Apply for the Margaret McNamara Education Grants (MMEG) – Latin America Program

Application Deadline: September 30, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time

About the Grants

The Margaret McNamara Education Grants (MMEG) – Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) Program is an international education grant designed to support women pursuing higher education and working to improve the lives of women and children. MMEG is a nonprofit organisation founded in 1981, with a mission centred on advancing women’s education as a means of promoting positive social change. The LAC Program provides competitive grants to eligible women enrolled in participating universities across Latin America and the Caribbean. Participating institutions include the Universidad de Buenos Aires, Universidad Austral, Universidad Iberoamericana, Universidad de los Andes, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and Universidad Nacional de Colombia, among other universities listed by MMEG. To be eligible, applicants must identify as women and be at least 25 years old by the application deadline. They must be citizens of an eligible country and already be enrolled in an in-person undergraduate, master’s, doctoral or postdoctoral programme at a participating institution. Applicants are also required to remain enrolled for the academic period following the grant and should generally be able to complete their degree within three years of receiving the award. The Margaret McNamara Education Grants (MMEG) Program accepts applications from June 1 through September 30 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Successful candidates are notified individually in January, while the final results are announced on the MMEG website in mid-January. During the application period, enquiries may be directed to lac@mmeg.org. The Margaret McNamara Education Grants (MMEG) grants are awarded to women from developing and middle-income countries who demonstrate a commitment to using their education to contribute to social development. Following completion of their university degrees, recipients are expected to return to or continue living in developing countries and work toward improving the quality of life of women and/or children.

Eligibility Criteria

• Individuals who identify as women and are at least 25 years old at the time the call closes
• Must be a citizen of one of the countries eligible for MMEG
• Must have no family relationship with any employee, spouse, or retiree of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Inter-American Development Bank, or any member of the MMEG Board of Directors
• Must be enrolled and registered (not merely accepted) in a full-time or part-time in-person program (a minimum of two courses per academic period) at one of the following universities participating in the MMEG Program in Latin America:
• Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE), Costa Rica
• FLACSO (Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Dominican Republic)
• INCAE (Costa Rica and Nicaragua)
• Universidad Austral, Argentina
• Universidad Católica del Perú, Peru
• Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA)
• Universidad de los Andes, Colombia
• Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico
• Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico
• Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Colombia
• Universidad Rafael Landívar, Guatemala

• Must be enrolled and registered in a bachelor’s/undergraduate, master’s, doctoral, or postdoctoral program
• After the scholarship is awarded, the recipient must be enrolled and registered in a full-time/part-time academic program (a minimum of two courses per academic period) during the January–July period of the year following the call, at one of the universities participating in the MMEG Program in Latin America
• The estimated graduation date must be no more than three years after the scholarship is awarded
• Estimated expenses must be presented in U.S. Dollars

Application Requirements

Please read the checklist and frequently asked questions before starting the application in Embark (the online application platform). For additional inquiries, please contact: lac@mmeg.org.

By submitting this application, you certify that the essays included were written by you independently and that you did not use any Artificial Intelligence (AI) generating tool. MMEG seeks exceptional candidates who share their personal and authentic stories. Make your application unique through your own voice. Applications generated with AI will be disqualified.

Your Commitment to the MMEG Community

Scholarships are awarded to women from developing and middle-income countries who, after obtaining their university degrees, will return to or continue living in developing countries to work toward improving the quality of life for women and/or children. Previous MMEG scholarship winners are invited to help disseminate information on how to apply and are encouraged to participate and exchange opinions in the MMEG scholar network. Thank you very much.

Application Deadline

September 30, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time

Click Here to Apply

For More Information: Visit the Official MMEG Application Page