Why families trust MTZ with a UAE scholarships applications
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quick answer
UAE scholarships for Pakistani students, in short
Pakistani students can study in the UAE fully funded, but only through the universities themselves, because the UAE runs no government scholarship for international students.
Yes. UAE scholarships for Pakistani students are real and university-led, because the UAE runs no national government scholarship for international students. Three routes work: Khalifa University and MBZUAI fund Master’s and PhD study with full tuition, and at MBZUAI a monthly stipend, while NYU Abu Dhabi gives need-based undergraduate grants. You apply for admission, and the funding follows the offer.
UAE scholarships at a glance
Every figure below is verified at the Khalifa University, MBZUAI and NYU Abu Dhabi official pages, and the headline is that the UAE has no central government scholarship for international students, so each award is university-led.
Funder and managing body
Each UAE university funds and awards its own scholarships. There is no single UAE government scholarship and no central portal for international students.
Main routes
Khalifa University (Master’s and PhD), MBZUAI (Master’s and PhD, AI disciplines only), and NYU Abu Dhabi (undergraduate, need-based).
Study levels
Bachelor’s at NYU Abu Dhabi. Master’s and PhD at Khalifa University and MBZUAI.
How you apply
One admission application on each university’s own portal. The scholarship is assessed inside admission, with no separate scholarship form, no government nomination, and no agent submission.
What a full award covers
100 percent tuition, health insurance, and UAE student visa sponsorship. Khalifa University adds accommodation and travel support, and a monthly stipend at PhD level. MBZUAI adds a monthly stipend.
MBZUAI monthly stipend (international students)
Master’s AED 15,500 and PhD AED 17,500 per month, stated as inclusive of housing support.
Khalifa University stipend
PhD scholarships include a monthly stipend, with the amount set by scholarship tier and confirmed in your offer. The official Master’s scholarship lists tuition and benefits, not a stipend.
NYU Abu Dhabi aid
Need-based grants for international undergraduates, assessed on family finances through the CSS Profile. The amount varies and is not a fixed figure.
English requirement
An English proficiency test is required across these universities. The UAE is not a no-test route.
Age limit
No age limit is published on these scholarship pages. Verify the current rule from the official source.
Application window
Annual. MBZUAI’s main AI programmes open in September with a December deadline and a September start. Khalifa University and NYU Abu Dhabi run annual intakes. MTZ confirms the live dates for the next cycle before you apply.
Important limit
MBZUAI funds AI disciplines only and excludes its MAAI programme. This UAE page is not an MBBS route.
Your three routes to a funded place in the UAE
Three UAE universities fund Pakistani students directly: Khalifa University and MBZUAI for Master’s and PhD, and NYU Abu Dhabi for undergraduate study, each deciding the award inside its own admission process.
Khalifa University scholarships
Khalifa University, a public research university in Abu Dhabi, awards merit-based Master’s and PhD scholarships to international students of any nationality, decided as part of the admission review. The awards run across engineering, physical sciences, computing and mathematical sciences, and medicine and health sciences.
At Master’s level the award covers full or partial tuition, textbooks, accommodation, medical insurance, and UAE visa and travel support. The official Master’s list does not include a stipend. At PhD level the same benefits apply and a monthly stipend is added, along with conference support and a research internship and teaching experience, subject to funding. You indicate your interest in scholarship support when you submit the admission application, so there is no separate scholarship form. Awards sit in tiers, and meeting a tier’s bar does not guarantee a grant, because the number of slots is limited.
MBZUAI scholarships
The Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) in Abu Dhabi grants every full-time admitted Master’s and PhD student a full scholarship, in artificial intelligence disciplines only. The package covers 100 percent tuition, a monthly stipend, UAE visa sponsorship for non-UAE nationals, and health insurance.
For international students the monthly stipend is AED 15,500 at Master’s level and AED 17,500 at PhD level. MBZUAI states the stipend is inclusive of housing support, so you pay your own housing from it, and on-campus housing where allocated costs AED 7,500 a month and is deducted from your stipend. The disciplines are machine learning, computer vision, natural language processing, robotics, computer science, statistics and data science, computational biology, and human-computer interaction. One exclusion matters: the Master in Applied Artificial Intelligence (MAAI) does not carry the scholarship.
NYU Abu Dhabi financial aid
New York University Abu Dhabi offers need-based financial aid to undergraduate applicants of any nationality, assessed on your family’s finances through the CSS Profile. This is the Bachelor’s route for Pakistani school-leavers.
