Sciences Po Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program 2025/2027 for Graduate Study in France (Fully Funded to France)

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About Sciences Po Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program

The Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program strives to provide access to quality and inclusive education to young people from Sub-Saharan Africa. By 2030, as part of an ambitious new strategy (Young Africa Works), the Foundation aims to enable 30 million young Africans to secure dignified and fulfilling employment.

Since 2017, Sciences Po is the only institution in continental Europe to partner with the Mastercard Foundation. Since then, it has been an instrumental member of the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program, offering a world-class education in the humanities and social sciences that pairs rigorous academic standards with proven expertise in preparing students for the globalised job market.

For its second strategic phase (2024 – 2034), the goal of the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program at Sciences Po is to support 1,450 students and young professionals who demonstrate academic excellence, strong leadership potential and a commitment to achieving change in Africa, but who face significant financial barriers to higher education.

TRAINING CHANGE-MAKERS

The Program shares and promotes the values of inclusion, leadership and access to education championed by the Mastercard Foundation. To do so, it builds on Sciences Po's historic commitment to excellence, social diversity and equal opportunities.

By opening the doors to top academic programmes and equipping each Scholar with transferable personal skills they can take into the job market, the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program aims to train a new generation of change-makers. Graduates of the Program are driven by a desire to make a real and lasting impact on the foremost issues facing the African continent.

Leadership: students should demonstrate leadership potential. Whether through their own initiatives or those offered at Sciences Po, students are encouraged to instigate or contribute to projects, events and activities.

Impact: students are encouraged to think about how their actions can have a lasting, positive influence on their community and society. Every year, the Program’s Impact Award gives students the opportunity to harness their entrepreneurial flair and think practically about a real-world project to be funded by the Program.

Collective thinking: community spirit is a core value of the Program. We encourage Scholars to put the collective before the individual and to mutually support one another through joint projects, activities, mentoring and more.

OFFERING WORLD-CLASS PROGRAMMES

To respond to the diversity of career paths and the complexity of the situations encountered, we offer a wide range of training programs: 

• Sciences Po’s seven Graduate Schools, open to students holding a Bachelor’s degree and aiming to earn a Master’s degree.
• The Executive Master Potential in Africa - Development Policies and Management, aimed at young professionals wanting to earn a higher degree in entrepreneurship.
• The Sciences Po Summer School, for Scholars currently studying in a partner institution of the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program who want to gain an introduction to the core theories and methodologies of the humanities and social sciences.
• Short, custom programmes run in collaboration with partner universities from the Mastercard Foundation’s network in Africa, for students studying online or on campus at African universities.
• A bridging programme for Bachelor’s degree-holders with refugee or displaced status or backgrounds, who aim to apply for a Master’s programme at Sciences Po or another university.

SUPPORTING AND FOSTERING EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES

The help and support provided by the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program at Sciences Po begins from the moment candidates apply and lasts until they secure their first job. Our goal is to remove the many barriers to higher education and enable scholars to study without additional pressure, in the best possible conditions.

Students receive the scholarships and financial aid throughout the two years of their Master’s programme.

You can apply to any of the Master’s degree programmes offered at Sciences Po’s seven Graduate Schools.

ADMISSIONS TIMELINE FOR THE 2025-2027 PROGRAM

• Application platform opens: September 2024
• Application deadline for Master’s programmes and the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program: 1st of December 2024
• Sciences Po admissions decisions released: mid-February 2025
• Scholarship allocation decisions released: from March 2025
• Master’s programmes begin: end of August 2025

• Sponsor Organisation: Mastercard Foundation

Benefits of Sciences Po Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program

Scholarships cover the full cost of tuition and living expenses in France, throughout the recipient’s time studying at Sciences Po.

TAILORED SUPPORT

In addition to funding tuition, Sciences Po provides Scholars with a range of tailored resources to support their studies and facilitate their transition into employment. Specifically, Scholars have access to:

• Support in the run-up to leaving for France, tailored support when they arrive, and an official welcome programme to help them integrate in their first few weeks.
• Housing in Paris reserved for Mastercard Foundation Scholars.
• Personalised support throughout their studies, ensuring every student has the best possible experience at Sciences Po.
• Careers support: guidance to help students identify their professional aspirations; a careers fair focusing on employment and internship opportunities in Africa; access to the university’s business incubator (FR) and its network of employers and alumni working in Africa; opportunities to attend careers support workshops, conferences, etc.
• A mentoring programme co-run with the Africa Division of Sciences Po Alumni.
• Access to the wide range of general resources Sciences Po provides to guide students through every step of their studies.

