TL;DR: Metrobank Foundation, Inc. (MBFI) runs a real, currently active college scholarship program built around ACCESS (Assistance for the Completion of College Education for Superior Students), a 4-year award for students in Education, IT, Engineering, or Business Administration-Entrepreneurship at CHED-recognized partner schools. Reported eligibility includes an 85% general weighted average and family income at or below ₱500,000/year, though MBFI's own site doesn't publish these exact cutoffs. Applications run through partner universities' scholarship offices rather than a single online form, and MBFI's own materials describe the benefit only as a "complete scholarship package" without a published peso figure.
Metrobank Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company, and "Metrobank Foundation scholarship" is a common search among students hoping to attend one of its 40-plus partner universities on a corporate grant. The program is real and has been running continuously since 1995, but its structure is different from a single, standardized scholarship: it's a family of programs, each tied to specific courses and, often, specific partner schools. This guide checks what's confirmed directly on MBFI's own site, adds recent news coverage to confirm current status, and flags every figure that comes from a third party rather than MBFI itself. For more corporate and government options, see scholarships for college students in the Philippines.
Is the Metrobank Foundation Scholarship Still Running?
Yes. Metrobank Foundation's own scholarship history page traces the program from its 1995 founding through several generations of the College Scholarship Program (CSP), landing on today's Metrobank Scholarship Program (MSP), launched for Metrobank's 50th anniversary. Recent independent coverage confirms it's still active: an April 2025 Manila Times piece describes MBFI awarding scholarships to "eight outstanding second-year architecture students" from National University and the University of Santo Tomas through the MBFI-Boysen partnership, and a 2023 news report references ACCESS IV, the fourth generation of the program's main institutional scholarship, having sponsored 1,166 students cumulatively by that point.
Disclaimer: scholarship program names, cycles, and partner-school lists change year to year. Confirm the current ACCESS generation and open partner schools directly with MBFI or your university's scholarship office before assuming last cycle's details still apply.
What Is ACCESS, and How Does It Relate to MSP?
ACCESS (Assistance for the Completion of College Education for Superior Students) is, per MBFI's own site, "MBFI's main institutional program under MSP." It's a 4-year scholarship that historically supported 50 scholars nationwide per generation (ACCESS II), enrolled in MBFI's priority courses at schools CHED has accredited as Centers of Excellence or Development in those specific fields.
MSP itself is the umbrella launched for Metrobank's 50th anniversary, originally covering 250 scholarships across elementary, secondary, and college levels through three components:
| Component | Coverage | Reported Scale |
|---|---|---|
| ACCESS II | 4-year college scholarship, priority courses | 50 scholars nationwide (per generation) |
| Share A Gift of Education (SAGE) II | Secondary-level subsidy for Filipino-Chinese students | 50 scholars (SY 2017-2018 cohort, per MBFI's own page) |
| MBFI/GTFI Youth for Excellence and Service (YES) | College scholarships with Manila Tytana Colleges | 100 total (75 MBFI-funded, 25 GT Foundation-funded) |
Since MBFI's own history page dates some of these cohort numbers to specific past school years, treat the exact slot counts as historical reference points rather than a guarantee of identical numbers in the current cycle.
What Courses Does Metrobank Foundation Prioritize?
Per MBFI's own site, ACCESS II funds students in:
- Education
- Information Technology
- Engineering
- Business Administration, with a major in Entrepreneurship
Separately, under the affiliated GT Foundation, the REAP program targets 3rd- and 4th-year STEM students specifically (29 beneficiaries reported for 2023), and MBFI also runs course-specific "managed" scholarships tied to individual corporate partners — architecture through MBFI-Boysen (in partnership with Pacific Paint "Boysen" Philippines, running since 2005, with 101 grants and 75 graduates to date per MBFI's own page), and a broader mix of engineering and business courses through the Fluor-MBFI Scholarship Program (since 2009, with 41 grants and 15 graduates to date at partner schools including UP Diliman, UST, and Adamson University).
Who Qualifies for a Metrobank Foundation Scholarship?
