Are you thinking of doing a postgraduate or an MBA but don't know how to pay for it? Going back to college for a graduate degree or MBA can be expensive, but there are scholarships, awards, and state funds available to help future students.
Here is a list of some of the financing options available to prospective students, with more details available on each institution's website. They also have their own deadlines and eligibility requirements, and students are encouraged to apply early.
susi
You may qualify for assistance under the Student Universal Support Ireland (Susi) scheme. Depending on your circumstances, you may qualify for the €3,500 flat fee contribution if you pass the fee contribution means test. Or, if you meet the eligibility conditions for the special scholarship rate for disadvantaged students, you can get all tuition fees paid and essential excursions (up to €6,270).
Prospective students can check the program's eligibility criteria on its website.susi.ie/eligibility criteria.
SEE MORE INFORMATION
Kathy Sheridan: The truth is the first victim in a real estate accident
Paul Murphy: We don't want to limit our baby by saying you're a boy or a girl. let them decide
trampoline
Springboard offers free higher education courses for people who are unemployed or self-employed and for those who want to return to the workforce.
You can also sign up for a Springboard course if you're working, but you must pay a contribution of 10 percent of the course fee. There are a variety of part-time courses, from certificate to master's levels, while most courses are part-time, lasting one year or less.
Trinity College Dublin
Trinity offers fellowships, grants and specific funded projects for research in all disciplines, typically covering tuition and providing a grant.
Trinity Business School offers scholarships of up to €10,000 per student completing a Master's programme. Social impact grants (also valued at €10,000) are intended for candidates with experience in an NGO, charity or social organisation.
There are also a variety of MBA scholarships available on a first-come, first-served basis. Candidates who have excelled in their professional or personal achievements may receive up to €10,000, although amounts may vary.
tcd.ie/study/postgraduate/funding grants/
tcd.ie/business/programmes/mba/part-time-mba/fees--scholarships/
Dublin University College
Each year, a number of scholarships are made available to students of various backgrounds, including mature students, school graduates from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds, and people with disabilities through the UCD Access Center.
There is a wide selection of scholarships available from the different educational departments, including the Doreen FitzGerald Caprani Scholarship worth €12,000, which is open to students undertaking any of Sutherland Law School's Master's programmes.
UCD Smurfit School also offers a host of open scholarships for those wishing to pursue an MBA. The Women in the MBA scholarship covers up to 50% of the tuition fees.
ucd.ie/students/scholarships/pospectivepostgraduatestudents/
smurfitschool.ie/admisiones/becas/
Dublin City University
DCU operates a 10 percent reduced Master's program fee scheme. It is exclusive to all DCU graduates and college seniors. Applies to students beginning the first year of a full or part-time taught Master's programme.
Each year, the Gaelic Players Association and the DCU Business School co-fund two scholarships for the DCU Executive MBA and two scholarships for full-time Master's programmes.
dcu.ie/graduatestudies/scholarships-opportunities
business.dcu.ie/scholarships/excel-scholarship-scheme/
Dublin University of Technology
TU Dublin graduates, including those from its previous institutes (DIT, IT Tallaght and IT Blanchardstown), can enjoy a 10% discount on all undergraduate business courses, except those funded by external bodies.
With the support of the Maria Wallace Foundation, the university announced a scholarship for the Master's course in Fashion Purchasing and Management, which covers fees and a living allowance.
The successful candidate for the scholarship must be someone with "exceptional potential to succeed" but would only be in the financial position to complete the master's program with the support of the scholarship.
galway university
There are a number of postgraduate scholarships available at the university, including its scholarship program which is open to asylum seekers, refugees, vulnerable immigrant groups and Irish travelers.
The Hardiman PhD Scholarships are available to those conducting research and are fully funded for four years with a stipend of €18,500 per year plus fees.
The Teaching Masters Scholarship Program offers prizes of €1500 to anyone with a first-class degree who has been accepted to a full-time postgraduate program at the university.
Among the university's MBA offerings are the McGinty Scholarships, which are available each year to support two women: a physician and an allied health professional in the MBA program.
universityofgalway.ie/postgraduate_scholarships
Cork University College
UCC offers a variety of scholarships in various departments, including the Amneal Pharmaceutical Scholarship for Masters Pharmacy Research Candidates valued at €23,700.
The O'Connor Scholarship is a €10,000 award available to one postgraduate student per year in any discipline. However, to be eligible, the person must have been born in Ireland and must have a parent whose last name was O'Connor at birth.
Postgraduate students undertaking research programs may be supported by research grants awarded by individual supervisors. Inquiries should be directed to individual supervisors in the first instance, in agreement with the college.
ucc.ie/en/scholarships/postgraduate studies/
university of limerick
Each college has a selection of scholarships and honorarium awards, with different closing dates and requirements.
The Faculty of Sciences and Engineering offers 10 postgraduate scholarships with tuition waiver worth €2,000 for the 2023/2024 academic year.
Only EU applicants who have applied online to join a full-time taught postgraduate program before June 16, 2023 will be considered.
Various partial scholarships through the Limerick and Shannon Chambers of Commerce and 30 percent from the Club are available for UL's Executive MBA program.
ul.ie/gps/about/financiando-tu-curso#becas
Southeastern Technological University
SETU Waterford offers five scholarships annually through its business school, with scholarships available for the Master of Business Studies, Master of Digital Marketing and Executive MBA programme, as well as the Master of Research (considered on a case-by-case basis).
Two annual grants have also been agreed with the Department of Sports and Exercise Sciences. The Carlow campus also offers two annual postgraduate scholarships.
wit.ie/international/why_wit/international-scholarships
Technological University of the Atlantic
ATU offers a range of academic, sporting and cultural scholarships at its Galway, Mayo, Sligo and Donegal campuses.
ATU Donegal's association with the Gaelic Players Association offers up to four fully-funded postgraduate places for male and female GPA members who wish to study there.
The value of each scholarship is up to €5,750 for a single year and will be delivered through full or partial fee waiver where required.
The college also offers the 1916 scholarship, which aims to foster the participation and success of the most socioeconomically disadvantaged students and underrepresented groups in higher education.
atu.ie/study-at-atu/scholarships
universidad maynooth
Maynooth University offers €2000 scholarships to support full-time Master's studies and is open to EU and non-EU citizens as well as Maynooth and non-Maynooth graduates.
A final undergraduate score of 2.1 or equivalent is the minimum requirement to apply, with a closing date of June 30, 2023.
The Department of Anthropology at Maynooth University offers a €2,000 scholarship for its Master's program to a student who has a specific interest in the area of material culture.
maynoothuniversity.ie/study-maynooth/postgraduate-studies/fees-funding-scholarships
Irish Research Council
Operating under the auspices of the Department for Education and Skills, the organization offers a set of interrelated programs that fund researchers at all professional stages and disciplines.
Although many applications for the upcoming school year have already been closed, it is worth checking the local authority website with different deadline dates for certain programmes.
North/South Graduate Scholarships
The aim of the Northern/Southern Ireland Universities Scholarship Scheme is to encourage exceptional students from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland to cross the border for postgraduate study and experience life in another Irish jurisdiction.
This year, Universities Ireland will offer four scholarships, each worth €15,000. History Scholarships support students undertaking postgraduate study in a subject relating to the period 1912-1923 in Ireland, the decade of the First World War and the partition of the island into the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland.
Universitiesireland.ie/bursaries-scholarships/