Aga Khan Foundation – International Scholarship Programme

The Program

This international scholarship program is living to the ideals of assistance to those of dire needs. For that matter, the scholarship program is designed for students from developing countries. The Aga Khan Foundation is willing to provide certain number of grants annually for post-graduate studies. The program is highly competitive. Though earning an undergraduate degree will suffice for most of the time, for you to have an edge, earning a master’s or doctorate degree will give you the maximum advantage especially if your circumstances are challenging. You will be preferred if you want to earn a master’s degree. Of course, if you already earned one, you could still be qualified as long as you could convince the Aga Khan Foundation that it will be worth it for you to earn a doctorate degree. This international scholarship program is half gratuitous award and half loan. So, this program is more on “study now pay later” scheme. Of course, you are encouraged to secure other financing. At least, you have an available viable financing help.

Do you have what it takes? The Eligibility

Though the scholarship program is designed for developing countries, the Aga Khan foundation is particularly interested to students coming from the following countries:

• Bangladesh,
• India,
• Pakistan,
• Afghanistan,
• Tajikistan,
• Kyrgyzstan,
• Syria,
• Egypt,
• Kenya,
• Tanzania,
• Uganda,
• Madagascar and
• Mozambique

If you are living in France, Portugal, United Kingdom, United States of America, and Canada but you came from one of the countries enumerated, you are still eligible as long as you that it is apparent that you will needing so much of financial assistance to pursue graduate studies. The Aga Khan Foundation have particular preference to students younger than 30 years of age.

Things to Do: Instructions on how to apply

For you to qualify for the grant, you need to possess the following:

• Consistent exemplary academic performance,
• Financial circumstances that make study very difficult,
• Admission to a highly reputable program of study provided by a credible university or college
  • The program of study should be relevant to the AKDN’s focus area.

Your extra-curricular activities, personal characteristics, and academic and professional plans will be taken into consideration. You will preferred if you already gained years of work experience.

To initiate your application, you need to secure application forms from the branch offices of the foundation in your respective country. You need to submit your application to the same office.

The Award

Once awarded, you will be given monetary award that will paid to finance your tuition fees and living allowances. The rest is up to you. Financing for the PhD programs is only limited to the first two years of study. You will be preferred if you also secured other sources of financing since the foundation have limited allocation for the award. For that matter, it is better to apply for other scholarship grants if you are considering on applying for this program. It is important to take note that half of the total scholarship amount will be treated as a loan. Payment of which is subject to 5 percent interest annually. For that matter, you must have a guarantor for the loan part of the award. You have five years to pay the award which will start six months after the study period.

Deadline

Application will open at January next year for the 2018-19 academic year.

For more information, please visit their website at:

/https://www.akdn.org/our-agencies/aga-khan-foundation/international-scholarship-programme