The International Open University (IOU) has spent more than a decade educating students who are motivated to seek an education to better their lives and uplift their communities. Deeply rooted in the ethos of “Changing the Nation through Education”, IOU is committed to breaking down the barriers to education that exist in our world for disadvantaged students and transcending all borders.

IOU Chancellor, Dr. Bilal Philips, remains a driving force to make higher education available to the masses and has spent decades putting it within the grasp of most students. For this reason, IOU offers a multitude of scholarships to further help students achieve success on their educational journeys.

The primary criterion that all scholarship applicants must have, is being able to prove that they are unable to afford the course fees, and either procure an Imam’s recommendation letter or approval from one of IOU’s representatives.

General Scholarships

The general scholarships are available for anyone who is in need of financial assistance in order to pursue their higher studies. Anyone from any corner of the globe can take advantage of this scholarship, although it is only available for Bachelor degree programs and the Intensive Arabic Program (IAP).

Alhamdulillah, IOU began giving out general scholarships since the fall semester of 2011 and over 600 students from countries various countries like India, United States, Bangladesh, and Malaysia have benefited from it as of 2019. The International Open University normally gives away 30 to 40 scholarships per semester.

Criteria:

• The applicant must have a high school diploma or its equivalent, if taking a bachelor degree program.
• The applicant must have a good grasp of the English language.
• The applicant must create an account in the Free Diploma campus and score a minimum of 80 marks in the “Foundations of Islamic Studies” Part 1 (IIS 011) and Part 2 (IIS 014).
• The applicant must create an account in the Degree campus and complete the admission into their desired program.

Existing IOU students, who have previously paid semester fees, are also eligible to apply for a scholarship and the performance of their past/last semester will be taken into consideration. The applicant has to have passed at least five out of six subjects in order to be eligible for a scholarship.

To begin applying for a scholarship, please review the rules and criteria and then fill in the application form for a new student or an existing student. The application form should then be emailed to the scholarships department at scholarship@iou.edu.gm.

African Scholarships

Africa’s young people are the continent’s future leaders and will be the driving force behind sustainable growth across the continent. Investment in education and training are essential to build an educated and skilled workforce that will meet the demands of our ever changing world. 

This has prompted the International Open University to initiate the 1 Million African Scholarship (1MAS) project, with the support of donors around the world. The project began in September 2017 in the West African state of the Gambia and by 2019 it has expanded to 12 African countries. Alhumdullilah.

The criteria for enrollment into the African scholarship program are the same as with the general scholarships, and the student must also be an African citizen of one of the following countries or completed their highschool in one of them – The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Somalia, South Africa, Liberia, Malawi, Botswana, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Mauritius, Namibia, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania.

To begin applying for a scholarship, please review the rules and criteria and then fill in the application form. The application form should then be emailed to the african scholarships department at 1mas@iou.edu.gm.

Master Scholarships

In order to support IOU students in their post-graduate education, students can apply for financial aid for the Master’s Degree in Islamic Studies (MAIS) program. In general, it will be given to those students who had scholarships in the Bachelor’s Degree in Islamic Studies (BAIS) or Bachelor’s Degree in Arabic Language and obtained a grade of A or B. Three scholarships per semester will be granted, starting with the Fall 2019 semester.

To begin applying for a scholarship, please review the rules and criteria and then fill in the application form. The application form should then be emailed to the scholarships department at scholarship@iou.edu.gm.

How to Apply

• Read through the rules and criteria for the scholarship program
• Fill in the scholarship application form and email it to us
• Contact the IOU representative in your country or the scholarships department
• Undertake a face to face or online interview organised by the IOU representative or the scholarships department for further screening
• Pay a token application processing fee in your local currency (not more than $5)