The aid is need-based, the amount changes with your family’s assessed need, and it is not a fixed published figure, so treat it as institutional grant support rather than an automatic full ride. Every admitted student is also considered for limited merit-based aid. To be assessed, your family files the CSS Profile, and where parents are separated a non-custodial parent files a separate CSS Profile; skipping the non-custodial form makes you ineligible for institutional grants. Admission is highly selective. The guaranteed full Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed scholarship at NYU Abu Dhabi is for Emirati students only and does not apply to Pakistani applicants.
How UAE scholarships actually work for Pakistani applicants
There is no UAE government scholarship for international students, so a Pakistani applicant funds study in the UAE only by winning a university’s own award through admission.
Many families lose weeks searching for a “UAE government scholarship portal” for Pakistanis, and some pay an agent to lodge a separate scholarship application. Both are wasted, because neither exists. The official UAE Government platform states that the country’s scholarship office funds Emirati nationals, and there is no central scholarship and no national portal for international students.
Here is what does work. You apply for admission to Khalifa University, MBZUAI or NYU Abu Dhabi on that university’s own portal, you indicate your interest in scholarship support where the form asks, and you submit a strong profile. The funding follows the offer. No agent can submit a hidden scholarship form for a fee in your place, because there is no separate form to submit. MTZ prepares your profile and guides your own application; MTZ does not lodge a scholarship that does not exist.
Who can apply from Pakistan
Pakistani nationals can apply to all three UAE routes with no nationality bar, provided you meet each university’s academic, English and field requirements.
Pakistani nationals are eligible on every route. Khalifa University awards scholarships to international students of any nationality, MBZUAI funds all full-time admitted Master’s and PhD students regardless of nationality, and NYU Abu Dhabi assesses undergraduate aid for applicants of any citizenship. None of the three carries a nationality bar against Pakistan.
A bachelor’s degree opens Master’s entry, and a master’s degree opens PhD entry, with direct PhD entry after a strong bachelor’s at some Khalifa University programmes. MBZUAI sets a verified minimum CGPA of 3.0 or 3.5 on a 4.0 scale depending on the programme, and asks for a STEM degree such as computer science, electrical or computer engineering, mathematics or physics. Khalifa University expects a competitive CGPA, with the exact threshold set by your chosen programme. NYU Abu Dhabi judges school-leaving results and is highly selective at undergraduate level.
An English proficiency test is required across these universities, so treat the UAE as a test-required destination, not a no-test route. MBZUAI requires a valid English language proficiency certificate that meets its admission criteria. Khalifa University requires an English proficiency test such as IELTS or TOEFL, with the exact score set per programme on its admission page. NYU Abu Dhabi requires English proficiency and standardised testing. Do not assume any of these waives an English test on a medium-of-instruction basis.
You apply for admission yourself on the university’s own portal, and the scholarship is assessed inside that admission decision. There is no government nomination step, no sending body, and no separate scholarship application to file. Funding follows your admission offer.
MBZUAI funds artificial intelligence disciplines only and excludes its MAAI programme, so a degree outside STEM or AI will not fit it. Khalifa University funds engineering, the sciences, computing, and medicine and health sciences at graduate level. NYU Abu Dhabi spans a broad undergraduate curriculum across the arts, sciences, engineering and social sciences. Match your field to the right route before you apply.
No age limit is published on the Khalifa University, MBZUAI or NYU Abu Dhabi scholarship pages for these awards. Where you see an age figure quoted elsewhere, treat it with caution and verify the current rule from the official source for your programme. The MTZ enquiry form shows no age cutoff.
Documents you will submit
You submit a single admission file on each university’s portal, and the same file is read for your scholarship, so one strong set of documents does both jobs.
The list below is what the Khalifa University, MBZUAI and NYU Abu Dhabi official pages confirm. It covers what you submit, not who can apply, which sits in Eligibility above.
⚫ Valid passport. A current passport bio page. MBZUAI also asks for a recent photo with a white background.
⚫ Bachelor’s transcript and degree certificate. Official records, or an expected-graduation letter if you are in your final year.
⚫ Master’s transcript and degree certificate. Required for PhD applicants who hold a master’s degree.
⚫ Curriculum vitae. Your academic background, any work experience, research or publications, and programming skills where relevant.
⚫ Statement of purpose. A clear motivation statement, uploaded as a PDF at MBZUAI.
⚫ Research statement. Required for PhD applicants, setting out your research direction.
⚫ Recommendation letters. MBZUAI asks for three referees for PhD applicants and two for Master’s applicants; Khalifa University and NYU Abu Dhabi confirm their own count on the portal.
⚫ English proficiency certificate. A valid test result that meets each university’s admission criteria.
