EARTH University Mastercard Foundation Scholarship 2027 in Costa Rica: Eligibility and How to Apply

The EARTH University Mastercard Foundation Scholarship pays for a four-year undergraduate degree in Agricultural Sciences at EARTH University in Costa Rica. EARTH says the programme covers tuition and basic living expenses, and adds mentoring, tutoring, internships and career services. It is meant for talented young people from Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean whose finances would otherwise keep them out of university.

There is no separate scholarship form at the start: you apply for admission to EARTH, and that application is your entry into the scholarship. For the next intake, the admission form closes on 31 January 2027, the date EARTH has used in recent cycles. African students make up about a third of the scholars.

Key facts about the EARTH University Mastercard Foundation Scholarship

1. Host: EARTH University in Guácimo, Limón province, Costa Rica.
2. Funder: the Mastercard Foundation, through its Scholars Program, which has run at EARTH since 2011.
3. Degree: a four-year undergraduate degree in Agricultural Sciences.
4. Scholars so far: 315 Mastercard Foundation Scholars have graduated from EARTH since 2015, and 81 are currently enrolled.
5. Who gets it: 65% of scholars to date have been women, and they come from 42 countries across Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.
6. Encouraged to apply: people with disabilities and refugees or displaced persons, according to the Mastercard Foundation.

What the scholarship covers

EARTH’s own programme page names tuition and basic living expenses, plus mentoring, leadership development, tutoring, internship opportunities, career counselling and service learning. Scholarship listings, including the one I used as a starting point, add items such as a laptop, books, medical insurance, accommodation and meals, a stipend and transport between home and Costa Rica. EARTH’s page does not itemise those, so treat them as likely but confirm them in your offer letter.

After graduation, scholars of African descent can join the Mastercard Foundation EARTH University Fellowship Program, launched in 2019.

Who can apply for the EARTH University Mastercard Foundation Scholarship

Some listings describe this as a scholarship only for residents of Sub-Saharan Africa. That is too narrow. Both EARTH and the Mastercard Foundation say the programme serves young people from Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and roughly two thirds of scholars come from Latin America and the Caribbean. If you are from Sub-Saharan Africa, you are competing for a share of a mixed cohort.

• Admission: you must meet all of EARTH’s admission criteria. The scholarship only goes to admitted students.
• Financial need: your family’s finances must be the reason you could not otherwise attend university. Listings describe the target as families in the lowest two income groups of their country, and EARTH runs a family socioeconomic study to check this.
• Academics: secondary school completed, with strong results.
• Leadership: a record of leadership, community work or other activities outside class.
• Commitment to return: the programme is built around graduates going home to work on food systems, farming and rural livelihoods.

Language: classes are in Spanish

EARTH teaches in Spanish, which surprises many English- and French-speaking applicants. A UNHCR listing verified with EARTH says no Spanish is needed to apply and lists language training among the costs covered, so you learn on arrival. Listings also mention English requirements that vary by country. If you already speak some Spanish, say so in your application.

EARTH University scholarship application timeline

This timeline is the one scholarship listings copy from EARTH’s admissions calendar, and 31 January has been the closing date in recent cycles. I could not open EARTH’s application portal to confirm the 2027 dates, so check them when you create your account.

How to apply

1. Create an account: on EARTH’s admissions portal at admissions.earth.ac.cr.
2. Complete the application: fill in the admission form and upload your documents.
3. Sit the admission tests: shortlisted applicants take EARTH’s exams.
4. Attend the interview: EARTH interviews shortlisted candidates.
5. Complete the family socioeconomic study: this is how EARTH confirms your financial need.
6. Finish admission and migration: admitted students then prepare their Costa Rican student visa and travel.

Documents to prepare

• The completed online application form.
• Three recommendation letters.
• Transcripts for your last three years of secondary school.
• Supporting documents: your passport or national ID, exam certificates and proof of family income.

For your referees, our recommendation letter samples show what a strong letter covers. Ask teachers or community leaders who can speak about your leadership as well as your grades, since that is what this programme looks for.

Preparing your EARTH application step by step

The selection is long, so the work starts well before you open the portal. This is the order I would follow between now and 31 January 2027:

1. Contact your admissions officer: EARTH’s admissions site has a “contact your admissions officer” section, and the admissions office can be reached at admisiones@earth.ac.cr. Ask which officer covers your country and whether there are country-specific English or exam rules.
2. Request transcripts for your last three years: schools can be slow, especially during holidays. Ask for stamped copies and keep clear scans.
3. Line up three referees: a teacher who knows your science or maths work, someone who has seen your leadership (a principal, a youth leader, a cooperative or NGO coordinator), and a third who can speak to your character or community work.
4. Collect family income evidence: pay slips, a letter from a local authority, farm or trade records, or whatever your country uses. The socioeconomic study later checks these, so keep them consistent.
5. Check your passport: if you do not have one, start now. You will need it for the migration stage in June, and processing times vary widely between countries.
6. Create your account and submit early: fill in the form on admissions.earth.ac.cr, upload clear PDFs, and submit before the end of January so a technical problem does not cost you the cycle.

How to present yourself in the application and interview

EARTH does not publish essay prompts on the pages I could check, so I cannot tell you the exact questions. What the programme is looking for is clear from how EARTH and the Mastercard Foundation describe it: academic ability, leadership, financial need, and a real plan to go back and improve farming, food or rural life at home. Every written answer and every interview answer should give evidence for those four things.

