Scholarship of the month: Mastercard Foundation Scholarship Programme

The Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program is the largest initiative and foundation of its kind supporting students across Africa to pursue an education.

The programme works with a global network of more than 4o universities and non-governmental organisations to provide students with funding, mentoring, leadership skills development, tutoring, internship opportunities and career services. 

Both undergraduates and postgraduates are eligible to apply. For an undergraduate degree, candidates must be 29 years old or under at the time they apply. For a graduate degree, candidates must be 35 years old or under at the time they apply.

Participating universities include McGill University, the University of Oxford, the University of Cape Town, the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Edinburgh.

Students must apply through the university of their choice and check each university’s submission guidelines and deadlines before applying. Each university’s eligibility criteria and deadlines are different. Students will have any application fees for the scholarship reimbursed if selected for the programme. 

Some universities require students to take tests such as the SATs or English language tests such as the IELTS or TOEFL as part of their application. 

More information on how to apply and participating universities can be found here.