Rothschild & Co South Africa Foundation

About the Rothschild & Co South Africa Foundation

The Rothschild & Co South Africa Foundation is a charitable foundation linked to Rothschild & Co, the international financial advisory group, in South Africa. It was created in 2012 to help disadvantaged students study courses related to financial services at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) and the University of Johannesburg (UJ).

The Foundation's purpose is to provide full postgraduate scholarships to historically disadvantaged South Africans, so that they have a better chance of long-term employment. Rothschild & Co sees access to education and empowering young people as key priorities, in line with the work of its group foundation, R&Co4Generations, which was founded in 2021.

The Foundation has awarded 144 scholarships so far, which have helped students complete degrees in finance-related fields and start careers in the financial services industry.

How the Foundation supports students

The Foundation's scholarships are for honours students who study commerce and finance-related degrees. They are designed to be comprehensive, so that a scholar can focus on their studies. The scholarship can cover tuition, textbooks, accommodation, meals and an allowance, depending on each student's financial need and any other funding they receive.

Scholars also receive mentorship, work readiness training and personal support. Staff at Rothschild & Co South Africa act as mentors, which gives scholars a view of the industry and the workplace that they are preparing for. You can read the full terms on our Rothschild & Co Foundation Scholarship page.

The fields covered in recent calls include accounting science, econometrics, business science, actuarial science, mathematical science, and computational and applied mathematics. The value of each award depends on the student's financial need and on any other funding that the student receives.

In 2024, the Foundation also awarded the first scholarship in memory of its founding chairperson, Dolly Mokgatle, a human rights lawyer who advocated for the development of young leaders.

What to know before applying

The scholarship has been advertised through the universities that it works with. The most recent call that we found was for honours study at UJ in 2024, and it closed on 31 August 2023. It was open to third-year students who planned to study honours in fields such as accounting science, econometrics, business science, actuarial science and mathematical science.

Watch your university's postgraduate funding pages for the next call. If you study at Wits or UJ, ask your faculty or the postgraduate funding office whether the Rothschild & Co Foundation scholarship is open.