• Start from home: describe a specific farming, food or environmental problem in your community, as you have seen it.
• Show what you have already done: a school garden, a savings group, a tree-planting drive, helping on the family farm, tutoring younger children. Small and real beats big and vague.
• Explain why agriculture at EARTH: the hands-on model, weekly field work and the international internship in the third year are things you can name.
• Be specific about returning: what kind of work you want to do after graduating, and where.

A sample opening, for illustration only: “Every dry season my mother loses about a third of her tomatoes before they reach the market, because there is no shade and no cold storage between our farm and town. Last year I helped six neighbours build a shared drying rack, and it changed how I think about farming.” It names a problem, shows action and points to agriculture. Use your own story.

For the interview, expect to be asked why you chose agriculture, how you have led others, how you will cope far from home and in a Spanish-speaking country, and what you will do after graduating. Practise answering out loud, and keep your answers consistent with what you wrote.

Eligibility edge cases

• You want a subject other than agriculture: EARTH offers one degree, in Agricultural Sciences. There is no route into engineering, medicine or business here.
• You are already at university: EARTH and the Mastercard Foundation do not publish a rule on this. Listings describe the target as graduating secondary school students, so ask your admissions officer before applying.
• Your family is not poor but not wealthy: the programme is for students whose finances would keep them out of university. A family that can pay part of the cost is less likely to qualify, and the socioeconomic study will show it.
• You are a refugee or displaced person: the Mastercard Foundation lists you among the groups it encourages to apply. Tell the admissions officer early if your documents are incomplete.
• You have a disability: the foundation also encourages applicants with disabilities, and scholarship listings mention reasonable accommodation for disability needs.

What happens after you apply

From February to mid-March EARTH reviews profiles and sends socioeconomic forms. Shortlisted applicants sit the admission tests and are interviewed in April. The family socioeconomic study confirms need. Offers and the migration process, which covers the Costa Rican student visa, follow around June. Wikipedia’s summary of EARTH puts each intake at about 100 students chosen from about 1,300 applicants across all funding sources, so plan on strong competition.

Costs the scholarship may not cover

EARTH confirms tuition and basic living expenses. Neither EARTH nor the foundation publishes a list of exclusions, so budget for these until your offer letter says otherwise:

• Passport fees and any travel to an embassy or consulate for the visa.
• Medical checks, police certificates and document legalisation that Costa Rica may ask for.
• Internet data and transport for online tests or interviews in your own country.
• Personal spending beyond what the stipend covers.

Common mistakes

• Looking for a separate Mastercard Foundation form. At EARTH you apply for admission first.
• Assuming the programme is for Africans only, or that it is taught in English.
• Writing about a dream career in medicine or law. This is an agriculture degree, and your answers need to fit it.
• Choosing three referees who only talk about grades. Leadership and community work carry real weight here.
• Giving income figures that do not match the documents you upload later.
• Paying an agent. Applying to EARTH through its own portal is how admission works; never pay anyone who claims to guarantee a place.

EARTH compared with other Mastercard Foundation scholarships

EARTH is one of many Mastercard Foundation partners. If you want to study in English, closer to home, or in a field other than agriculture, these are worth comparing:

EARTH is the only one on this list open to Latin American and Caribbean applicants as well as Africans. For a wider view of fully funded options, see our list of scholarships for African students.

Who should apply, and who should not

I would apply if you come from a low-income family in Africa, Latin America or the Caribbean, care about farming, food or the environment, have some record of leading or helping in your community, and are ready to learn Spanish and live on a rural campus far from home for four years.

I would look elsewhere if you want any degree other than agriculture, if your family can afford part of your university costs, or if you want to study in English. The programme also expects graduates to work on development at home, so it is a poor fit if you plan to settle abroad.

FAQs on the EARTH University Mastercard Foundation Scholarship

Is the EARTH University Mastercard Foundation Scholarship fully funded?

Yes. EARTH says it covers tuition and basic living expenses for the four-year degree, along with mentoring and career support.

What is the deadline for the EARTH University Mastercard Foundation Scholarship 2027?

Submit your EARTH admission application by 31 January 2027. Exams and interviews follow in April, with decisions around June.

Do I need to speak Spanish to study at EARTH University?

Not to apply. Classes are in Spanish, and language training is provided to scholars who need it.

Can students from outside Africa apply?

Yes. The programme is open to disadvantaged young people from Latin America and the Caribbean as well as Africa, and they make up most of each cohort.

Sources and updates

Coverage, eligibility and programme figures come from EARTH University’s Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program page and its admissions site, and from the Mastercard Foundation’s page on EARTH University as a partner. The language details come from EARTH’s degree listing on UNHCR’s education opportunities site. The admission timeline and document list follow the scholarship listing on ScholarshipAir and earlier cycles, as EARTH’s application portal could not be opened. The intake size and the third-year internship come from Wikipedia’s article on EARTH University. Checked on 24 October 2026; I will update the dates if EARTH publishes different ones.

Jude Chinecherem

I am Jude Chinecherem, a final-year MBBS student at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. I know what it feels like to want an education your family cannot afford. When my parents could not pay for my schooling, I had to learn how to find scholarships and work the system out on my own, with nobody to guide me. I came out the other side, and now I share everything I learned so the next student does not have to figure it out alone. This is the advice I wish someone had given me back then.