Best Degrees for Nigerians to Study Abroad

Blog-Student Travel and Study Abroad-Study Abroad Programs-Travel Guides

July 23, 2025

A degree pays off abroad when it matches employer demand, fits a visa route and, for regulated professions, leads to a licence you can actually obtain. This guide compares seven popular fields on those points. It does not rank them by salary, because pay varies by country, employer and experience.

Seven fields compared

Field	Licence or registration	Visa and work features
Nursing and public health	Nurses must register, for example NMC in the UK or NCLEX in the US and Canada	Shortage-based routes exist in several countries. Check the current list
Computer science and IT	Not usually regulated	US STEM degrees can get a 24-month OPT extension
Engineering	Chartered or professional engineer status is regulated in many countries	STEM routes and employer sponsorship are common
Data science and analytics	Not regulated	Pick a master’s that qualifies as STEM if you plan to use OPT
Medicine, dentistry, pharmacy	Licensing exams, for example USMLE, PLAB, MCCQE or AMC exams	Foreign-trained doctors usually sit exams rather than repeat a degree
Business, finance, accounting	Professional bodies such as ACCA and CPA	Employer sponsorship depends on the role and salary
Education and teaching	Teacher registration is required	Subject shortages (maths, sciences, special needs) help sponsorship

How to read the table

Regulated professions

Nursing, medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, engineering and teaching all need registration with a regulator. Check the regulator’s rules for foreign-trained applicants before you pay for a degree. A degree from the right country does not always give you the licence.

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Editor’s Picks

STEM-linked visa features

In the US, F-1 students get 12 months of Optional Practical Training, and graduates of eligible STEM degrees can apply for a 24-month extension. Note that a partial suspension affects Nigerian F, M and J visa applicants from 1 January 2026, with exceptions. In Canada, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral graduates face no field-of-study rule for the PGWP, while college graduates must have studied in an eligible field.

Scholarships by level

UK master’s: Chevening and Commonwealth scholarships.
Germany: DAAD programmes, mainly for postgraduate study.
US: the Fulbright Foreign Student Program, subject to the visa position above.
Canada: the Vanier programme is for doctoral students, and the University of Toronto Lester B. Pearson scholarship is for undergraduates.

All are competitive. Read each programme’s current rules and see our guide to funding your studies abroad.

The Licensing Route, Field by Field

Field	Typical steps for a foreign-trained graduate	What to ask the regulator
Nursing	Degree, registration check, language test, competence test such as NCLEX or the NMC process	Are my existing qualifications recognised, and what extra training is needed?
Medicine	Licensing exams such as USMLE, PLAB, MCCQE or the AMC exams, then a residency or supervised period	Which exams and how many attempts are allowed?
Pharmacy and dentistry	Recognised degree, local licensing exam and supervised practice	Is a conversion programme required?
Engineering	Degree recognised by the engineering body, then experience toward chartered or professional status	Does the accreditation cover my degree and country of study?
Accounting	Professional exams such as ACCA or CPA, alongside the degree	Which exemptions does my degree give?
Teaching	Teacher registration, subject checks and sometimes a supervised year	Which subjects and levels are in shortage?

Worked Examples

These hypothetical cases show how field choice changes the steps after graduation.

Student	Plan	Hurdles to plan for
Computer science graduate	Master’s in the US, then OPT with a possible STEM extension	Visa policy for the applicant’s nationality, employer sponsorship after OPT
Registered nurse	Register with the target country’s regulator and sit the competence test	Language test, evidence of practice, registration fees and time
Medical graduate	Sit the licensing exams instead of repeating the degree	Exam cost and difficulty, the match for a training post
Accounting graduate	Start ACCA or CPA alongside a master’s	Exemptions, exam fees, work experience requirements

Match a Degree to Your Goal

Goal	Fields that often fit	Why
Work abroad soon after graduating	IT, data, engineering	Often no licence, with STEM-linked visa features
A stable regulated career	Nursing, teaching, medicine	Clear professional path but registration takes time
A flexible business career	Business, finance, accounting	Wide employer base, professional exams add value
Return home with international skills	Any field with strong local demand	Check recognition at home as well

Before You Pay a Deposit

Read the regulator’s page for foreign graduates, not only the university brochure.
Ask the university what share of last year’s graduates passed the licensing step.
Find out if you must pass a language test at a set level for registration.
Write down the total timeline from enrolment to first paid job in the field, then compare it with your funds.

Checklist before you commit

Find out whether your target job needs a licence, and how a foreign graduate gets it.
Check the post-study route for the country. See post-study work routes.
Compare total cost with realistic first-job pay in that country.
Check shortage or priority lists on the government site, because they change.
Avoid heavy borrowing for a course with weak job outcomes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which degree is best for getting a visa?

No degree guarantees a visa. Visas depend on your funds, course choice, history and the country’s rules. Fields with shortage lists have more employer-sponsored options.

Should I study medicine abroad or qualify at home first?

Foreign-trained doctors usually sit licensing exams rather than repeat a degree. Repeating a medical degree is expensive, so read the medical regulator’s rules for foreign graduates first.