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| Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program | |
|---|---|
| Name | Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program |
| Founded | 2012 |
| Founder | Mastercard Foundation |
| Headquarters | Toronto |
| Region | Africa |
| Focus | Higher education |
Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program The Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program is a scholarship initiative established to expand access to tertiary study and leadership development for young people, primarily in Africa, through partnerships with universities, colleges, and vocational providers. The initiative funds comprehensive support for scholars to pursue degrees, skills training, and leadership opportunities while fostering linkages with employers and communities. Its work connects major philanthropic practice with institutional actors across global higher learning networks.
The program provides full or partial scholarships, academic advising, mentoring, financial aid, and internship placements by collaborating with universities such as University of Toronto, University of Oxford, Makerere University, University of Cape Town, and McGill University. It aligns with development actors including United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, World Bank, African Development Bank, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Rockefeller Foundation to scale student pipelines and workforce linkages. Governance involves trustees from Mastercard Foundation, senior executives formerly of Mastercard Incorporated, academics from institutions like Harvard University and University of Cambridge, and representatives of partner NGOs such as CARE International and Oxfam. Programming interfaces with employers including Unilever, Standard Chartered, Microsoft, Google, and multinational consultancies to create internships, apprenticeships, and recruitment pathways.
Launched in 2012 by Mastercard Foundation leadership following strategic philanthropy models used by Carnegie Corporation of New York and Ford Foundation, the Scholars Program expanded rapidly through memoranda of understanding with higher education providers. Early pilots drew on philanthropic precedents set by Rockefeller Foundation scholarships and international initiatives modeled after Rhodes Scholarship networks. Expansion phases included partnerships with African universities such as University of Nairobi, University of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, and continental consortia like the African Union’s education frameworks. Program evolution responded to reports by UNESCO Institute for Statistics, policy briefs by OECD, and impact evaluations commissioned alongside researchers at London School of Economics, University of California, Berkeley, and Stanford University.
Components include tuition funding, living stipends, remedial bridge programs, leadership curricula, career services, and entrepreneurship incubation delivered through partners such as Ashesi University, Yale University, University of Johannesburg, Strathmore University, and University of Rwanda. Complementary elements involve psychosocial support provided in coordination with Save the Children, digital skills modules co-developed with Cisco Systems and IBM, and vocational certifications aligned with standards from International Labour Organization and ISO. Leadership training draws on executive educators from INSEAD, London Business School, and Columbia Business School; monitoring and evaluation frameworks use methodologies promoted by Randomized controlled trial practitioners and organizations like 3ie and IDA.
Selection criteria target academically strong young people with socioeconomic barriers, including refugees registered with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, orphans supported through UNICEF programs, and youth from rural districts referenced in national statistics like those of Kenya National Bureau of Statistics and Statistics South Africa. Application processes are coordinated with partner offices at institutions including University of Dar es Salaam and Addis Ababa University and involve standardized testing, interviews, and community references consistent with admission systems used by Common Application-style platforms. Eligibility often requires commitment to community service and return-to-community covenants similar in intent to scholarship bonds administered by Chevening Scholarship alumni programs.
The Scholars Program’s network spans universities, technical colleges, and NGOs across countries including Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria, Ethiopia, South Africa, Canada, and United Kingdom. Partner universities include University of Edinburgh, University of British Columbia, Makerere University Business School, University of Lagos, and Aga Khan University. NGO and private-sector partners feature BRAC, Heifer International, Teach For All, Tony Elumelu Foundation, and multinational employers like Deloitte and KPMG that provide internships and recruitment pathways. Regional coordination engages bodies such as African Union Commission and national ministries of higher education in various partner states.
Internal reports and third-party evaluations indicate outcomes in degree completion, employment placement, and leadership engagement among alumni who enter sectors such as finance at Standard Bank, healthcare at Aga Khan Health Services, education at Teach For America-affiliated programs, and technology at firms like Andela and Jumia. Quantitative metrics cited in evaluations by researchers at University of Oxford and Duke University include retention rates, graduate employment rates, and entrepreneurship creation tracked through incubators linked to MEST Africa and iHub. Alumni networks have formed chapters modeled on postgraduate associations at Harvard Kennedy School and University of California campuses, contributing to policy dialogues hosted by African Economic Research Consortium and think tanks like Brookings Institution.
Critiques from scholars at University of the Witwatersrand, University of Nairobi, and policy analysts at Institute of Development Studies highlight challenges including sustainability of donor-funded cohorts, dependency on external funding streams, and potential brain drain as alumni migrate to markets in United States, Canada, and United Kingdom. Other concerns raised by civil society organizations such as Transparency International and Global Justice focus on accountability, selection transparency, and alignment with national higher education priorities set by ministries and commissions like Kenya Commission for University Education and South African Department of Higher Education and Training. Debates continue among development economists associated with IMF and World Bank about cost-effectiveness compared with system-wide investments in public higher learning.
Category:Scholarship programs