Sciences Po Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program Requirments

You must meet all of the following criteria to be eligible for the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program:

• Hold citizenship in a country within Sub-Saharan Africa. Candidates who hold a second citizenship from the European Economic Area are not eligible.
• Have completed or be currently enrolled in a Bachelor's degree programme at one of Sciences Po’s institutions of reference (see the list of institutions).
• Or have completed or are currently enrolled in a training foundation or mentoring programme offered by a bridging programme organisation partnering with the Mastercard Foundation (see the list of institutions).
• Be in genuine need of funding for your higher education (please note: documents proving your financial situation will be required for your application).
• Show a commitment to achieving change in Africa, particularly in the areas of public policy and major political, environmental and societal transitions.
• Be under  35 when you begin your Master’s programme.
• Not already hold or be completing a Master’s degree. 
• Be applying for a two-year Master’s programme at one of Sciences Po’s seven Graduate Schools. Applicants for one-year Master’s, dual degrees or joint Master’s programmes are not eligible for the Mastercard Foundation Scholars  Program.

 

Application Date and Process

To be selected for the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program, you must first be accepted onto a Master’s programme at one of Sciences Po’s seven Graduate Schools.

From September 2024, applications for Sciences Po Master’s programmes and for the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program will be handled through a single procedure and platform. You will need to apply for your chosen Master’s programme and the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program via the international graduate admissions procedure.

Further information and a guide to applying for the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program  will be published online ahead of the 2024 admissions season.

SCHOLARSHIP ALLOCATION

Once you have been accepted to Sciences Po, your application for the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program will be evaluated against the Program’s own criteria. Sciences Po’s Scholarship Selection Committee decides collegially on which applicants are awarded scholarships.

Please note: eligible Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program’s applicants who are accepted to Sciences Po may be invited to attend a remote interview.

PREPARING YOUR APPLICATION

 

Before you begin your application, please check you meet the eligibility criteria for Sciences Po's graduate programmes and the specific language requirements for each programme. Sciences Po offers English, French and bilingual programmes.

We strongly advise you to begin preparing and assembling the supporting documents you need for your application well in advance (before the application platform opens):

• All supporting documentsrequired for international graduate admissions to Sciences Po.
• Valid photo ID.
• Proof of income (or lack thereof) demonstrating your financial circumstances: tax documents and/or income statements; scholarship certificates; or any other legal document attesting to your financial situation. You must submit at least one document with your application. Bank statements will not be accepted. If you are currently receiving a scholarship (from the Mastercard Foundation or another funding body), or have received one in the past, please also attach the scholarship certificate.
• Proof of current or past enrolment at one of Sciences Po’s institutions of reference

PROGRAM’S ADMISSION CRITERIA

The Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program is highly selective and the scholarship is awarded on the basis of the following criteria:

• Demonstrable adequation between the degree held, the choice of Master’s programme at Sciences Po, the personal and academic background and the future professional plans.
• Ability to demonstrate critical thinking and perceptiveness in understanding and analysis of major contemporary political, economic and societal challenges facing Africa and the rest of the world.
• Ambition, originality and tenacity in pursuing entrepreneurial or social impact projects aimed at achieving socio-economic change in Africa.

Students are encouraged to express themselves authentically in their motivation letters and to draw on specific experiences to explain how joining the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program will enable them to achieve change. Misuse of Artificial Intelligence to answer the questions will prove a disadvantage to the application. 

In line with the values of inclusion, diversity and equal opportunities, which underpin the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program, special consideration will be given to applications from refugees, displaced persons and persons with disabilities.

IMPORTANT

• Exemption from paying the Sciences Po application fee does mean or guarantee you will be accepted into the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program. 
• If you do not meet the scholarship eligibility criteria, you will not be able to apply for the Program but may proceed with your application to Sciences Po once you have paid the application fee.
• Acceptance to Sciences Po does not guarantee you will be accepted into the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program. 
• They also recommend applying for the Emile Boutmy Scholarship.
• If your application for the scholarship is unsuccessful, it will be your responsibility  to find other means of funding your studies at Sciences Po.
• Current Sciences Po Students at the Graduate level cannot apply for the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program. 
• If you choose to defer your admission at Sciences Po for one year, you will need to reapply for the Program the following year.

Have a question about the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program at Sciences Po? 

Read their FAQ page (PDF).

If you can’t find an answer on the FAQ page, reach out to them directly at the following address: [email protected].

Application Deadline

01 December, 2024

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