Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program adapts new model
Housed and managed by Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, The Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program is a comprehensive scholarship program that educates and prepares young people from Africa to lead change and make a positive impact in their communities. Through two phases, the first of which began in 2012, the program has supported 276 scholars in earning their degrees. Phase II of the program, Strengthening Institutional Linkages, began in 2016 and saw 156 students earn their master’s degrees.
In the summer of 2020, the eighth cohort of 59 scholars from universities in Ghana — 16 from Ashesi University and 43 from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology — was scheduled to transfer to Arizona State University’s Tempe campus to complete their final year of undergraduate studies, plus a one-year accelerated master’s degree. But due to COVID-19, visa and travel restrictions, the scholars were unable to travel to Arizona.
In an effort to ensure the scholars remained on track for graduation, the Strengthening Institutional Linkages team pivoted to ASU Sync (classes are offered in real time, remotely via Zoom) in order to provide continued access to planned programs. Additionally, the partner institutions in Ghana provided interim housing and other logistical and psycho-social support, locally. In essence, ASU, Ashesi and KNUST worked collaboratively to provide academic programming and wraparound support services to scholars with minimal disruption. And because of these efforts, the cohort graduated last May with a cumulative GPA of 3.8 — the highest final year undergraduate GPA to date for the program across all cohorts.
Mina Ahmad, assistant director of the Mastercard Foundation Grant Operations, says, “The COVID-19 years allowed us to think creatively and explore how we could extend access to high-quality education and continue delivery of learning wherever students may be located. Inspired by the dedication and resiliency of the previous cohort, we utilized our learnings from the unprecedented period to reimagine ways of continuing to reduce barriers to higher education.”
This fall, in an effort to extend these learnings on scalable access to education using technology, the Mastercard Scholars Foundation welcomed 10 new scholars. The students, from Zimbabwe, Ghana and Cameroon have completed three years of undergraduate programs at Ashesi University. During the fourth year, scholars will concurrently take additional online master’s courses. The credits for those courses will be applied to their master’s degree, allowing scholars to complete their master’s degree from ASU — one year after completing their undergraduate degree — all while located in Ghana.
Programming during the summer between the undergraduate and graduate program will include an immersive three-month in-person summer experience at ASU during which scholars can participate in on-campus activities as well as engage with peers and faculty as they prepare for their online master’s programs as ASU students before returning to Ghana for their final year of study.
“The scholars selected all possess tremendous talent and incredible goals to enhance their communities. We are excited to support them on their educational journey and future careers,” Ahmad says.