Rhodes Scholarships

Brief description:
The Rhodes Scholarships are postgraduate awards supporting exceptional all-round students at the University of Oxford.   Established in the will of Cecil Rhodes in 1902, the Rhodes is the oldest and perhaps the most prestigious international scholarship program in the world.

Host Institution(s):
Oxford University in UK


Fields of study:
Rhodes Scholars come from many academic backgrounds and pursue a wide variety of courses at Oxford.  The scholarship is more accurately viewed as an investment in a person of remarkable promise than support for a particular course of study.

Applicants should review the University of Oxford’s course programmes to determine the degree for which they would apply. There are very few restrictions on the full-time post-graduate degrees supported by Rhodes Scholarships and these are found here. Rhodes Scholars may only undertake the Master of Business Administration or the Master of Financial Economics in the second year of the Scholarship.

Number of Scholarships:
A class of 83 Scholars is selected each year

Target group:
Students from Australia, Bermuda, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Jamaica and Commonwealth Caribbean, Kenya, New Zealand, Pakistan, Southern Africa (including South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, and Swaziland), United States, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Scholarship value/inclusions:

A Rhodes Scholarship covers:

• All University and College fees;
• The University application fee;
• A personal stipend which is fixed by the Trustees (£12,516 in 2011-12);
• Private health insurance, currently offered through BUPA;
•  One economy class airfare to Oxford at the start of the scholarship and one economy flight back to the student’s home country at the conclusion of the scholarship.

Eligibility:
The Rhodes Trust warmly welcomes applications from talented young women and men of diverse backgrounds. Selection of Rhodes Scholars is made without regard to gender, marital status, race, ethnic origin, colour, religion, sexual orientation, social background, or disability.

Cecil Rhode’s will outlines four criteria to be used in the election of Scholars:
• literary and scholastic attainments
• energy to use one’s talents to the full
• truth, courage, devotion to duty, sympathy for and protection of the weak, kindliness, unselfishness and fellowship
• moral force of character and instincts to lead, and to take an interest in one’s fellow beings.

Application instructions:
The selection of Rhodes Scholars is overseen by a National Secretary in each Rhodes country. For details of the selection process in your own country, including detailed eligibility criteria and application form, follow the country links here.
It is important to read the how to apply page and visit the official website (link found below) for detailed information on how to apply for this scholarship.

Website:
Official Scholarship Website: http://www.rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk/