Mastercard Foundation is out with the newest edition of its scholarship, the Mastercard African Scholars Programme at Cambridge University which is designed to provide talented students from economically marginalized and hard-to-reach communities on the African Continent with opportunities to get their Master’s degree, grow in transformative leadership, and contribute to climate resilience and sustainability in their region.
The good news about the scholarship is that it covers the cost of travel and visas, accommodation, meals, allowance for a laptop, health cover, and a living stipend – as well as tuition costs.
There is also allowance for dependent children who may accompany a student.
Application Deadline
Depending on the course, the deadlines set by the authorities are the 1st day of December 2022 and the 5th of January 2023.
Eligible Countries
Graduates from all African countries is eligible for the Mastercard African Scholars Programme.
Type of Students
The scholarship is open to all African graduates that seek to have a Master’s degree.
Value
It is a full-cost award available to Master’s students, covering tuition fees, maintenance and expenses (for e.g. travel, visa costs and the immigration health surcharge). An allowance for dependant children joining a student in Cambridge is available.
In addition to full funding (fees and maintenance), the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program at Cambridge will provide scholars with support for travel to and from the UK (including visas, if needed). In addition, Scholars will benefit from a cohort-wide induction programme, likely to require early arrival in Cambridge before the start of the course.
Eligibility
To be eligible for the scholarship, the applicant must;
- be a citizen of an African country* and demonstrate that they are from an economically marginalized, or economically disadvantaged, background.
- be ordinarily resident * in an African country unless you can show temporary absence for study/work with an intention to return or unless you have been displaced.
- be applying for a one-year Master’s course at the University of Cambridge.
How to Apply
To apply for the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program scholarship, there are two steps to get it done.
First Step
Via the course directory, applicants can apply for admission to the University, and indicate that you wish to apply for funding. The deadline will be either be 1 December 2022 or 5 Jan 2023.
Applying for a Master’s course requires payment of a £50 fee before you can submit your application. However, the fee is automatically waived for many African countries – refer to the list in Section 3 – Overseas applicants. If you are from a country that does not automatically receive a fee waiver and the fee would present a financial barrier for you, you can apply for a manual waiver of this fee – please complete the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program Fee Waiver Form and return it, with the required evidence attached to mastercardscholarship@admin.cam.ac.uk , You should complete this step before you submit your application through the Applicant Portal.
Second Step
Any applicant who wishes to apply for the Mastercard foundation needs to complete the separate Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program application form stating how you meet the eligibility criteria as soon as possible and by the 5th of January 2023 at the latest. You will need to have first submitted your course application via the Applicant Portal above to receive a unique ‘Application Number’ that you will need to enter on the scholarship application form.
Please note that applicants will have to be made a conditional offer of admission from the University in order to be considered for a Scholarship. For any queries, please write to mastercardscholarship@admin.cam.ac.uk
Cynthia resides in Nigeria and he his an expert on all Nigerian topics. His interests includes but not limited to Technology News and Nigerian Musics. He has interviewed and studied several musician in Nigeria.