MBFI's own public pages describe program structure and partner schools in detail but do not itemize a specific eligibility checklist with cutoffs. The criteria below are consistently reported across multiple independent scholarship trackers and should be verified against your target partner school's own scholarship office, since MBFI runs its selection through schools rather than a single centralized application:
| Criterion | Reported Requirement |
|---|---|
| Citizenship | Filipino |
| Year level | Incoming 1st year (4-year courses) or incoming 2nd year (5-year courses) |
| Academic standing | General weighted average of at least 85% |
| Household income | ₱500,000/year or below (a Letter of Explanation may allow exceptions above this) |
| Current course | Enrolled in one of MBFI's priority courses at a partner institution |
| Other aid | Should not be holding a full scholarship from another source |
How Much Does the Metrobank Foundation Scholarship Actually Pay?
MBFI describes the ACCESS benefit only as a "complete scholarship package" on its own site, without publishing an exact peso amount, and adds non-financial benefits: mentorship access to Metrobank executives, networking with fellow scholars and alumni, potential internship placement within Metrobank and partner companies, and priority consideration for employment within the Metrobank Group after graduation.
Where specific figures do exist, they come from individual partner-program pages rather than MBFI's central page — for example, third-party reporting on a Metrobank/GT Foundation-supported scholarship at University of Asia and the Pacific cites full tuition and fees plus a monthly stipend of around ₱8,000 and an internet allowance of ₱1,000/month, and the MBFI-Boysen program is reported to include 100% tuition coverage plus a monthly allowance of around ₱2,000. A broader figure of up to ₱170,000 per academic year appears in aggregator content describing the general MSP package. None of these per-program figures are directly confirmed on MBFI's central scholarship-programs page, so treat them as reported estimates specific to each partnership rather than a single fixed ACCESS rate.
Disclaimer: benefit packages vary by partner program and school, and change between cycles. Confirm the exact figure for your target school directly with MBFI or that school's scholarship office.
How Does the Application Process Work?
Unlike scholarships with a single public online form, Metrobank Foundation runs a multi-stage process coordinated through partner schools:
- Confirm your school is an MBFI partner institution. ACCESS, Fluor-MBFI, MBFI-Boysen, and YES are each tied to specific named schools — being enrolled at a non-partner school generally rules out direct application.
- Your school shortlists candidates. Partner universities typically nominate qualified students to MBFI based on academic standing and financial need.
- Submit financial and academic documents. Proof of grades (minimum GWA), income documentation, and enrollment proof are standard requirements across MBFI's programs.
- Interview and essay. Shortlisted applicants go through an interview process and are typically asked to submit a short essay covering their personality, values, and family background.
- Selection and onboarding. Selected scholars are formally onboarded into the program, with continued academic-standing requirements each semester to maintain the grant.
Which Schools Partner With Metrobank Foundation?
Partner institutions named across MBFI's own history page and recent press coverage include Saint Louis University (Baguio), University of the Philippines Diliman, University of Santo Tomas, National University Manila, University of San Jose-Recoletos (Cebu), University of Mindanao (Davao), and Ateneo de Naga University. MBFI's stated selection criteria for partner schools favor institutions CHED has designated as Centers of Excellence or Development in the foundation's priority courses, with an added emphasis on students outside Metro Manila given generally higher regional poverty rates.
Decision Checklist Before You Apply
- Is your school on MBFI's partner list? If not, check whether your school's scholarship office has ever coordinated with MBFI before assuming you can apply directly.
- Does your course match a priority field? Education, IT, Engineering, Business Administration-Entrepreneurship, or STEM (via REAP) are the confirmed priority areas — a course outside these may not be eligible even at a partner school.
- Can you meet the 85% GWA benchmark consistently? Since scholars must maintain academic standing to keep the grant, treat this as an ongoing requirement, not just an entry bar.
- Have you asked your school's scholarship office about the current cycle? Since MBFI's process runs through schools rather than a public portal, your university's financial aid office is a faster and more reliable source than a general web search for "how to apply."
Ready to find the right school? Browse schools or compare tuition, scholarships, and reviews across hundreds of Philippine schools on SchoolFinderPH.
Sources
- Metrobank Foundation — Scholarship Programs (official)
- Metrobank Foundation — Education grants overview (official)
- Manila Times — Metrobank Foundation shapes scholars with purpose, service (April 2025)
- OneNews.PH — Metrobank Foundation Affirms Commitment to Support Financially Disadvantaged Students Through Scholarships
- SchoolFinderPH — Scholarships for College Students in the Philippines
- SchoolFinderPH — How to Get a Scholarship in the Philippines
