Bursary Vs Scholarship: Definitions, Types and Benefits

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12 min reading in—Published at Jan 25, 2025

Both bursaries and scholarships are amounts of money granted to students to complete their higher education abroad. These amounts are non-repayable provided under different conditions and follow different selection parameters. This way, both scholarships and bursaries are similar and dissimilar in some extent.

This article contains in-depth details on the differences between the scholarships and bursaries. We will also cover similar topics such as bursary vs. scholarship vs. grant, types of scholarships and bursaries and how bursaries work. But first, we will read about what are scholarships and bursaries.

What is a Scholarship?

Scholarships are financial aid awarded to students with proven extraordinary academic performance. Typically offered either by a college/university, government or external organisations, the scholarship amounts are non-repayable which means that you do not have to repay any amount of scholarship upon the completion of your studies.

Types of Scholarships

Based on the amount of funds provided, there are two types of scholarships - partially-funded and fully-funded scholarships. The partially funded scholarships provide financial aid towards the cost of tuition of students and other expenses of their education, such as books and other miscellaneous costs. The funds awarded toward the tuition fee may just be sufficient to cover the full tuition fee or some parts of it, it depends entirely on the scholarship’s policies and the awarding committee.
The fully-funded scholarships along with covering the complete tuition fees of the students also provide funds towards the living expenses of students.

Bursary Vs Scholarship: Definitions, Types and Benefits

What is a Bursary and How Does it Work?

“What does a bursary mean?” remains a common question among students willing to pursue their higher education abroad. A bursary is any financial aid provided to students who would otherwise not be able to support the cost of their education.

Bursaries are non-repayable and are allocated based on the financial need and/or merit of the applicant. Just like some full-funded scholarships, a bursary covers the living expenses, cost of studying and miscellaneous costs.

The bursaries are awarded either by the government, universities/colleges or private organisations to support the students from economically weaker sections.

Difference Between Scholarship and Bursary

The differences between bursary and scholarship are given below.

Bursary Vs Scholarship
Particulars	Scholarships	Bursaries
Payment	The scholarship fund is auto-deducted for the payment of tuition fees.	Funds are provided enough to cover the educational costs or one-time payments.
Other Benefits	May provide discounts on certain one-time payments or living expenses.	No benefits or discounts are provided. Enough funds are provided to cover the whole cost of studying and associated costs of living.
Nature	Competitive	Non-competitive, often called as “awards”
Offering Body	colleges/ universities, government bodies, external organisations	colleges/ universities, government bodies, external organisations
Types	Merit-based and need-based scholarships Country-specific scholarships Subject/program-specific scholarships College/university-specific scholarships Minority scholarships Other scholarships	Need-based bursaries college/university-based bursary Field of study-based bursary Country-specific bursary
Courses	UG, PG, PhD and Professional Courses	UG, PG, PhD and Professional Courses
Eligibility Criteria	Academic Excellence	Proven Financial Need and/or Merit basis
Amount	Varies according to the type of scholarship	Covers the studying and living costs of studying abroad
Duration	Varies, can last from a year to the entire length of your program.	Initially for a short period (6 months to a year or for a semester), can be renewed if the financial need remains.
Repayable/Non-repayable	Non-repayable	Non-repayable
Application Mode	By direct/indirect application through online official scholarship and university portals.	By direct/indirect application through online official bursary portals.