Established in 1987 with funding from the Government of Japan, the Joint Japan / World Bank Graduate Scholarship Program (JJ/WBGSP) has helped create an international community of development professionals through the Program’s financing of graduate and post-graduate studies.

To date, the Program has awarded over 5000 scholarships selected from over 65,000 applicants, and disbursed over US$200 million in funding from the Japanese government.

Applicant must meet all the below requirements

• Be a national of a World Bank member country eligible to borrow.


• Not be a dual citizen of any developed country.


• Be under the age of 45 on the Application Deadline date.


• Not be an Executive Director, his/her alternate, and/or staff of all types of appointments of the World Bank Group (The World Bank, International Development Association, International Finance Corporation, Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, and International Center for Settlements of Investment Disputes), or a close relative of the aforementioned by blood or adoption with the term "close relative" defined as: Mother, Father, Sister, Half-sister, Brother, Half-brother, Son, Daughter, Aunt, Uncle, Niece, or Nephew.


• Hold a Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent university degree) earned before 2013.


• Have at least 3 years of development-related experience since earning a Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent university degree) and within the past six years from the date of the


• Application Deadline. Please see Annex 1 for a suggested list of development-related topics.


• Have been accepted unconditionally (except for funding) to enroll in the upcoming academic year in one of the JJ/WBGSP preferred university master’s programs listed on the JJ/WBGSP website, and located outside of the applicant’s country of citizenship and country of residence. (See further guidance below for when this letter of acceptance must be submitted to JJ/WBGSP Secretariat.


• Be in good health, with respect to the capacity to be a productive scholar on a continuous full-time basis for the duration of the master’s program, as certified by a medical doctor less than 3 months before the start of the master’s program.


• Not received any scholarship funding to earn a Graduate degree or its equivalent from any other sources funded by the government of Japan.

The Joint Japan / World Bank Graduate Scholarship Program (JJ/WBGSP) scholarship is fully funded by the Government of Japan and provides for the recipient only the following benefits:

• Economy class air travel between your home country and the host university at the start of your study program and immediately following the end of the scholarship period. In addition to the two-way air travel, developing country national scholars will receive a US $500 travel allowance for each trip;
• Tuition for your graduate program and the cost of basic medical insurance usually obtained through the university. Please note  all JJ/WBGSP partner and preferred masters programs are 2 years or less and the scholarship covers the duration of the program;
• A monthly subsistence allowance to cover living expenses, including books, while you are studying at the preferred masters program. The amount of the allowance varies depending on the host country.

The JJ/WBGSP scholarship does not cover:

• VISA application(s) costs;
• Expenses to bring and/or support a scholar's family members;
• Extra-curricular courses or training;
• Language training not provided by the graduate program;
• Additional travel during the course of the study program;
• Expenses related to research, supplementary educational materials, field trips,  participation in workshops/seminars, or internships; and
• Educational equipment such as computers.

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 J/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.