Some Scottish students will be given grants of up to £1,750 a year to study in European universities, Education Secretary Mike Russell has announced.
Up to £750,000 has been made available for bursaries and loans for 500 people in Scotland to study in Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands and Germany.
The two-year pilot is “the first time any UK students have been offered help with European study”.
Young students with a household income of less than £16,990 will be eligible for a £1,750 bursary and a £5,500 loan for a year’s study, with a sliding scale of bursaries depending on household income.
Mr Russell said: “We already pay tuition fees and provide the best package of support in the UK for Scottish students who study at home.
“This pilot will give Scots who wish to study in Europe a chance to benefit from support and is a first for UK students, showing how decisions taken in Scotland benefit Scots.”
Catriona O’Sullivan, from Edinburgh, is studying liberal arts and sciences with a major in philosophy and society at University College in Maastricht in the Netherlands.
She said: “I could not afford this option at all without the many hours I put into my side job and if I had had the opportunity to apply for funding from the Scottish Government when I began my course, I would have jumped at the chance.”