Zorvia Take: If I were applying this cycle, I wouldn’t split my time evenly across all three. MIT and Duke’s Karsh Scholarship need zero separate scholarship application — you apply for admission, request aid, and the university decides. Robertson is the outlier: it runs its own three-month selection process on top of your Duke or UNC application, which eats calendar time the other two don’t. My actual advice: apply to Duke and MIT through their normal admission and financial aid process first, since that costs nothing extra, and only take on Robertson’s added workload if the leadership programming genuinely interests you beyond the money.

Program	Institution(s)	How Funding Works	Separate Scholarship Application?
Karsh International Scholars Program	Duke University	Automatic consideration on admission + financial aid request; covers tuition, fees, room, board, demonstrated need beyond that, plus 3 summers of funding	No
Robertson Scholars Leadership Program	Duke University & UNC-Chapel Hill	Full scholarship covering ~8 semesters of tuition, room, board, most mandatory fees, plus leadership programming	Yes — separate High School Application
MIT need-blind, full-need policy	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	Not a “scholarship” in the traditional sense — 100% of demonstrated financial need met with grants (no loans), for every admitted student including international	No (financial aid via CSS Profile)

If a sub-6% acceptance rate feels out of reach right now, our guide to Undergraduate Scholarships in Australia 2027 covers a very different funding shape — smaller, automatic tuition discounts at less hyper-selective universities.

Karsh (Duke)	No nationality restriction (must not hold US citizenship or dual US citizenship); bachelor’s, first-year applicant only; strong academic preparation (Duke’s overall acceptance rate is roughly 4-6%); demonstrated financial need
Robertson (Duke/UNC)	Open to all nationalities with the ability to obtain a US student visa; must separately apply for admission to Duke and/or UNC-Chapel Hill the same cycle; no fixed GPA/test cutoff — holistic review
MIT	No nationality restriction; bachelor’s, first-year or transfer; SAT/ACT required — MIT is not test-optional; file the CSS Profile to be considered for aid

Karsh (Duke)	Full tuition and full room & board, plus demonstrated need beyond that, plus 3 summers of funding for research, internships, or other approved opportunities
Robertson (Duke/UNC)	Full tuition and room & board for ~8 semesters, plus leadership programming, funded summer experiences, and alumni network access
MIT	100% of demonstrated need met with grants (no loans); families earning under roughly $200,000/year with typical assets currently pay $0 tuition

Program	Last Date to Apply	Apply Link
Karsh International Scholars Program (Duke) no nationality restriction	Early Decision: November 2, 2026. Regular Decision: January 4, 2027 (no separate scholarship form)	Karsh Program Page →
Robertson Scholars Leadership Program international students eligible with a visa	Early Notification: October 15, 2026. Regular Application: November 15, 2026 (separate application, in addition to Duke/UNC admission)	Robertson Application →
MIT need-blind, full-need aid no nationality restriction	Early Action: November 1, 2026 (aid due Nov 30). Regular Action: January 4, 2027 (aid due Feb 15)	MIT Deadlines Page →

🇵🇰 Pakistan-Specific Tip: Unlike Chevening, Fulbright, or DAAD, none of these three US routes go through HEC or any Pakistani government portal — you apply directly to the US university. Duke’s own overview of its current Karsh cohort doesn’t name Pakistan among the countries listed this year, but the program’s published eligibility rule imposes no nationality restriction at all — only demonstrated financial need and admission as a first-year student, so a Pakistani applicant isn’t excluded by any stated rule. What matters more than nationality here is fit: all three schools admit under 10% of applicants overall, so a strong SAT/ACT score (MIT requires testing; Duke and UNC are currently test-optional) and a clear application narrative carry more weight than which country you’re applying from. Budget separately for the F-1 US student visa process and SEVIS fee once admitted — none of these three cover pre-admission visa costs.

⚠️ Warning: These Scholarships Are Free to Be Considered For
None of Duke, UNC, or MIT charge any fee beyond the standard undergraduate application fee (which all three also waive for documented financial hardship) to be considered for this funding. If an education consultant offers to “guarantee” a Karsh, Robertson, or MIT scholarship for payment, that isn’t how any of these three programs work — all funding decisions are made internally, with no role for outside agents.

Academic transcripts and certificates	Required for Duke, UNC, and MIT admission; certified translations needed if not in English
SAT/ACT scores	Mandatory for MIT; currently test-optional for Duke and UNC (Robertson)
English proficiency test (if applicable)	Required by each university for applicants whose prior education wasn’t in English — policy varies by school
CSS Profile	Required for need-based aid consideration at Duke (Karsh) and MIT
Robertson High School Application	Separate from the Duke/UNC admission application — required only for Robertson
Passport	Needed later for the F-1 student visa process once admitted

Curious whether US admissions test your English differently than government scholarships elsewhere on this site? See Scholarships Without IELTS 2026-2027 for programs that skip it entirely — most competitive US universities, including all three here, still expect proof of English proficiency at the admissions stage.

✗ Treating “USA Undergraduate Scholarships” as one program with one deadline, instead of researching each university’s own separate policy

✗ Assuming a merit award like Clark University’s Global Scholars Program is a full ride — Clark’s own financial aid office states it can’t offer full funding to international students who need it; many “fully funded” claims about it online are inflated

✗ Applying Early Decision to Duke without understanding it’s binding — if admitted, you must withdraw all other applications and enroll, before seeing the full detail of your aid offer

✗ Missing that MIT requires SAT/ACT scores while Duke and UNC (for Robertson) are currently test-optional, and preparing on the wrong assumption

✗ Paying an agent for “scholarship processing” when Duke, UNC, and MIT accept only direct applications through their own admissions portals

Not admitted to one of these three this cycle? Our guide to Scholarships for College Students 2026-2027 covers additional funding options open to international students already enrolled in the US or Canada.

Is there one single “USA Undergraduate Scholarship” that all international students apply to?

No. Unlike Chevening or Erasmus Mundus, funding for US undergraduate study is set individually by each university. This guide covers three of the very small number of programs that genuinely cover full cost for international students — Duke’s Karsh Scholarship, the Robertson Scholars Leadership Program, and MIT’s need-blind aid policy.

Can Pakistani students actually get a full scholarship for a bachelor’s degree in the USA?

Yes, though the pool of schools offering it is small. MIT states it’s one of only nine US universities that is both need-blind and meets full demonstrated need for every admitted student regardless of nationality, and Duke’s Karsh Scholarship and the Robertson program apply no nationality restriction either. The real barrier is admission competitiveness, not citizenship.

Do these scholarships require IELTS or TOEFL?

Admission to each university — separate from the funding decision — typically requires an English proficiency test for applicants whose education wasn’t in English, though exact policy varies by school and can include exemptions. Check each university’s own international admissions page for its current policy, since this is set at the admissions level, not the scholarship level.

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Last updated: September 2026 | Written by: The Zorvia Team | Researched and verified by Zorvia’s scholarship research team using official Duke, Robertson Scholars, and MIT program pages
Zorvia Magazine is an independent guidance resource and is not affiliated with Duke University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Robertson Scholars Leadership Program, or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.