School of Applied Microfinance

For the third year, the MasterCard Foundation, in conjunction with the School of Applied Microfinance is awarding scholarships to qualified applicants to attend School of Applied Microfinance 2010. The MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program will make it possible for organizations and individuals without own financial possibilities to attend sam 2010 by providing scholarships for tuition fee, accommodation and travel costs.

This program is part of MasterCard Foundation’s mission to support microfinance programs and services to financially disadvantaged persons and communities in order to economically enhance communities and foster the development of entrepreneurs as a means of relieving poverty.

The MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program is dedicated to expanding the capacity of microfinance practitioners, with particular focus on middle management and to increase institutional leadership among women and under-represented populations.

Scholarship Eligibility

If you qualify under one or more of the following categories, you are encouraged to apply:

01	Managers at microfinance institutions or banks.
02	Microfinance Consultants who have in the past provided implementation support to financial institutions and are keen to increase their overall technical skills base.
03	Individuals from the financial institutions that apply different models in their service delivery e.g. savings and credit cooperatives.
04	Individuals from the Middle East and North Africa region.

Women microfinance managers are encouraged to apply.

Coverage Scholarships

The scholarships are intended to supplement other resources available to the applicants. Applicants may be awarded full or partial scholarships, depending on the assessment of the awarding committee. Applicants should state how much of the course fees they or their institutions are willing to meet in their application. The scholarship award committee will use the combined criteria of merit and need to decide how much will be awarded to anyone who qualifies.

Application Process

All interested applicants should apply directly to the School of Applied Microfinance at this address: scholarships@samtraining.org.

All applicants must submit:

a.	A current resume
b.	A completed sam 2010 application form
c.	A completed scholarship application form (this will be sent to applicants who qualify for sam 2010)

Application Deadline

All applications for the scholarship must be sent electronically (scholarships@samtraining.org) to the School of Applied Microfinance no later than 30th July 2010 to ensure enough time for visas and registering for sam. Scholarship recipients will be notified on email no later than 3rd August 2010.

To register for sam 2010 please download application form from samtraining.org/registration