MONROVIA – Liberia’s hunger for education far outruns the financial help on offer. The Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) Liberia Chapter drew 1,447 applicants for 650 bursaries. The program, backed by the Mastercard Foundation, funds university and technical training for marginalized youth. More young women than men applied. Twenty-eight applicants had disabilities, and 111 were refugees or internally displaced people. Yet hundreds of applicants will go without support in this cohort. World Bank data cited in the analysis shows many young Liberians outside education, work or training. The program’s real test lies after selection. Enrollment, completion and jobs will show whether the bursaries change lives or merely ease a few burdens, as THE ANALYST’S GEORGE C. FLOMO reports.
As Liberia continues to confront the interconnected challenges of poverty, unequal access to educational opportunities and limited pathways to decent employment, a new educational intervention targeting 650 marginalized young people is offering a glimpse of how strategic investment in education could help shape the country’s future workforce.
The Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) Liberia Chapter, through its partnership with the Mastercard Foundation under Phase II of their education program, is preparing to support 650 young women and men pursuing university education and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), providing opportunities for Scholars to advance their academic ambitions and acquire skills that could improve their economic prospects.
The initiative comes at a critical time for Liberia, where educational advancement and economic opportunity remain closely connected, particularly for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds who often face financial barriers to pursuing higher education or acquiring professional skills.
The scale of interest in the program underscores the significance of that challenge. According to FAWE Liberia, a total of 1,447 applicants sought assistance under the recruitment process, including 816 applicants for university opportunities and 631 for technical and vocational training.
The number of applicants, more than twice the 650 opportunities available under the first cohort, reveals the considerable demand for educational support and raises questions about the adequacy of existing opportunities for young people seeking to advance their education.
For Liberia, where the need to strengthen human capital is inseparable from the pursuit of inclusive economic growth, the intervention represents more than a scholarship initiative.
It highlights the role that education financing, practical skills development and partnerships can play in expanding opportunities for young people whose ambitions are frequently constrained by their economic circumstances.
Financial Barriers Facing Families
For many Liberian families, the pursuit of higher education involves difficult financial decisions.
Tuition and other education-related expenses can place considerable pressure on households already struggling to meet basic needs. These pressures can become particularly challenging for students who have completed secondary education but lack the financial resources to enter university or enroll in vocational institutions.
The FAWE-Mastercard Foundation Phase II Program seeks to address part of this challenge by providing bursary assistance to selected young people pursuing university and TVET opportunities.
The intervention is significant because access to education can influence an individual’s prospects for acquiring professional qualifications, developing employable skills and pursuing economic independence.
However, the importance of such assistance extends beyond the individual. A country seeking to improve productivity, expand its skilled workforce and strengthen economic participation must also consider whether young people have realistic opportunities to acquire the knowledge and competencies required to participate meaningfully in its economy.
The World Bank’s May 2025 framework for engagement in Liberia identified education, energy access, accountable governance and private investment as important areas for supporting better jobs and improving living standards.
Its June 2025 announcement of financing for the Excellence in Learning in Liberia Project also emphasized strengthening foundational learning and access to public primary education.
Against this backdrop, the FAWE-Mastercard initiative illustrates how targeted support can complement wider efforts to improve educational access. Yet the intervention also highlights the limitations of relying on a single program to address a challenge affecting far more young people than the available bursaries can accommodate.
With 1,447 applicants seeking 650 places, hundreds of applicants will not receive support through this cohort. Their circumstances illustrate why scholarships and bursaries must form part of a broader national effort to expand affordable education, strengthen public institutions and develop sustainable pathways from learning to employment.
University and Vocational Pathways
One of the program’s important features is its support for both university education and technical and vocational training. While university education provides pathways to academic specialization and professions requiring advanced qualifications, TVET offers opportunities to develop practical competencies relevant to specific occupations and industries.
Both pathways can contribute to national development when educational programs provide quality instruction and respond to the skills required by employers and the wider economy.
For young people who may not pursue a traditional university degree, vocational training can offer an alternative route toward acquiring marketable skills, starting a business or pursuing employment in a particular trade.
However, the effectiveness of vocational education depends on more than enrollment. Training institutions must have appropriate equipment, qualified instructors, relevant curricula and opportunities for students to apply their skills in practical settings.
Similarly, university education must equip students with knowledge and competencies that prepare them for professional responsibilities and changing labor-market conditions. The challenge for Liberia is therefore not simply to increase the number of young people entering educational institutions, but to ensure that education translates into relevant skills, improved productivity and meaningful opportunities after graduation.
For the 650 anticipated Scholars, the combination of university and TVET opportunities could provide different routes toward that objective. The broader impact, however, will depend on the quality of their educational experiences and the opportunities available to them upon completing their studies.
Youth Employment Context
Liberia’s employment challenge provides an important context for understanding the potential value of educational investment. According to a World Bank analysis published in May 2026, approximately 14.8 percent of Liberians aged 15 to 24 were not in education, employment or training in 2025, based on modeled estimates from the International Labour Organization.
The World Bank cautioned that this measure may understate the depth of youth underemployment in an economy where informal work is widespread. Its analysis also noted that approximately 87 percent of workers were engaged in smallholder farming or unregistered microenterprises.
These conditions demonstrate why educational access and employment opportunities must be considered together. Although education does not automatically guarantee employment, young people who lack opportunities to acquire relevant qualifications and practical skills may face additional barriers when seeking work or attempting to establish sustainable livelihoods.
By helping selected students pursue higher education and vocational training, the FAWE-Mastercard Foundation initiative could contribute to strengthening their capacity to compete for opportunities and participate in economic activities. Nevertheless, the distinction between acquiring an education and securing employment remains important.
