University of Cambridge Mastercard Foundation Scholarship 2027 | Fully Funded

The University of Cambridge, in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, is actively inviting applications for its prestigious Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program for the 2027 academic intake. Launched in 2022, this transformative institutional initiative represents a significant commitment to higher education and regional empowerment, with a clear blueprint to fully fund and train 500 exceptional African scholars by the year 2030.

The program focuses heavily on global challenges, organizing its academic cohorts around the critical pillars of climate resilience and sustainability. Recognizing that resolving ecological crises requires interdisciplinary action, the scholarship is designed to support academic talent across a massive spectrum of fields—ranging from the humanities and arts to the social sciences and advanced STEM disciplines.

The institutional application timeline officially opens in September 2026. To ensure complete integration with the university’s central registry, the absolute closing deadline for your submission is tied directly to your chosen academic program’s internal funding cutoff, which falls in either early December 2026 or early January 2027

About the University of Cambridge Mastercard Foundation Scholarship

The Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program at the University of Cambridge is a premier postgraduate sponsorship model structured to empower the next generation of African changemakers. Rather than operating as a simple financial grant, this initiative acts as an intensive, holistic leadership pipeline. It provides fully funded avenues for brilliant young leaders from economically marginalized, underrepresented, or hard-to-reach communities across the African continent to attain world-class Master’s degrees.

A core objective of the program is to drive equality, diversity, and structural inclusion within higher education. The selection panel explicitly encourages and prioritizes applications from women, verified refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs), and individuals managing physical or learning disabilities.

Scholars are embedded within a robust, supportive network of peers. The program provides a week-long immersion orientation prior to the start of the academic year, structured weekend retreats, monthly social events, and a collaborative summer celebration.

Furthermore, to ensure long-term career impact, the program delivers a specialized leadership development curriculum in direct partnership with the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CiSL), alongside an intensive three-day social venture incubation course hosted by the King’s College Entrepreneurship Lab.

University of Cambridge Mastercard Foundation Scholarship Summary

What the Scholarship Covers

The financial framework of this scholarship provides comprehensive, full-cost security, covering every logistical, personal, and academic expense to ensure students can focus entirely on their training:

• Tuition Fees: Complete coverage of the University Composition Fee and all localized course fees at the appropriate academic rate. Postgraduate Admissions Office
• Living Allowances: A reliable monthly maintenance stipend tailored to offset urban UK inflation, designed to fully cover standard housing and food costs. Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program – University of Cambridge
• Travel and Logistical Provisions: Full payment for economy return flights from your home country to the United Kingdom, alongside targeted ground transport allowances directly into Cambridge. Postgraduate Admissions Office
• Relocation Essentials: A direct technology allowance providing a premium personal laptop upon your arrival. Postgraduate Admissions Office
• Immigration Processing Fees: 100% coverage of the standard UK Student Visa fees alongside the mandatory Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS). THE KNOWLEDGE INSTITUTE
• Dependent Support Infrastructure: Unlike standard academic grants, this program provides verified auxiliary stipends to assist with travel and living costs for dependent children who legally accompany the scholar to the UK. Postgraduate Admissions Office
• Career Transition Sponsorship: Full financial and practical backing to undertake a 3-to-6-month professional internship or project placement inside a leading, impactful organization based on the African continent following graduation. THE KNOWLEDGE INSTITUTE

Core Eligibility and Entry Parameters

To be considered for evaluation by the central selection panel, candidates must satisfy the following strict biographical and academic baselines:

• Geographic and Residency Benchmarks: You must hold active citizenship in an African nation and be ordinarily resident within an African country. Applicants temporarily based outside of the continent for short-term employment or study are eligible, provided they show a clear intent to return. Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program – University of Cambridge
• Prior Educational Achievement: You must hold a completed bachelor’s degree and fulfill the academic entry standard required by your targeted program. Depending on the field, this requires the verified international equivalent of a UK first-class honours or a good upper second-class (2:1) degree. Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program – University of Cambridge
• Course Structure Restrictions: The scholarship applies exclusively to full-time Master’s degrees (such as the MPhil, LLM, MRes, MEd, or MASt) that do not exceed one year in length. NOUN UPDATE
• Explicit Degree Exclusions: Because of the structural design of the funding pool, the following business and corporate courses are completely ineligible for sponsorship: Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program – University of Cambridge
  • Master of Business Administration (MBA)
  • Master of Corporate Law (MCL)
  • Master of Finance (MFin)
  • Master of Accountancy (MAcc)
• Ideological Alignment: Candidates must clearly document a profound commitment to regional development, community service, and active contribution to the overarching program themes of sustainability and climate resilience.

