Mastercard Partners with UNICAF to offer Cardholders Scholarships for Internationally Recognized Degrees

• Mastercard partners with Unicaf to offer cardholders up to 75% off on online courses
• The scholarships are available to cardholders in South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Unicaf, the leading online and on-campus learning platform, has entered into a two- year partnership with Mastercard to offer its cardholders 75% scholarships for online and on-campus studies at Unicaf’s partner universities.

Commencing in Q1 2021, Mastercard Gold, Platinum, World and World Elite cardholders across four Southern Africa countries South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe, will be able to select from a wide range of high-quality degree programs offered by Unicaf’s partners and only pay 25% of the fees in flexible manageable monthly instalments.

COVID-19 has accelerated the online learning agenda, making the use of learning platforms more strategic. A recent Mastercard e-commerce study revealed that there has been a 52% surge in South Africans spending money on virtual experiences and 39% said they’ve enrolled in an online university since COVID-19 began.

“We are committed to offering Mastercard customers the opportunity to earn internationally recognized Bachelor, Master’s or Doctoral degrees at a fraction of the cost through the Unicaf-Mastercard scholarship,” said Dr. Nicos Nicolaou, CEO, Unicaf. We’re proud to partner with an organization such as Mastercard, to offer their customers the opportunity to further their education. “

“Access to education, particularly at a higher education level, has always been a challenge due to the limited number of spaces available and affordability. At Mastercard, we pride ourselves  advancing inclusive growth in our communities, and through this partnership, we hope to realize that vision on a larger scale, unlocking e-learning opportunities to make access to educational resources more reasonable, while tapping into our customers’ ever evolving lifestyle needs,” said Suzanne Morel, Country Manager, South Africa, Mastercard.

Unicaf’s comprehensive state-of-the-art digital ecosystem is seamlessly integrated with technology and services which provide the digital infrastructure that students need to study and complete their courses online. Students can interact with internationally trained tutors and fellow virtual classmates from 156 countries, offering Mastercard cardholders an international perspective and valuable insights into European, Asian and American professional practices.  Together with its university partners, Unicaf has positively transformed the lives of more than 30,000 students worldwide.