UWC Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program 2025/2026

The University of the Western Cape (UWC) is pleased to announce the launch of the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program at UWC. Launched in 2012, the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program is a global initiative designed to develop the next generation of transformative leaders by enabling highly talented, service-oriented young people, primarily young Africans, to pursue their higher education and cultivate their leadership potential. The Program is specifically targeted toward young people whose access to higher education is impeded by economic and social barriers.

The Program places a particular emphasis on reaching young women, forcibly displaced youth, and young people living with disabilities.

The Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program at UWC will support academically talented youth from South Africa and other parts of the African continent. For the 2025 Academic Year, the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program at UWC will provide fully-funded opportunities for young scholars from the African continent to study for a master’s degree.

The University of the Western Cape invites applications for a limited number of master’s degree scholarships from qualifying candidates from South Africa and the African continent who are prepared to register for a full-time master’s degree study in 2025.

Applications are restricted to the following disciplines/fields of study:

Postgraduate Qualification: Master’s Degree – Disciplines/fields of study:

• 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).

Eligibility

At the time of application, an applicant must satisfy the following three criteria:

1. Be no older than 30 years for the postgraduate master’s degree;
2. Meet the University’s minimum admissions requirements (for program-/discipline-specific information, visit www.uwc.ac.za);
3. Be prepared to begin their first year of registration for full-time master’s study in 2025.

Downloads

• Application Form

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the UWC Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program