⚫ Certificate of Recognition for a non-UAE degree. MBZUAI requires this for degrees earned outside the UAE, due within your first semester.
⚫ CSS Profile and supporting financial documents. NYU Abu Dhabi only, for need-based undergraduate aid, filed through the CSS Profile with documentation through IDOC. Where parents are separated, a non-custodial parent files a separate CSS Profile.
Confirm your exact checklist for your chosen programme on the university portal before you submit.
What the funding covers, and what it does not
A full UAE award covers tuition, health insurance and your student visa, and at MBZUAI a monthly stipend, while housing rules and personal costs differ sharply by route, so read the gaps before you budget.
covered:
⚫ Tuition. MBZUAI covers 100 percent of tuition for all full-time Master’s and PhD students. Khalifa University covers full tuition at its top scholarship tiers and a partial share at lower tiers. NYU Abu Dhabi meets assessed need through grants rather than a flat tuition waiver.
⚫ Monthly stipend. MBZUAI pays international students AED 15,500 a month at Master’s level and AED 17,500 a month at PhD level, stated as inclusive of housing support. Khalifa University includes a monthly stipend at PhD level, set by tier and confirmed in your offer. NYU Abu Dhabi undergraduate aid does not include a stipend.
⚫ Health insurance. Provided on all three routes for enrolled students.
⚫ UAE student visa. MBZUAI sponsors the visa for non-UAE nationals. Khalifa University covers UAE visa application fees for full-time international students.
⚫ Accommodation and travel. Khalifa University lists accommodation and home-country travel support among its scholarship benefits, subject to approval. MBZUAI offers on-campus housing where allocated, billed at AED 7,500 a month and deducted from your stipend.
Not covered:
⚫ Your housing, paid from the stipend. MBZUAI states the stipend is inclusive of housing, so rent comes out of your AED 15,500 or AED 17,500, not on top of it.
⚫ A guaranteed full ride at NYU Abu Dhabi. Need-based aid varies with family finances and may leave a balance for tuition, housing, travel or living costs that your family funds.
⚫ A Master’s stipend at Khalifa University. The official Master’s scholarship lists tuition and benefits, not a stipend.
⚫ Personal and daily living costs beyond what the stipend or grant provides, plus any document attestation and translation fees.
None of these awards is automatic for everyone. MBZUAI funds every admitted full-time Master’s and PhD student, but admission itself is highly competitive. Khalifa University runs limited scholarship slots in tiers, so meeting a tier’s bar does not guarantee a grant. NYU Abu Dhabi aid is selective and need-based. MTZ does not award or guarantee any UAE scholarship.
All figures above are in UAE dirhams, the currency the universities use. Any rupee figure you calculate is indicative only. Use a conservative AED to PKR rate, allow for movement across a two-to-four-year degree, and confirm the live rate and a current rupee breakdown with MTZ Islamabad or Lahore before you make any payment decision.
How to apply from Pakistan, step by step
You apply for admission on the university’s own portal, and because the scholarship is read inside that admission decision, getting the admission application right is the whole game.
step-1 →
Pick your route and programme.
Choose Khalifa University or MBZUAI for a funded Master’s or PhD, or NYU Abu Dhabi for need-based undergraduate aid. Match your field first: MBZUAI is artificial intelligence only, while Khalifa University spans engineering, the sciences, computing and health sciences.
step-2 →
Open an account on that university’s portal.
Apply directly at ku.ac.ae, mbzuai.ac.ae or nyuad.nyu.edu. There is no UAE government portal and no agent submission for any of these. Where the admission form asks about scholarship support, indicate your interest, since that is how the award is triggered.
step-3 →
Build a strong profile.
Prepare the documents from the block above and write a sharp statement of purpose, plus a research statement for a PhD. For MBZUAI, be ready for a screening exam in mathematics and programming, and machine learning for PhD applicants, followed by a technical interview for those shortlisted.
step-4 →
Submit before the deadline, then track your decision.
MBZUAI’s main AI programmes run on an annual cycle that opens in September with a December final deadline, decisions by spring, and a September start. Khalifa University and NYU Abu Dhabi run their own annual intakes. Apply early, because slots and cohorts are limited. MTZ confirms the live dates for the next cycle with you so you do not miss the window
step-5
Accept your offer and start your visa.
Once your offer and scholarship tier arrive, accept by the response deadline. Your university then sponsors your UAE student visa, with MBZUAI handling visa sponsorship for non-UAE nationals and Khalifa University covering the visa application fees.
How MTZ helps you apply
MTZ prepares your profile and guides your own application on the university portal, and we never submit a scholarship for you, because no separate scholarship application exists in the UAE.
