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World Bank Scholarships Program

World Bank

The JJ/WBGSP is open to citizens of certain developing countries with relevant professional experience and a history of supporting their countries’ development efforts who are applying to a master's degree program in a development-related topic.

Subject to available funding, JJ/WBGSP offers scholarships for 44 Participating Master’s Programs in 24 universities in the U.S., Europe, Africa, Oceania and Japan in key areas of development, including economic policy management, tax policy, and infrastructure management.

Please note that if you are not admitted to one of these 44 Participating Master’s Programs, you are not eligible to apply for a JJ/WBGSP Scholarship in 2026.

To accommodate the academic calendar of JJ/WBGSP Participating Programs, the application process is organized in two rounds:

Application Window#1
Application Window #1 from from January 15 to February 27, 2026
Application Window #2
Application Window #2 from March 30 to May 29, 2026

The link to the JJ/WBGSP application form will only be communicated to candidates admitted unconditionally (except for finance) to one of the JJ/WBGSP participating master’s programs, and shortlisted as eligible JJ/WBGSP applicants by the participating university. Potential candidates are invited to reach out to the university offering the JJ/WBGSP participating master program they are targeting to find out if they meet these two requirements.

After earning their degree, developing country scholars commit to return to their home country to use their new skills and contribute to their countries’ social and economic development.

A JJ/WBGSP scholarship provides tuition, a monthly living stipend, round-trip airfare, health insurance, and travel allowance. View a detailed list of benefits.

Selection Process

The JJ/WBGSP uses the following process to review eligible scholarship applications from developing country nationals, with the aim of identifying the candidates with the highest potential, after completion of their graduate studies, to impact the development of their countries.

Two qualified assessors independently review each eligible application and score the application on a scale of 1 to 10, taking into account four main factors and the degree of cohesion among them:

Quality of professional experience (30% weight)
Quality of professional recommendations (30% weight)
Quality of commitment to your home country (30% weight)
Quality of education background (10% weight)

The JJ/WBGSP Secretariat uses the average score of the two assessors and the following criteria to select the finalists:

Maintaining a reasonably wide geographical distribution of awards
Maintaining a reasonable distribution of awards across gender
Unusual circumstances/hardships, when assessing the employment experience and other aspects of an application;
Giving scholarships to those applicants who, other things being equal, have limited access to financial resources for graduate studies abroad.

The JJ/WBGSP Secretariat presents the list of finalists to the JJ/WBGSP Steering Committee (composed of members of the World Bank Board of Directors and WB management) for approval. Winners are notified soon after the JJ/WBGSP Steering Committee approval.

AI Based Application Success Predictor

🌍 1. Strong Alignment with Development Priorities (Top Predictor)

Projects must address:

Poverty reduction
Economic development
Health, education, or infrastructure challenges

👉 Key question:
“Will this contribute to measurable development impact?”

🎯 2. Clear, Measurable Impact (Most Critical)

Successful proposals demonstrate:

Quantifiable outcomes, such as:
- Reduced poverty
- Improved health indicators
- Increased access to services

👉 Vague or non-measurable impact → low success probability

🔄 3. Implementation-Focused (Not Just Research)

Strong preference for:
- Actionable, field-based projects
Includes:
- Policy implementation
- Pilot interventions
- Scale-up programs

👉 Pure academic research is rarely funded unless tied to implementation

📊 4. Evidence-Based Approach

Projects must be:
- Supported by data and prior evidence
Include:
- Monitoring & evaluation (M&E) frameworks

👉 Strong data-driven design is essential

🌏 5. Relevance to Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs)

Priority for:
- Projects in developing countries
Focus on:
- Vulnerable populations

👉 Geographic and demographic relevance is key

💡 6. Innovation with Scalability

Preference for:
- Innovative solutions that can scale
Must show:
- Replicability across regions

👉 Small pilots must demonstrate large-scale potential

🤝 7. Strong Partnerships & Stakeholder Engagement

Successful projects include:
- Governments
- NGOs
- Local communities

👉 Multi-stakeholder collaboration is critical

🏛️ 8. Policy Relevance & Government Alignment

Projects aligned with:
- National policies
- Government priorities

👉 Policy integration significantly improves success

⚖️ 9. Feasible, Cost-Effective Design

Must demonstrate:
- Efficient use of funds
- Realistic timelines

👉 Cost-effectiveness is heavily scrutinized

📈 10. Monitoring, Evaluation & Sustainability

Strong proposals include:
- Clear M&E framework
- Long-term sustainability plan

👉 “What happens after funding ends?” is a key consideration

📊 Summary: Key Predictors (Ranked)

Highest impact factors:

Alignment with development priorities
Measurable impact
Implementation focus

Moderate predictors:
4. Evidence-based design
5. LMIC relevance
6. Scalability

Supporting factors:
7. Partnerships
8. Policy alignment
9. Cost-effectiveness

💡 Insider Insight

Compared to research funders:

World Bank is:
👉 implementation-driven + policy-focused
👉 impact-first, research-second

👉 Key evaluation question:
“Will this project deliver measurable development outcomes at scale?”

✔️ What wins:

Scalable interventions
Strong partnerships
Clear measurable outcomes

❌ What struggles:

Pure academic research
Small, non-scalable pilots
Weak impact metrics

Specialties

Others

Eligibility Requirements

Details on Eligibility Criteria for each call for applications are provided in that call’s Application Guidelines, and these detailed eligibility criteria are strictly adhered to. No exceptions are made.

Broadly speaking, Developing Country nationals must:

Be a national of a World Bank member developing country on this list;
Not hold dual citizenship of any developed country;
Be in good health;
Hold a bachelor’s (or equivalent) degree earned at least 3 years prior to the Application Deadline date;
Be employed in development-related work in a paid full- time position at the time of submitting the scholarship application. Have at least 3 years of paid development-related employment since earning a bachelor’s degree (or equivalent university degree) and acquired within the past 6 years from the date of the application deadline. Please see FAQs—Window 1 on how to count qualified part time employment toward this 3-year requirement. Please see Annex 2 of the Application Guidelines for a suggested list of development-related topics. The only exception to this criterion is for developing country nationals from a country that is on the list of Fragile and Conflict States featured in Annex 3 of the Application Guidelines. In such cases, we do take into consideration the limited employment opportunities in those countries.
On or before the scholarship application deadline date, be admitted unconditionally (except for funding) for the upcoming academic year to at least one of the JJ/WBGSP participating master’s programs located outside of the applicant’s country of citizenship and country of residence listed at the time the call for scholarship applications opens. The letter of admission must be uploaded before submitting the scholarship application. For details, see “How to Apply”.
Not be an Executive Director, his/her alternate, and/or staff of any type of appointment of the World Bank Group 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.
Individuals who have previously been offered a JJ/WBGSP scholarship but declined it, or have previously received a JJ/WBGSP scholarship but did not graduate, are not eligible to apply again.

Please note: All eligibility criteria are strictly adhered to. No exceptions are made. Eligibility criteria WILL NOT change during an open call for applications. However, this information is subject to change between the close of one application process and the opening of the next.

Sponsor Details

Sponsor Institute/Organizations: World Bank

Sponsor Type: Corporate/Non-Profit

Address: 1818 H Street, NW Washington, DC 20433

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