The country must also create an environment in which graduates can apply their knowledge and skills through productive employment, entrepreneurship and other forms of economic participation. Without sufficient opportunities to use newly acquired skills, even well-trained graduates may struggle to translate their qualifications into improved living conditions.
The initiative should therefore be viewed as one part of a larger development equation involving educational quality, private-sector growth, workforce development and job creation.
Inclusion in Recruitment Figures
The program’s recruitment figures also draw attention to the importance of inclusive educational opportunities. FAWE Liberia reported that 28 applicants were persons with disabilities, while 111 were identified as refugees or internally displaced people.
Their participation highlights the need to consider the circumstances of young people who may encounter additional barriers when pursuing education. For persons with disabilities, meaningful access may require accessible facilities, appropriate learning materials and institutional arrangements that enable full participation.
Young people affected by displacement may face financial difficulties, interruptions in their education and challenges accessing institutions capable of supporting their academic advancement.
Although the number of applicants from these groups does not, by itself, establish the extent of their educational needs, it reinforces the importance of ensuring that educational support programs are accessible and responsive to different circumstances.
The recruitment process also attracted more female applicants than male applicants. Of the 1,447 applicants, 763 were female and 673 were male, while 11 did not state their gender. This participation is relevant to FAWE’s broader commitment to advancing girls’ and women’s education.
Expanding access for young women is important not only for individual advancement but also for strengthening their participation in professional, economic and public life. For an intervention intended to reach marginalized young people, the ultimate test of inclusion will be whether selected beneficiaries can enroll, participate fully and complete their respective educational programs.
County Distribution of Applicants
The recruitment figures provide one of the clearest indications of the scale of interest in the program. Montserrado County recorded 508 applicants, followed by Bong County with 248 and Lofa County with 196.
Grand Bassa County recorded 106 applicants, while Margibi and Nimba counties accounted for 88 and 85 applicants, respectively. Applications were also received from other counties, demonstrating interest in the initiative across several parts of Liberia.
However, the distribution of applications also raises questions about outreach and access, particularly for young people in rural communities where educational institutions and information about financial assistance may be less accessible.
The figures do not establish the level of unmet educational demand in each county, but they provide a useful starting point for assessing where future recruitment and outreach efforts might be strengthened.
FAWE Liberia said the first cohort would support 650 marginalized young women and men across 10 counties. The organization also explained that applicants underwent eligibility screening and that meeting the initial requirements did not automatically guarantee selection.
According to the press statement, designated National Recruitment Selection Committees comprising representatives of government entities, educational institutions, youth organizations and civil society participated in reviewing and validating applications against approved criteria.
The involvement of multiple stakeholders is intended to support fairness, transparency and accountability in determining who receives assistance. As the program advances, clear communication with applicants and their families will remain important, particularly regarding selection outcomes, enrollment requirements and the nature of the support available.
Beyond the Selection Stage
The recruitment process has generated substantial interest, but the longer-term value of the initiative will be determined by what happens after the selection stage. The Mastercard Foundation’s partnership with FAWE Liberia reflects the importance of collaboration in expanding access to education for marginalized young people.
FAWE Liberia has acknowledged the Foundation’s continued investment in educational opportunities, as well as the support of FAWE Africa in advancing girls’ education across the continent.
For the selected Scholars, the immediate priority will be enrollment and participation in their respective educational pathways. The organization has indicated that its next phase will focus on enrollment, onboarding and continued implementation activities aimed at supporting students through their educational journeys.
These activities will be essential because financial assistance alone may not resolve every challenge students encounter while pursuing their studies. Academic support, access to appropriate learning environments, reliable institutional guidance and measures that encourage students to remain enrolled can all influence whether beneficiaries complete their programs.
The program’s impact should therefore be assessed not only by the number of young people recruited but also by enrollment rates, retention, completion, skills acquisition and the opportunities available to graduates. Such information would help demonstrate whether the intervention is achieving its intended objectives and provide lessons for future educational initiatives. For policymakers and education stakeholders, these outcomes could also inform discussions about how bursary programs, vocational training and university education can work together to strengthen the country’s human capital.
A Broader National Responsibility
The FAWE-Mastercard Foundation Phase II Program offers 650 young Liberians an opportunity to pursue educational ambitions that might otherwise be constrained by financial hardship. Its significance lies in its potential to help Scholars acquire knowledge and skills, strengthen their prospects for economic participation and contribute to their communities. But the program also points to a broader national responsibility.
If Liberia is to prepare its young population for productive participation in the economy, educational opportunities must extend beyond a limited number of scholarship recipients. Government institutions, development partners, educational establishments and the private sector must continue working toward a system in which access to quality education and relevant skills development is not determined primarily by a family’s ability to pay. That effort must also connect education with a wider economic environment capable of creating opportunities for graduates to use their qualifications productively.
The 1,447 applications received by FAWE Liberia demonstrate the interest of young people in pursuing educational advancement. The 650 places available under the first cohort represent an important opportunity, but they also underline the distance between demand and the assistance currently available through this initiative.
For the selected students, the opportunity comes with the responsibility to remain committed to their education and make meaningful use of the support provided. For those who were not selected, the challenge remains finding other pathways to pursue their ambitions.
And for Liberia, the broader lesson is clear: investing in young people’s education is an investment in the country’s future, but realizing that investment requires sustained commitment to educational quality, inclusion, skills development and the creation of productive opportunities.
The success of this initiative will ultimately be measured not merely by the number of bursaries awarded, but by the difference the program makes in the lives of its beneficiaries and the extent to which their education helps them contribute to a more skilled, inclusive and economically resilient Liberia.