Tertiary Scholarships
University pathways, on the continent and offshore, for high-performing Pharo graduates, with a grant-and-loan model built to sustain the fund over time.
2023 graduates of Pharo Secondary School Sheikh awarded Ethiopian scholarships by the Somaliland National Commission for Higher Education.
Extending the journey beyond Grade 12.
Launched in 2022, our post-school success programme has supported more than 70 high-performing graduates into higher education across eight countries.
Scholars study at institutions ranging from leading Malaysian engineering universities to Williams College and Bucknell University in the United States, with study destinations spanning Ethiopia, Malaysia, Turkey, Rwanda, Canada and beyond. Awards are structured as roughly half grant and half recoverable loan, so that as alumni establish careers and repay, the fund can support the next cohort.
Talent without a pathway is talent wasted.
High-performing students from underserved regions rarely reach world-class higher education, despite the ability to thrive there. In Somaliland, where higher education is not subsidised, cost is often the binding constraint, and strong candidates lose a year or more for want of a route through.
Our response
Identify high-performing graduates and support their transition into higher education, on the continent and offshore, through a model designed to last.
Grant-and-loan scholarships
Full and partial awards, structured as roughly half grant and half recoverable loan so the fund can sustain future cohorts.
College preparation
Career counselling, university applications and language-proficiency support through to placement.
University partnerships
Relationships with institutions across eight countries that widen where our scholars can go.
Our impact
2025 figures, reported in the annual report.
What we learnt
Excellence travels.
Pharo graduates win places at Williams College, Bucknell and top engineering universities abroad, proof of the model’s quality.
Design the fund to last.
A grant-and-loan structure, rather than pure grants, lets repaid loans recycle into future scholars and reduces the long-term cost of the pathway.
Help expand opportunity.
Partnership, co-funding and operator enquiries start here.