Mastercard Foundation Scholarships Open Now: 8 Opportunities and Their Real Deadlines

Mastercard Foundation Scholarships Open Now: 8 Opportunities and Their Real Deadlines.

Eight Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program opportunities currently have live application windows, ranging from a September 2026 cutoff for a US master’s programme to a January 2027 deadline for Oxford. Every deadline below has been checked against the host institution’s own information, so you’re applying against accurate dates even where they differ from what’s circulating on social media.

The Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program is a pan-African initiative that funds tuition, accommodation, stipends and leadership training for academically strong students facing financial barriers. Kenyan citizens are eligible at every institution below, since all require applicants to be citizens of an African country rather than of a specific nation.

Quick Reference: Deadlines at a Glance

1. Arizona State University — Deadline: 27 September 2026

This is the tightest deadline on the list. ASU’s Mastercard Foundation Innovation and Technology Scholarship funds 30 fully immersive, on-campus master’s places for the 2027–2028 intake, in fields like global technology and development, sustainable engineering, IT, business analytics and learning design and technologies.

Applicants must have earned or be on track to earn a bachelor’s degree by August 2027, hold roughly a 3.5/4.0 GPA, and be between 18 and 33 years old on the deadline date.

Important: this is a two-stage process. You apply for the Mastercard Foundation scholarship first, not directly to ASU. Applying independently to ASU graduate programmes before being invited by the Scholars Program team can actually disqualify you.

Apply to Arizona State University

2. University of Pretoria — Postgraduate Deadline: 30 September 2026

UP’s Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program supports selected undergraduate, Honours and Master’s programmes for African youth facing significant socio-economic barriers, including refugees, internally displaced persons and people with disabilities.

The postgraduate documentation deadline is confirmed as 30 September 2026, while the undergraduate window (31 August 2026) has already closed.

One catch worth flagging clearly: you must first secure provisional admission to a UP postgraduate programme before your Mastercard Foundation application can be considered, so this deadline realistically only helps applicants who are already far along in UP’s own admissions process.

Apply to University of Pretoria

3. University of Cape Town — Postgraduate Deadline: 31 October 2026

UCT confirms its 2027-intake deadlines as 30 September 2026 for bachelor’s applicants and 31 October 2026 for postgraduate applicants (postgraduate diplomas in Health Sciences, honours and eligible taught master’s programmes).

UCT has already closed undergraduate admissions for 2027, so the bachelor’s route is effectively shut unless you already have an active UCT application in the system. The postgraduate window remains genuinely open to new applicants who apply to UCT and then submit the separate Mastercard Foundation application, provided they receive a UCT admission offer.

Apply to University of Cape Town

4. University of Cambridge — Course-Dependent Deadline (Dec 2026/Jan 2027)

Cambridge doesn’t use one fixed date. The funding deadline is tied to your specific master’s course, and most fall in early December 2026 or early January 2027 — earlier than Cambridge’s standard course application deadlines, so check the postgraduate course directory for your programme’s exact cutoff.

A fee-waiver request, if you need one, is typically due around mid-November. Applicants need a bachelor’s degree that meets the entry bar for their chosen course (usually equivalent to a UK upper-second or first-class degree).

Because Cambridge selects scholars only from applicants who already hold a departmental offer, you need to apply for the course itself well before the funding deadline, indicating in that application that you want to be considered for Mastercard Foundation funding.

Apply to University of Cambridge

5. African Leadership University, Rwanda — Deadline: 30 November 2026

ALU’s official applications page confirms that applications for the January 2027 intake close on 30 November 2026.

ALU’s undergraduate programmes (Software Engineering, Entrepreneurial Leadership, International Business & Trade) run on rolling intakes roughly every four months, and admitted students who demonstrate financial need are automatically considered for the Mastercard Foundation scholarship — there’s no separate scholarship application form to fill in.

Apply to African Leadership University

6. African Leadership College, Mauritius — Two Deadlines

ALU’s Mauritius campus, formally the African Leadership College of Higher Education (ALCHE), runs its own deadlines that differ from the Rwanda campus: 14 November 2026 for international applicants, and 23 January 2027 for Mauritian nationals, both for a February 2027 intake.

Eligible programmes include Computer Science, Entrepreneurial Leadership, International Business & Trade and Software Engineering. As with ALU Rwanda, admitted students with demonstrated financial need are automatically assessed for Mastercard Foundation support rather than filling a separate scholarship form.

Apply to African Leadership College, Mauritius

7. Ashesi University, Ghana — Rolling Rounds Through December

Ashesi runs admissions in four rounds rather than one fixed cutoff: applications due in June, August, October and December, feeding into September or January intake starts. With June and August already past, Kenyan applicants currently have the October and December 2026 rounds still open.

Be aware that some scholarship-listing sites currently quote a single “16 November 2026” deadline for the Mastercard-funded track specifically — that figure isn’t confirmed on Ashesi’s own admissions pages, so if you’re applying specifically for Mastercard Foundation funding rather than general admission, verify the exact date directly with Ashesi’s admissions office before you finalise your timeline.

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Half of Ashesi’s Mastercard-funded places are reserved for non-Ghanaian applicants, and admission to Ashesi automatically triggers consideration for financial aid, including the Mastercard scholarship — there is no separate scholarship application.

Apply to Ashesi University

8. University of Oxford (AfOx) — Course-Dependent Deadline (Dec 2026/Jan 2027)

Like Cambridge, Oxford’s Mastercard Foundation AfOx Scholarship follows each master’s course’s own graduate admissions deadline, most of which fall between December 2026 and late January 2027. The confirmed deadline for Oxford’s MBA route under this scholarship for the next cycle is 6 January 2027, with other taught master’s courses spread across November, December and January depending on faculty.

The scholarship funds course fees plus a living grant, flights, visa costs and a structured leadership programme, with a strong emphasis on applicants from refugee, displaced or disability backgrounds. As with Cambridge, apply for your specific Oxford course well ahead of its funding deadline and indicate you wish to be considered for AfOx funding within that application.

Apply to University of Oxford

What Kenyan Applicants Should Do Differently

• Start with your KCSE or degree transcripts translated and certified early. Several of these programmes (Pretoria, UCT, Oxford, Cambridge) require verified academic documents before they’ll process an application, and certification can take weeks through KNEC or your university’s registrar.
• Passport and visa timing matters. UK and US programmes (Cambridge, Oxford, ASU) require a valid passport at application stage even though visas are only processed after an offer.
• Two-step applications are the norm, not the exception. Pretoria, UCT, Cambridge and Oxford all require a conditional or provisional university offer before your Mastercard Foundation scholarship application can be assessed.
• Don’t pay application agents. All eight applications above go through official university or Mastercard Foundation portals and are free to apply to.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program only for African citizens?
Yes, across all eight opportunities listed here, eligibility requires citizenship of an African country. Kenyan citizens qualify at every institution above.

Do I need to apply to the Mastercard Foundation directly, or through the university?
It depends on the institution. At ASU, ALU Rwanda, ALCHE Mauritius and Ashesi, you apply through the university and are automatically assessed for the scholarship. At Pretoria, UCT, Cambridge and Oxford, you generally need a university admission offer first.

What happens if I miss one of these deadlines?
Most run this scholarship on an annual cycle, so a missed deadline typically means waiting for the next intake — Ashesi is the exception, with rolling rounds through the year.

Are these scholarships fully funded?
Yes. All eight cover tuition and, in most cases, accommodation, a living stipend, travel and additional support such as a laptop or health cover, though exact packages vary by institution.

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