look at the Danish state scholarship schemes instead rather than the Fulbright route.
What the grant covers, and what it doesn't
The headline figure on Fulbright Denmark's student page is DKK 125,000 for one academic year, which they count as ten months.
Tuition is the part people get wrong. The page says tuition is covered for the first year only for non-degree students. If you are degree-seeking, you pay full tuition for the remaining years of the degree yourself. So the grant works well as a funded year inside a Danish programme or as a research year, but it is not a four-year funding package.
Whether you pay tuition at all depends on your status. Higher education is free of charge for students from the EU/EEA and Switzerland, and for students entitled to the same status as Danish citizens under EU law. Other full-degree students pay fees set by each institution. If you are a U.S. citizen without EU status, assume you are in the fee-paying group and check the exact figure with the institution, we do not publish a number here because fees are set per institution and per programme.
The host institution is the hard part
You need a strong letter of affiliation from a Danish host institution. That letter is not a formality: it is the piece that makes your application credible, and it is on you to get it.
You also have to apply to that institution and be admitted by it independently of Fulbright. Fulbright does not admit you; the institution decides on admission. So you are running two processes in parallel, and the affiliation letter usually depends on the institution being interested in you first.
Start by browsing universities and shortlisting departments that actually match your research topic, not just the ones with name recognition. Our catalogue currently lists 24 Danish higher education institutions and 422 programmes imported from the Study in Denmark register, so there is more choice than the handful of names most applicants think of first.
When you contact a potential supervisor, be specific. Send a one-page research outline, your CV, and a clear statement of what you want from them: a year of affiliation, a desk, and a letter. Vague emails to generic departmental addresses rarely turn into letters.
How and when to apply
You apply through the Fulbright U.S. Student website, or through your U.S. college if it runs its own campus process. Many colleges have an internal deadline weeks before the national one, so ask your Fulbright adviser early.
The Fulbright Denmark page listed 6 October 2026 as the deadline for the 2027/28 year. Deadlines move each cycle, so check the current date on the Fulbright page or with your campus adviser before you plan around it.
If you are also applying directly to a Danish bachelor's programme as a backup, note that undergraduate applications are coordinated centrally through optagelse.dk but assessed by the institutions. The deadlines are 15 March and 5 July, both at 12 noon CET. That is a separate track from Fulbright and does not replace it.
Other funding worth having on your list
Fulbright is one grant, not the only door. Our scholarship directory collects the schemes Danish institutions run themselves, and they are worth applying to alongside Fulbright because the criteria are different.
- Danish State Scholarships at Aarhus University
- Danish Government Scholarships at the University of Copenhagen
- Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters Scholarships
- DTU Tuition Fee Waiver for International MSc Students
- SDU Tuition Fee Waiver Scholarships (Sønderborg MSc and Vejle BSc)
- Aalborg University Master's Scholarship
Several of these are fee waivers rather than cash stipends, which matters if your main worry is tuition rather than living costs. Read each one carefully for eligibility, because some are tied to specific campuses or programmes.
For a wider view of what is on offer across the country, see all universities in Denmark and check each institution's own scholarship page. Fees and deadlines shown in our catalogue are as listed in the Study in Denmark register, and you must confirm them with the institution.
The practical bits after you win
If you are a U.S. citizen, you are outside the EU/EEA and Switzerland, which normally means you need a residence permit for study before you come. You apply through the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI), and the details are on nyidanmark.dk. SIRI decides on permits; Fulbright and your host institution do not.
Once you are enrolled, expect ECTS credits and national rules on degree structures, teacher qualifications and examinations, all Danish institutions follow the same framework, so a master's year in Denmark is structured similarly wherever you land.
Sources
- Study in Denmark, scholarships
- Fulbright Denmark, Fulbright for students
- Study in Denmark, how to apply
- Study in Denmark, tuition fees and scholarships
- Study in Denmark, residence permits for non-EU/EEA citizens (nyidanmark.dk)
- Study in Denmark, guarantee for a quality experience
- This site's catalogue, imported from the Study in Denmark register (studyindenmark.dk)
Frequently asked questions
Can undergraduates get a Fulbright grant to study in Denmark?
No. Fulbright Denmark's student grant is for U.S. graduate and PhD students, and the page states that undergraduates are not eligible. If you are finishing a bachelor's degree, look at Danish state scholarships or institutional fee waivers instead.
How much is the Fulbright Denmark student grant?
The Fulbright Denmark student page lists DKK 125,000 for one academic year, counted as ten months. Check the current figure on their site, since grant amounts can be revised between cycles.
Does the Fulbright grant cover all my tuition in Denmark?
Not always. Tuition is covered for the first year only for non-degree students. Degree-seeking students pay full tuition for the remaining years, so plan your budget for the years after the grant ends.
Can dual U.S.-Danish citizens apply for the Fulbright grant?
No. Dual U.S.-Danish citizens are ineligible for the Fulbright Denmark student grant. You would need to look at Danish state scholarship schemes or institutional tuition waivers instead.