Our Students

The Academy seeks to admit and educate talented 15-18 year-old future leaders from across the African continent. Students will be accepted based on merit and without regard to the students’ race, gender, citizenship, religious affiliation, class, or family wealth. Financial assistance will be available to those families who are unable to pay the Academy’s fees.

Entry Criteria

Applicants to African Leadership Academy will be evaluated on a variety of criteria, including:

Selection Process

African Leadership Academy will employ a three-step process to select its student body.

i. Student Pre-application		II. StudenT Application		III. Final Round		Class Selected
Scores on National Exams Academic Transcripts		Teacher Recommendations Extracurricular Involvement Community Involvement Personal Essay		ALA Entrance Examination Interview
5,000 students		500 students		300 students		100 students

Partnerships

To successfully search for Africa’s most talented children, the Academy will collaborate with partners from across the continent. We have identified a number of channels to support us in our recruitment process:

Feeder Schools

We will work closely with feeder schools from across the continent that have proven track records of academic excellence and are located in underrepresented and disadvantaged communities. Academy staff and country representatives will visit these schools annually and will work with school leaders to identify excellent prospects for admission into the Academy.

Ministries of Education

The Academy will establish strong relationships with national Ministries of Education that can assist in identifying highly talented youth in a particular country. The Academy would then reach out to these students and encourage them to apply for admission.

Country Representatives

A network of African Leadership Academy representatives will be stationed throughout the continent to assist in the identification of talented students.

Other Organizations Serving Talented Youth

A number of organizations across Africa, such as the United World Colleges, have become expert at identifying and serving talented youth from diverse socio-economic backgrounds in multiple countries. We will seek to learn from these organizations and hope to gain referrals of talented students who might fit our profile.