The 2024 University of Western Cape Mastercard Foundation Scholars Programme
The University of the Western Cape (UWC) is an administering partner of the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program. Launched in 2012, the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program is a global initiative organized to develop the next generation of transformative leaders by promoting highly talented, service-oriented young people, primarily young Africans, to further their higher education and cultivate their leadership potential. The Scholars Program is especially targeted toward young people whose access to higher education is restricted by economic and social barriers. The Program sets a particular focus on reaching young women, refugees and forcibly displaced youth, and young people living with disabilities, who are encouraged to apply.
The Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program at UWC sponsors academically talented youth from South Africa and other parts of the African continent. For the 2024 Academic Year, the Scholars Program at UWC will offer fully-funded opportunities for young scholars to study for
i) undergraduate qualifications or
ii) master’s degree qualifications.
The University of the Western Cape welcomes applications for a limited number of undergraduate and master’s degree scholarships from qualifying candidates from South Africa and the African continent who are equipped to register for full-time study in 2024. Applications are restricted to the following disciplines/fields of study:
UNDERGRADUATE QUALIFICATIONS
- Humanities & Arts (History, Linguistics, Sociology, and Women’s and Gender Studies);
- Economic & Management Sciences (Economics, Information Sciences, and Public Administration);
- Education (Mathematics and Science, Foundation Phase)
- Natural Sciences (Biological, Computational, Mathematical, and Physical Sciences).
POSTGRADUATE QUALIFICATIONS (MASTERS DEGREE)
- Humanities & Arts (Applied Linguistics, History, Gender Justice, Migration Studies, Sociology for Development);
- Community & Health Sciences (Public Health);
- Economic & Management Sciences (Development Studies, Information Sciences and Migration Studies);
- Law (Governance and Human Rights);
- Natural Sciences (Biological, Computational, Mathematical, and Physical Sciences).
NEWEST OPPORTUNITIES: The 2023 KAS-SAIIA Masters Scholarship for Africans.
ELIGIBILITY CONDITIONS
To be eligible, applicants are required to have met the four conditions below:
FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES
- Be no older than 26 years for undergraduate studies;
- Meet the University’s minimum admissions requirements (for program/discipline-specific information, visit www.uwc.ac.za) and must have applied for academic admission to the University for 2024;
- Be prepared to register for full-time undergraduate study in January 2024;
- Provide evidence that social and economic barriers impede access to university studies.
FOR MASTERS DEGREE STUDIES
- Be no older than 30 years for the master’s degree studies;
- Meet the University’s minimum admissions requirements (for program/discipline-specific information, visit www.uwc.ac.za) and must have applied for academic admission to the University for 2024;
- Be prepared to begin their first year of registration for full-time master’s degree study in January 2024;
- Provide evidence that social and economic barriers impede access to university study.
PROCEDURES FOR APPLICATIONS
- Apply for study to the University for 2024 (https://www.uwc.ac.za/admission-andfinancial-aid/apply, take note of application closing dates)
- Apply for the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program by completing the online application (preferred method) available at https://www.uwc.ac.za/study/partnerships/mastercard-foundation-scholarsprogram.
- If you are unable to apply online you may download an application form via the link above and email the completed form and supporting documentation to mcfsp-applications@uwc.ac.za (the completed form and supporting documents must be submitted as one email).
- The preferred method of application is via the online form submission.
- Please note that no duplicate applications will be accepted and applications received via both routes (that is online and via downloadable form submission) will be automatically disqualified.
SCHEDULE
- The closing date for all applications is Friday, 13 October 2023.
- Due to the large volume of applications received, we are unable to give personalized feedback to applicants.
- If you do not hear from the university by Friday, 24 November 2023, please consider your application unsuccessful.
- Applicants are strongly advised to submit only ONE complete application.
- Incomplete and duplicate applications will be rejected.
Application Deadline: 13 October 2023.
The 2024 University of Western Cape Mastercard Foundation Scholars Programme
