McGill University and the Mastercard Foundation are pleased to offer full scholarships to economically challenged, academically gifted Master’s students from Sub-Saharan Africa through the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program. This scholarship program is designed to sponsor outstanding, community engaged students to attend university who otherwise would not have the opportunity, thereby, fostering the development of future Sub-Saharan African leaders and entrepreneurs.

In addition to financial support, Scholars are provided with a comprehensive support network that includes an array of mentoring and support services to ensure each student’s academic success, community service engagement and transition to socially relevant employment opportunities.

Eligibility

To be eligible for consideration for the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Master’s Program at McGill, you must:

• Be admissible to one of the eligible programs at McGill University (see Program List below);
• Have never registered for /completed any graduate studies;
• Be nominated by a current McGill Professor or Staff Member from the department you wish to apply to (see Nomination Form);
• Be a citizen of and have lived a significant part of your life in a Sub-Saharan African Country (see List of Eligible Countries);
• Have an exceptional record of service and activity in your school and/or community;
• Have an intent to return to your country immediately upon the completion of your degree with the goal of transforming your community through social and economic development;
• Demonstrate that your financial status is in the lowest two quintiles of your country.
• Must be less than 35 years old at the time of application

Application Procedure

Please read the following steps carefully:

• Prospective applicants can find the full list of MCF eligible programs here: https://www.mcgill.ca/mastercardfdn-scholars/apply-program

Once a program of interest has been identified, the applicant must consult the departmental requirements as well as the standard graduate admission requirements, to verify that they are eligible to apply. Please note that meeting the minimum graduate admissions requirements does not guarantee nomination for the Mastercard Foundation Scholarship Program or admission to McGill University.

• If the minimum requirements are met, the applicant may request a nomination from the department via email. This request should have the following information enclosed:
  -University Transcript
  -Curriculum Vitae (CV)
  -Short Personal Statement (max. 350 words).
• The nomination made by the department acts as a verification step. If an applicant has been nominated, they will be prompted to create an account on the application portal and share the username with the nominating department.

The applicant MUST wait until they have been nominated before creating an account in order for the application to be considered for the MCF scholarship. Please note that being nominated does not guarantee admission to McGill University.

• Once nominated(department must send the completed nomination form to [email protected]), the applicant will be issued a fee waiver and should complete the admission application. They should upload the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program Application Form, sponsor letter and bank statement to the checklist.
• The applicant should request their Referee complete the MCFSP Recommendation form and return the completed form by email [email protected].
• Once all of the requested documents have been received,the department will review the application.-If the applicant is admitted to their program of study, their MCFSP application is pre-screened. If selected at the pre-screening stage, the application moves on to the MCFSP Selection Committee for review. -If the applicant is refused admission, they are no longer eligible for the scholarship.
• Successful applicants will be notified in April 2020 if they have been selected for the 2020 Cohort of the Mastercard Foundation Scholarship Program at McGill University.

Documents Required:

Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program – Step by Step Instructions 2020
Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program – Eligibility Criteria 2020
List of Eligible Programs of Study 2020
List of Eligible Countries 2020
Nomination Form

Important Dates

Deadline to submit the Application for Admission: Your program’s deadline
Deadline to submit MCF Supporting Documents: January 31, 2020
Mastercard Foundation Scholars Selection Committee begins to make scholarship offers April 1, 2020