The World Bank Scholarships Program contributes to the World Bank Group’s mission of forging new dynamic approaches to capacity development and knowledge sharing in the developing world.
It is an important component of the Bank Group’s efforts to promote economic development and shared prosperity through investing in education and developing human resources in the developing world.
Since 1982, the Program has helped to form a pool of over 6,000 well-trained and experienced development professionals, transforming their countries and positively impacting future generations.
Currently, the World Bank Scholarships Program offers two sources of funding for graduate studies in development-related fields for mid-career professionals and researchers:
Inactive Program
Japan Indonesia Presidential Scholarship Program (JIPS)
This Program is no longer accepting applications. With a one-time $10 million grant from the Government of Japan, this scholarship supported three cohorts (2008–2010) of 43 Indonesian
The Robert S. McNamara Fellowships Program (RSMFP) has provided support to developing country nationals who are
The Joint Japan/World Bank Graduate Scholarship Program (JJ/WBGSP) is open to women and men from developing countries with relevant professional experience and a history of supporting their countries’ development efforts who are applying to a master degree program in a development-related topic.
Subject to available funding, JJWBGSP offers scholarships for over 200 Preferred Programs (.xlsx 49 KB) spanning a wide array of development topics and for 14 Partner Programs (.xlsx 15 KB) at universities in U.S., Africa and Japan in key areas of development, including economic policy management, tax policy, and infrastructure management. If you are not admitted to one of these programs you are not eligible for a JJWBGSP Scholarship.
After earning their degree, developing country scholars commit to
A JJWBGSP scholarship provides tuition, a monthly living stipend, round-trip airfare, health insurance, and travel allowance. View a detailed list of benefits.
Who is Eligible to Apply?
How to Apply
Selection Process
Scholarship Benefits
Details on Eligibility Criteria for each call for applications are provided in that call’s Application Guidelines, and these detailed eligibility criteria are strictly adhered to. No exceptions are made.
Broadly speaking, Developing Country nationals must:
Applicants can apply for scholarships to both Preferred and Partner Programs. The process to apply to a Preferred Program and to a Partner Program differs:
See our Announcements posted on the right side of this website for upcoming calls for scholarship applications for Developing country nationals to study at one of our partner master programs, as these calls are announced on a rolling basis throughout the calendar year.
Those seeking a JJ/WBGSP Partner Program scholarship (.xlsx 15 KB) must first apply for admission to one or more of the Partner Master’s Degree Program(s). Inquiries on how to submit an admissions application to a partner program should be submitted to the respective university.
After reviewing submitted applications, each Partner Master Degree Program will identify a short list of eligible candidates who will then be invited by the JJWBGSP Secretariat to apply for a JJ/WBGSP scholarship. View the complete list of JJ/WBGSP Partner (.xlsx 15 KB) master degrees offered.
Those seeking a JJ/WBGSP Preferred Program scholarship (.xlsx 49 KB) must apply directly and be admitted unconditionally to one or more of the Preferred Program(s) before submitting a JJWBGSP scholarship through an open call typically announced within the first two months of a calendar year. View the complete list of JJ/WBGSP Preferred (.xlsx 49 KB) Master Degrees currently offered.
When the scholarship applications for the Preferred Program is open, the finalized list of preferred programs, the application guidelines, online application, and a finalized list of eligibility criteria will be available on this site. The scholarship application must be completed online and include two professional references. The scholarship application must also include an unconditional (except for secured funding) letter of admission from the preferred master degree program that the applicant wants JJWBGSP funding. Note that if the applicant is admitted to several master degree programs, he/she must choose at the time of submitted the scholarship application which program to attend with JJWBGSP funding. We have requested our preferred master degree programs to issue all letters of admission prior to the closing deadline for our scholarship application. Any documents an applicant provides by email, post or any means other than the online application form will not be reviewed. Applicants who submit more than one scholarship application are disqualified.
The JJ/WBGSP uses the following process to review eligible scholarship applications from developing country nationals, with the aim of identifying the candidates with the highest potential, after completion of their graduate studies, to impact the development of their countries.
Two qualified assessors independently review each eligible application and score the application on a scale of 1 to 10, taking into account four main factors and the degree of cohesion among them:
The JJ/WBGSP Secretariat uses the average score of the two assessors and the following criteria to select the finalists:
Please note: Regarding the criteria “Giving scholarships to those applicants who, other than being equal, appear to have limited financial resources”. this includes taking into consideration if the applicant has received scholarship funding from the government of Japan or its agencies (including JICA, the Central Bank, and local governments) to help finance a graduate or professional degree (including Law, Medicine, Masters,
The JJWBGSP Secretariat presents the finalists for the preferred program scholarship to the JJ/WBG Steering Committee (composed of members of the World Bank Board of Directors and WB management) for final review and selection for a scholarship. The Secretariat informs the scholarship winners in July.
The JJWBGSP Secretariat presents the finalists for partnership scholarship to the World Bank’s Executive Director for Japan for approval on a rolling basis, matching the JJWBGSP Partner university’s admission cycle. The Secretariat informs the scholarship winners to a partner master degree program soon after approval.
Scholarship Benefits
The JJ/WBGSP scholarship provides the recipient with the following benefits:
Please note all JJ/WBGSP scholarships cover the duration of the graduate program or two years, whichever is less.
The JJ/WBGSP scholarship does not cover:
Note: The JJ/WBGSP scholarship may only supplement, and does not duplicate, any other source of financial support/fellowship you might have. If selected as a finalist or if you are awarded a scholarship, you must inform the JJ/WBGSP if you have other sources of scholarship funds. The JJ/WBGSP stipend may be withdrawn completely or partially if during the scholarship period the Program has evidence of additional sources of support.
The Joint Japan/World Bank Graduate Scholarship Program (JJ/WBGSP) provides scholarships for no more than a two-year duration to a limited number of Japanese mid-career professionals who are dedicated to the alleviation of poverty and enhanced shared prosperity in developing countries, and who have been admitted to or are currently enrolled in a master’s or PhD graduate degree program outside of Japan and in development-related fields.
Applicants seeking master degrees are encouraged (but not required) to seek admissions in institutions participating in our Preferred (.xlsx 49 KB) and Partnership (.xlsx 15 KB) Programs. Graduate degrees related to Foreign Service, Diplomacy, Business (including MBAs) and Law (including LLMs), Medicine (including MDs) are not eligible for financing by the JJWBGSP scholarship.
After earning their degree, Japanese national scholars are expected to advance their professional career with a keen focus on the alleviation of poverty and enhanced shared prosperity in developing countries.
See our Announcements posted on the right side of this website for upcoming calls for scholarship applications.
Scholarship Benefits
The scholarship is fully funded by the Government of Japan, and provides for each scholarship recipient the following benefits during the scholarship period:
Please note all JJ/WBGSP scholarships cover the duration of the graduate program or two years, whichever is less.
The JJ/WBGSP scholarship does not cover:
Note: The JJ/WBGSP scholarship may only supplement, and does not duplicate, any other source of financial support/fellowship you might have. If selected as a finalist or if you are awarded a scholarship, you must inform the JJ/WBGSP if you have other sources of scholarship funds. The JJ/WBGSP stipend may be withdrawn completely or partially if during the scholarship period the Program has evidence of additional sources of support.
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