Join Lucy’s Scholarship Mentorship Group

Get step-by-step guidance, live group reviews, and exclusive support to find, apply, and win global scholarships.

Join Now, Let's Waka Together →

Required Application Dossier

Your digital submission profile on the Cambridge Graduate Application Portal must contain the following verified files before your specific course cutoff:

1. Postgraduate Admission File: A completed course request submitted via the official University of Cambridge directory. Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program – University of Cambridge
2. Dedicated Scholarship Statement: A targeted personal essay addressing four explicit pillars: your academic/career trajectory, your transformative leadership history, how the award advances your personal aspirations, and your concrete vision for developing sustainable systems in Africa.
3. Academic Records: Fully verified university transcripts, cross-checked and aligned with the university’s international qualifications database. Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program – University of Cambridge
4. Language Verification Letters: Official IELTS Academic results. Most programs require an overall band score of 7.0 or 7.5. Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program – University of Cambridge

IELTS Flexibility Note: You are legally permitted to submit your baseline academic application without current IELTS scores. If you are chosen by the department, you will receive a standard conditional offer, allowing you until July 31, 2027, to upload your final language test results.

Step-by-Step Submission Roadmap

Because the Mastercard Foundation application is built natively directly into the general postgraduate course system, you must follow this exact operational path:

Step 1: Pinpoint Your Course and Verify Deadlines Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program – University of Cambridge

Navigate to the Cambridge Postgraduate Course Directory and open your intended program file. Record the explicit “Funding Deadline” listed on that specific page (either early December 2026 or early January 2027), as this overrides standard admission dates.

Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program – University of Cambridge

Step 2: Request an Admission Fee Waiver, Postgraduate Admissions Office

While Cambridge charges a standard application fee, all qualifying Mastercard Foundation applicants receive a full waiver. Check if your home nation triggers an automatic waiver; if not, fill out the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program Application Fee Waiver Request Form in the portal, uploading your passport and transcripts to activate the zero-cost submission setting.

Postgraduate Admissions Office

Step 3: Complete Portal Fields and Opt-In for Funding Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program – University of Cambridge

Launch your admission application profile. When navigating through the funding modules, check the box to opt-in for university funding and explicitly select the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program from the dropdown menu. Paste your tailored scholarship statement into the designated field.

Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program – University of Cambridge

Step 4: Execute College Selection and Transmit Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program – University of Cambridge

Select your preferred residential college from the 31 historic Cambridge options after evaluating their environments. Finalize your tracking references and hit submit prior to 23:59 UK time on your program’s specific December 2026 or January 2027 funding date.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can an applicant currently working or studying outside of Africa apply for this award?

Yes. If you are an African citizen temporarily living outside the continent solely to complete an academic program or fulfil a short-term employment contract, you remain fully eligible, provided you maintain a documented long-term commitment to return and build your career in Africa.

How does the selection process divide academic merit from scholarship potential?

The evaluation operates in two distinct phases. First, the specific academic department reviews your profile based purely on academic grades and references to issue a standard course offer between December and February. Following this, the specialized Mastercard Foundation committee reviews the pool of offer-holders, assessing the scholarship statement to choose final awardees in March and April.

Are multi-year Master’s degrees or research PhDs covered under this specific fund?

No. This specific scholarship stream is structurally restricted to full-time taught or research Master’s programs that do not exceed one single year of enrollment.

Disclaimer: All scholarship details, timelines, award values, and eligibility criteria in this post were verified from official university funding guidelines as of July 2026. Information is subject to change without notice. Always confirm active provisions directly via the official University of Cambridge Mastercard Foundation Scholars portal before initiating your submission. ScholarWaka is not affiliated with the University of Cambridge or the Mastercard Foundation.

Official Application Portal