CALL FOR APPLICATIONS FOR THE MASTERCARD FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE

The Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program at the University of Cambridge is pleased to announce that applications for the 2025/2026 academic year are now open.

About Us

The Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program at the University of Cambridge was established in 2022 as a collaboration between the University and the Mastercard Foundation Scholar’s Program. The focus of this collaboration, which will run up to 2030, is to support over 500 scholars, from the African continent, with fully funded scholarships to complete their master’s training at the University of Cambridge.

The programme supports master’s courses spanning the full range of academic disciplines at the University of Cambridge. Prospective Mastercard Foundation scholars can apply to most full-time one-year postgraduate courses at the University, with the following exceptions: Master of Business Administration (MBA), Master of Corporate Law (MCL), and Master of Finance.

Eligibility Criteria

To qualify for the scholarship, candidates:

• Must be citizens of an African country.
• Must be resident in an African country, unless they can show temporary absence for study or work, except they are displaced or have refugee status.
• Must be applying for a master’s course of up to one year in length, at the University of Cambridge.
• Must meet the academic requirement of the course for which they are applying.

What we Offer

The programme covers full tuition costs, a monthly maintenance allowance and a laptop.

Other costs covered include visa application fees, International Health Surcharge, and travel costs.

https://www.mastercardfoundation.fund.cam.ac.uk

Application Process
To be eligible for a scholarship offer, students are required to secure an admission from the relevant department. The Application process commences with an application for admission to the University of Cambridge via the course directory, to be completed by the funding deadline (which will be either the 5* December or 5′ January depending on the course):- https://www.postgraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/courses.
Applicants should ensure that they meet the academic requirements of selected courses. If the academic requirements for a course are not met, students will not qualify for the application fee waiver.
As part of the application process, prospective scholars will be required to provide a supplementary statement that indicates their personal commitment to contributing to climate-resilience and sustainable futures for Africa.
Detailed information about the application process is available on the programme website which can be accessed at https://www.mastercardfoundation.fund.cam.ac.uk/.
Deadline
The deadline for submitting applications for funding is the 5th of December 2024 for courses with a 5th of December deadline and 5th of January 2025 for courses with a 5th of January deadline. When making an application, pay close attention to the funding deadline.
Please note that email attachments will not be accepted.
For any application related inquiries, please check the FAQ section of the website: – provide link. If the response to your query is not resolved from the available responses, please email applications@mastercardfoundation.fund.cam.ac.uk
The programme supports diversity in all its forms and actively encourages women, refugees, internally displaced people, and people with disabilities to apply.