Apply: University of Cambridge Mastercard Foundation Scholars Programme

Entries now open for the 2025/2026 University of Cambridge Mastercard Foundation Scholars Programme. 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.

Eligibility Criteria – University of Cambridge Mastercard Foundation Scholars Programme

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.

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.

The Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program covers the following:

The University’s composition fee at the appropriate rate
A maintenance allowance that takes into consideration yearly inflation
Visa application Fee, IHS surcharge and an economy return ticket from the student’s home country to the United Kingdom and back home at the end of their course.

In addition, Scholars will benefit from:

A cohort-wide induction programme before the start of the course.
Termly Leadership Training, which supports Scholars in thinking about sustainable leadership, and developing collaborative leadership qualities needed to build cross-sector solutions for sustainable development
Support to take up a 3-6-month placements in leading Africa-based organisations. This will enable scholars to develop pathways to building impactful careers in Africa.
Mastercard Foundation Scholars will be able to join both the Cambridge University Alumni group and the Mastercard Foundation Scholars program alumni group, where they can continue to draw on and contribute to the community of African scholars.

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 5th December or 5th 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.

Application Timeline:

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:FAQ | Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program (cam.ac.uk) If the response to your query is not resolved from the available responses, please email [email protected]