What Carnegie Mellon University Africa Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program actually covers.
The Carnegie Mellon University Africa (CMU-Africa) Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program is a fully funded master's scholarship exclusively designed for young Africans, housed at CMU's campus in Kigali, Rwanda. This programme is among the most complete scholarships available to African students anywhere in the world: it covers full tuition and fees, accommodation, a living stipend, health insurance, travel costs, academic-related expenses, application support, and even entrepreneurship and leadership development. CMU-Africa focuses on building the next generation of technology and engineering leaders on the continent, offering master's degrees in Information Technology (MSIT), Electrical and Computer Engineering (MSECE), and Engineering Artificial Intelligence (MSEAI). The programme is deeply aligned with Africa's development goals and explicitly targets students who are committed to using their technical education to benefit their communities and continent. Applicants must be African citizens, demonstrate financial need, show strong academic performance, and hold a bachelor's degree or be in their final year. CMU's global reputation in computer science and engineering ensures that graduates are competitive in both African and international job markets. Scholars benefit from CMU's vast global alumni network, access to research labs at the cutting edge of AI, data science, and engineering, and a community of driven African peers from across the continent. With an early deadline in December and final deadline in January, prospective students should begin preparing their applications by October.
Who can apply.
Open to masters applicants seeking to study in United States. Eligible nationalities are listed below.
46 more eligible countries — full list available on the official application page.
Every academic discipline is accepted.
This programme does not restrict by field. Research proposals across humanities, sciences, engineering, agriculture, and medicine are all accepted.
Four steps to a complete application.
Scholar Africa is a discovery and tracking platform — the application itself is submitted directly through the official provider site. The steps below mirror our HowTo schema.
Check eligibility
Confirm your nationality, academic level, and field of study match the criteria above.
Eligibility checklist
Prepare documents
Transcripts, recommendation letters, personal statement, and a valid passport.
Document checklist
Submit the application
Submit before January 15, 2027 via the official portal.
Submission checklist
Track your application
Use your Scholar Africa dashboard to monitor status and deadline reminders.
Post-submission checklist
What we checked, when we checked it.
Every scholarship on Scholar Africa goes through six checks (link, contact, organisation, winners, third-party, manual review). Carnegie Mellon University Africa Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program currently scores 0.0/10.
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Other scholarships worth a parallel application.
Same eligibility window or destination. Many strong applicants apply to three or four programmes per cycle.