What Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program at University of Cape Town actually covers.
The Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program at the University of Cape Town (UCT) provides fully funded scholarships to academically talented young Africans from sub-Saharan Africa who are first-time undergraduate or postgraduate (Honours and Master's) degree-seeking applicants. UCT is Africa's leading research university and is consistently ranked among the top 200 universities globally. The scholarship covers full tuition, accommodation, meals, transport, books, health insurance, a personal allowance, academic and peer mentoring, cultural and transition support, career and internship opportunities, service learning, experiential learning, and leadership development training. UCT opens its annual call for Mastercard Foundation scholarship applications between July and September each year. The programme aims to develop a new generation of transformative leaders who will create and sustain positive change in Africa, leveraging UCT's world-class research environment, diverse faculty, and extensive international partnerships.
Who can apply.
Open to undergraduate, masters applicants seeking to study in South Africa. 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.
From here to submitted.
Scholar Africa helps you discover, shortlist, and track. The application itself is submitted on the provider's site.
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Save itAdd this to your shortlist so we can recommend similar scholarships and remind you of the deadline.
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Prepare your documentsMost providers ask for the same set — transcripts, references, a personal statement, ID. Use the checklist below to track progress across all your applications.
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Apply on the provider's siteSubmit on the provider's site before September 30, 2026 · 74 days left.
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Track the outcomeAdd to your tracker so you can update the status as the provider responds (shortlisted, interview, decision).
Document checklist
Checks are local to this device — they're not stored. Always confirm exact requirements on the provider's official application page.
What we checked, when we checked it.
Scholar Africa runs a link-liveness check on every listing before it goes live and an admin manually reviews every scholarship submitted by providers. Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program at University of Cape Town has been reviewed and verified by our team. Five deeper checks (contact, organisation, winners, third-party, formal audit) are on the roadmap.
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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.