For African Nationals | Center for African Studies

Here we list funding opportunities at Berkeley and beyond that citizens of African countries may be eligible.

UC Berkeley Affiliated Funding

UC Berkeley is a partner in The Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program, a fellowship for students from Sub-Saharan Africa. This global education initiative will provide 40,000 talented, yet economically disadvantaged, students from developing countries – particularly in Africa – with comprehensive support for secondary and university education. At UC Berkeley, the second phase of the program provides comprehensive support – financial, academic, social, and career counseling – to 108 master's degree students from Sub-Saharan Africa from 2020 to 2030. It is not open to undergraduate or doctoral students.

The Center for African Studies offers the Emeka Kalu Ezera Fellowship for Dissertation Research. This is only for doctoral students who are already enrolled at UC Berkeley.

Other campus programs offering funding:

The International House offers various fellowships for residents, including Gateway Fellowships for PhD students.
The Berkeley International Office provides information on financial aid for international students.
The UC Berkeley Financial Aid office also has information for international students.
The Graduate Division list fellowships, some of which are available to non-US citizens.

Funding Beyond Berkeley

Below are other links to information that might be useful to students from African countries interested in finding fellowships to study in the United States. Please send updates, additions and corrections to us at asc@berkeley.edu

Collaboration for Inclusive Development Research Opportunity Hub -- https://cega.berkeley.edu/initiative/cidr/

The Collaboration for Inclusive Development Research (CIDR), an initiative of the Center for Effective Global Actions, manages the CIDR Opportunity Hub (CO-Hub), a resource that advances inclusion in global development research by promoting opportunities for African scholars.

Mawazo Institute Opportunities Database -- https://mawazoinstitute.org/opportunities-database

Mawazo publishes a list of funding, training, conferences, and other opportunities to enhance African women's research and professional development on a rolling basis.

eduPass -- http://www.edupass.org/

A comprehensive web site from FinAid, the Financial Aid Information Page [http://www.finaid.org/] specifically for foreign students. They claim they can help students from the beginning of the process to the end. One page on the site lists schools that have given scholarships to foreign students. [http://www.edupass.org/finaid/undergraduate.phtml] To be included in the lists, the schools must have an average award that is greater than 1/5 of the cost of attendance. Note that none of the ten University of California campuses were listed in 2005.

The site includes free financial aid searches based on a student's particular profile. The site’s database pages can be very slow. This could mean that it is difficult to get to the information if one does not have a high-speed hookup. The database is extensive though and maybe worth the wait.

Stanford's Africa South of the Sahara site

On this site, there were two pages with information on funding opportunities although they were not necessarily specific to African nationals.

Institute of International Education and Education USA

For details on funding options: www.fundingusstudy.org
Fulbright Commission: https://www.iie.org/Programs/Fulbright-US-Student-Program
Education USA: www.educationusa.info

2004 Rockefeller Guide to Funding for African Students ~ Old but potentially useful

Financial Aid for International Students and Scholars for Study or Research in the United States and Abroad

On the Library web site of the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
http://researchguides.library.wisc.edu/content.php?pid=33330&sid=244562

Kubatana.net: 2002-2003 Resource Guide: a Selected List of Fellowships, Scholarships, Grants and other training opportunities for African Women Students/Scholars.

http://archive.kubatana.net/html/archive/women/021216iewad.asp?sector=RESOUR

Rotary Foundation

https://www.rotary.org/enMost African countries have Rotary Clubs.

University of Pennsylvania Africa Page, Grants section

http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/Grants/menu_Grants.html
with a special section for international students: http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/Grants/International_Students_10206.html

Various African Studies Programs around the United States

Visit web sites for African studies programs around the country.
http://library.stanford.edu/africa-south-sahara/browse-topic/about-african-studies/african-studies-programs

Scholars at Risk

Scholars at Risk assists those with doctoral degrees: https://www.scholarsatrisk.org. They also have a list of resources for students: https://www.scholarsatrisk.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Student-Assistance-Information.pdf

Links on Graduate Division resources page

A list compiled by UC Berkeley's Graduate Division of possible sources for international students: https://grad.berkeley.edu/financial/options-for-financial-support/fellowships/national-fellowship-databases/#panel-2-4