What Yale Young African Scholars (YYAS) Program actually covers.
Yale Young African Scholars (YYAS) is an intensive, fully funded academic and enrichment programme hosted by Yale University and specifically designed for African secondary school students preparing for tertiary education and leadership on the continent. The programme runs in two formats annually: an online College Prep Workshop lasting six days in July, open to approximately 240 students from across Africa, and a fully funded residential Leadership Summit held in Kenya over nine days in August, open to approximately 110 students. Both programmes are free of charge, with the residential summit providing housing, meals, and all academic materials at no cost. Need-based travel grants are available for students admitted to the summit who reside outside Kenya. YYAS participants work through rigorous academic workshops on writing, critical thinking, mathematics, and science, while also receiving detailed guidance on how to apply to universities in Africa, the United States, Europe, and beyond. The leadership curriculum helps participants understand their own strengths and how to use them for community impact. Since its founding, YYAS has built an impressive alumni network of thousands of young Africans who have gone on to study at top universities worldwide and take on impactful roles in business, medicine, government, and civil society. Eligibility is restricted to citizens or permanent residents of African countries currently enrolled in secondary school in an African country, in 10th or 11th grade, and between the ages of 14 and 18. Applications typically open in late November and close in January, with decisions released by March.
Who can apply.
Open to secondary 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.
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 January 21, 2027 · 191 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. Yale Young African Scholars (YYAS) Program 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.