What Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program at UC Berkeley actually covers.
The Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program at the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) supports approximately 55 Master's degree students from Africa, with a new cohort of 29+ entering each year until 2028. The programme provides fully funded scholarships for talented young Africans who face social and economic barriers to education, enabling them to access one of the world's most prestigious universities. UC Berkeley is consistently ranked among the top 5 universities globally, offering world-class education in technology, public policy, energy, natural resources, development practice, and other fields relevant to Africa's development. The scholarship covers tuition, fees, health insurance, living expenses, travel, and other related costs. Scholars participate in an extensive leadership development programme, community service activities, and professional networking events. UC Berkeley Mastercard Foundation scholars are expected to return to Africa upon graduation and use their skills and networks to drive positive change in their communities and countries.
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 December 1, 2026 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.
Scholar Africa runs a link-liveness check on every listing before it goes live. Five additional checks (contact, organisation, winners, third-party, manual review) are on the roadmap. Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program at UC Berkeley currently scores 4.0/10.
Verification details Click to expand
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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.