We read your transcripts, degree, test scores and target field, and tell you plainly which of the three routes fits and which does not. If your background does not match MBZUAI’s AI and STEM bar or NYU Abu Dhabi’s selectivity, we say so before you spend time applying. The free assessment runs through the MTZ scholarship form at /scholarship-eligibility/.
We match your field and level to the right university and programme, so an AI researcher heads to MBZUAI, an engineering or health-sciences candidate to Khalifa University, and a school-leaver to NYU Abu Dhabi. Picking the wrong route is the most common way a strong applicant wastes a cycle.
We help you assemble the file from the Documents block, sharpen your statement of purpose, and shape a research statement for a PhD. For MBZUAI we brief you on the screening exam and the technical interview so neither catches you off guard.
You submit on the university’s own portal, and we walk you through your own account step by step. MTZ does not lodge a hidden scholarship form for a fee, because there is none to lodge.
Once your offer arrives, we guide the UAE student visa your university sponsors, and we brief you on Abu Dhabi arrival, housing and living costs so your stipend or grant goes where it should.
Start with the free scholarship eligibility assessment:
The honest limits you should know first
A UAE scholarship is real but never automatic, so know the limits before you set your heart on one route.
Read these limits before you apply.
No UAE government scholarship. There is no national UAE scholarship or central portal for international students. Every award here is a single university’s own decision. Anyone offering you a “UAE government scholarship for Pakistanis” is selling something that does not exist.
MTZ does not award or guarantee any scholarship. The universities and their committees decide, and meeting the minimum bar does not secure an offer. MTZ prepares and guides your application; the result rests with the funder.
Admission is the real gate. MBZUAI funds every admitted Master’s and PhD student, but admission itself is highly competitive with a screening exam and interview. Khalifa University runs limited scholarship slots in tiers. NYU Abu Dhabi is selective and its aid is need-based.
The UAE is a test-required route. An English proficiency test is expected across these universities, so do not plan around a waiver.
The stipend is not all spending money. At MBZUAI the stipend is inclusive of housing, so rent comes out of it. At Khalifa University the stipend sits at PhD level, not the official Master’s award.
A funded place is not always a full ride. NYU Abu Dhabi need-based aid varies and may leave a balance your family funds. Budget for the gap, not the best case.
If you want a fully funded route where the funder runs a single national scheme, our China scholarships page sets that out at /global-scholarships/china-scholarships-pakistan/.
Khalifa University, MBZUAI and NYU Abu Dhabi compared
The three routes split cleanly by level and field, so this table shows which one fits your degree, your discipline and your funding need at a glance.
| Attribute | Khalifa University | MBZUAI | NYU Abu Dhabi |
|---|---|---|---|
| Study level | Master’s and PhD | Master’s and PhD | Undergraduate |
| Fields | Engineering, sciences, computing, medicine and health sciences | Artificial intelligence only (MAAI excluded) | Broad undergraduate curriculum |
| Funding model | Merit-based, tiered (full or partial) | Full scholarship for all admitted full-time students | Need-based grant, assessed on family finances |
| Tuition | Full at top tiers, partial at lower tiers | 100 percent | Met to assessed need |
| Monthly stipend | PhD level, amount set by tier and confirmed at offer | AED 15,500 Master’s, AED 17,500 PhD, inclusive of housing | None |
| Health insurance | Yes | Yes | Per NYU Abu Dhabi enrolment terms |
| UAE student visa | Visa application fees covered | Sponsored for non-UAE nationals | Supported on admission |
| Housing | Listed among benefits, subject to approval | On-campus where allocated, AED 7,500 a month from the stipend | Funded only to assessed need |
| English test | Required, score set per programme | Valid English proficiency certificate required | Required, with standardised testing |
| How the award is decided | Inside admission, indicate interest on the form | Automatic for admitted full-time students | CSS Profile assessment |
| Best fit for you | An engineering, science or health-sciences graduate | An AI or STEM graduate aiming at research | A school-leaver needing need-based undergraduate support |
All three are decided by the university, not by MTZ, and none is guaranteed at the minimum bar.
UAE scholarship questions Pakistani families ask
These are the questions Pakistani applicants ask most about studying in the UAE on a scholarship, answered straight from the official university and government sources.
Yes. UAE scholarships for Pakistani students are real, and they are awarded by the universities themselves, because the UAE has no national government scholarship for international students. The main routes are Khalifa University and MBZUAI for Master’s and PhD study, and NYU Abu Dhabi for need-based undergraduate aid. You win the award by gaining admission, since the scholarship is assessed inside the admission decision.
