Rwanda Presidential Scholars
Scholarship program allows Rwanda’s top math and science students to study in the US
The Rwanda Presidential Scholars program enables Rwanda’s best math and science students to receive four-year scholarships to do their undergraduate studies at US colleges and university. The program stipulates that the students will return to Rwanda to work for a time after they complete their education.
The Rwanda Presidential Scholars program got its start in 2006 when Oklahoma Christian University in Oklahoma City admitted 10 Rwandan students on scholarship. The next year, Bridge2Rwanda board members, David Knight and Tim Cloyd, arranged for Hendrix College to admit 4 Rwandan students on scholarship. (Tim is the President and David is the Vice Chair of Hendrix). The students performed so well that in 2008, David and Tim recruited other US schools and the Clinton Foundation to form a consortium to expand the number of scholarships offered. That year California Baptist University (Pastor Rick Warren’s alma mater) also began to offer scholarships.
Today, there are over 150 Rwanda Presidential Scholars attending fourteen public and private institutions in Arkansas, Oklahoma, California, Texas, Tennessee, Alabama, and South Carolina. The Hendrix College-led consortium includes University of Arkansas – Little Rock, University of Arkansas- Fayetteville, Harding University, Henderson State University, Southwestern University, University of the South at Sewanee, Lyon College, Ouachita Baptist University, Birmingham-Southern College, Philander Smith College and Wofford College.
