The Philippines 🇵🇭

U-GO Scholars: 752

Though government funded university education is widely available to qualified women in the Philippines, systemic barriers for the most marginalized women prevent them from fully accessing the benefits. Many young women who qualify for university do not attend as they cannot afford lodging, transportation, computers and books, thus perpetuating the cycle of poverty. This is especially true for young women from rural areas, informal settlements and often-marginalized indigenous groups. They face challenges that include lack of funding for dormitories, transportation and food, inadequate infrastructure, and having attended sub-par schools prior to university.

U-GO partners with the Ayala Foundation. The foundation has built out a new division that targets funding for poor and rural women, particularly in high demand fields like health care, STEM and teaching. To date, we have jointly awarded 752 fully-funded scholarships.