Over the last 15 years, the Kenya Scholar Access Program (KenSAP) has placed 197 students with full need-based financial aid packages at top North American Universities.
The students, who are picked from all across the country’s 47 counties, represent a national selection of Kenya’s most promising students.
“Of the more than 100 university graduates to date, 16 have earned or are pursuing PhD’s, as well as an additional 35 who have earned or are pursuing Masters or other advanced degrees. There are also more than 50 alumni who have returned to Kenya to work for multinational corporations, international NGOs, Kenyan companies, or to develop their startups,” said John Manners co-founder of KenSAP.
With only Ksh. 15 million annual budget, KenSAP has generated more than Ksh.5 billion in financial aid packages, granted by the universities that KenSAP Scholars attend. There are usually 15 to 20 deserving Kenyan students selected to KenSAP annually, and assisted in gaining admission to the most selective universities in the United States and Canada. The program recently opened its doors to students living in Kenya who hail from Tanzania, Rwanda, Somalia, and South Sudan.
After a selection process, accepted students participate in two extended residential training sessions, which prepares them for the American SAT exams and introduces them to the American university system with its complex application procedure.
KenSAP assists its scholars in university and helps them navigate life and their careers after university. KenSAP works with about 30 companies based in Kenya who act as employment partners, hiring KenSAP graduates for internships and full-time positions.
“In addition to offering guidance throughout my time in university, KenSAP provided the guidance I needed after graduation—through the networks and career support system, I was encouraged and prepared to apply to some of the most competitive jobs in Kenya,” said Maryanne Chege a KenSAP 2018 graduate of Harvard University.
The Kenya Scholar Access Program (KenSAP) helps gifted, needy Kenyan students gain admission to the most selective universities in the United States and Canada. Since its founding in 2004, KenSAP has helped place 197 students in American universities, all with full, need-based financial aid. The programs aim is to extend access to world-class university education to a few students in parts of Kenya where such opportunities had scarcely existed. Since 2005, 100% of students have been admitted to the top North American universities such as Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT, the University of Pennsylvania, Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Columbia, and many more prestigious institutions.
To apply for scholarship, students need to go to kensap.org/application.