No. The official UAE Government platform states its scholarship office funds Emirati nationals, and there is no central scholarship or national portal for international students. For a Pakistani applicant, every funded route is a single university’s own award, applied for through that university’s admission portal, with no government nomination step.
The Khalifa University scholarship covers full or partial tuition, textbooks, accommodation, medical insurance, and UAE visa and travel support, with a monthly stipend added at PhD level. Awards sit in tiers set by merit. The official Master’s scholarship lists tuition and benefits but not a stipend, and the PhD stipend amount is confirmed in your offer.
MBZUAI pays international students a monthly stipend of AED 15,500 at Master’s level and AED 17,500 at PhD level, on top of 100 percent tuition, health insurance and UAE visa sponsorship. The stipend is inclusive of housing support, so you pay your own housing from it, and on-campus housing where allocated costs AED 7,500 a month, deducted from the stipend.
MBZUAI funds artificial intelligence disciplines only, such as machine learning, computer vision, natural language processing, robotics, computer science, statistics and data science, computational biology, and human-computer interaction. Its Master in Applied Artificial Intelligence (MAAI) programme is excluded from the scholarship, so a non-AI or non-STEM degree will not fit this route.
Yes, mainly through NYU Abu Dhabi, which offers need-based financial aid to undergraduate applicants of any nationality, assessed on your family’s finances through the CSS Profile. The amount varies with assessed need and is not a fixed figure, and admission is highly selective. The guaranteed full Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed scholarship at NYU Abu Dhabi is for Emirati students only.
Yes, in most cases. An English proficiency test is required across Khalifa University, MBZUAI and NYU Abu Dhabi, so the UAE is not a no-test route. MBZUAI requires a valid English proficiency certificate that meets its admission criteria, and Khalifa University sets its required IELTS or TOEFL score per programme. Confirm the exact score for your programme before you apply.
No age limit is published on the Khalifa University, MBZUAI or NYU Abu Dhabi scholarship pages for these awards. Where you see an age figure quoted elsewhere, treat it with caution and verify the current rule from the official source for your programme. The MTZ enquiry form shows no age cutoff.
You apply for admission on the university’s own portal at ku.ac.ae, mbzuai.ac.ae or nyuad.nyu.edu, and indicate your interest in scholarship support where the form asks. There is no separate scholarship application and no government nomination. The funding follows your admission offer, so a strong admission file is what wins the award.
No. You apply yourself on the university’s free official portal, and no agent can submit a hidden scholarship form for a fee, because no separate scholarship form exists. MTZ prepares your profile and guides your own application through your own account, without any paid third-party submission.
They open on an annual cycle. MBZUAI’s main AI programmes open in September with a December final deadline, decisions by spring, and a September start, while Khalifa University and NYU Abu Dhabi run their own annual intakes. Because dates shift each year, MTZ confirms the live dates for the next cycle with you so you do not miss the window.
You submit a valid passport, your bachelor’s transcript and degree certificate, a CV, a statement of purpose, recommendation letters, and a valid English proficiency certificate, plus a master’s transcript and research statement for PhD applicants. MBZUAI requires a Certificate of Recognition for a non-UAE degree, and NYU Abu Dhabi requires the CSS Profile for need-based aid.
No. The universities and their committees decide every award through a competitive process, and meeting the minimum requirements does not secure an offer. MTZ does not award or guarantee any scholarship for study in the UAE. MTZ assesses your profile honestly and helps you apply through the official process.
No, this UAE page is not an MBBS route. The scholarships here are graduate Master’s and PhD awards and undergraduate need-based aid, not funded MBBS places. If you are looking for medical study abroad, that sits in the MTZ MBBS in China section, not on this UAE scholarships page.
Apply for a UAE scholarship with MTZ
Start with a free, honest profile assessment, and we will tell you which UAE route fits before you spend a single application fee.
Send us your transcripts, degree, test scores and target field. We assess your profile against Khalifa University, MBZUAI and NYU Abu Dhabi, match you to the right route, and guide your own application on the university portal. We are honest from the first message: MTZ does not award or guarantee any scholarship, and the funder makes the final decision.
Author: Mubbashir Qureshi, CEO, MTZ Global Visa Consultants Pvt Ltd. 25+ years personal experience guiding Pakistani students into study abroad and international education. Mubbashir Qureshi has counselled Pakistani families on funded study across China, Europe and the Gulf, and writes these guides so parents and applicants see the honest position before they commit time or money. MTZ Global Visa Consultants Pvt Ltd is SECP registered, ISO 9001:2015 certified, and works with British Council certified counsellors, with offices in Islamabad and Lahore.
Last verified: 13 June 2026. Next review: 01 September 2026.
