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Aspire Scholarships 2012

Date: 27 Mar 2012

Dublin, Wednesday, 28th March 2012: A scholarship fund gifted by an anonymous donor will provide an opportunity for 12 graduates, who may have thought a business masters was beyond their means, to attend Ireland’s leading business school, UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, this September. The successful graduates will have 50% of their chosen programme fees paid for. The donor is giving half a million euro to the Aspire scholarship fund as a contribution to the recovery of the Irish Economy.  The scholarship fund will send 60 students to UCD Smurfit School over five years. The closing date for entry is Monday, April 30th 2012 and applications can be made at www.smurfitschool.ie/aspire.

Pictured below l-r: Professor Ciarán ÓhÓgartaigh, Dean UCD School of Business, with some of last year's Aspire Scholars, Ronan Cooney, John O'Brien, Niamh Donnelly and Chloe Barton.

The 2012 Aspire Scholarship Programme is offering up to three MBA and nine MSc scholarships. Over 20 previous scholars have already benefited from the private donor’s generosity since 2010; some of these scholars have already graduated and are now employed in leading companies such as Google, Citi, KPMG and PwC. 

At the launch of Aspire 2012, Professor Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh, Dean, UCD Business Schools, said: “Today, many young people have the drive and the academic ability to continue with their studies in a leading business school such as UCD Smurfit School.  However, financial circumstances beyond their control mean that they are simply not in a position to do so. The Aspire programme means that 12 students who are bright, and have a passion to learn and a drive for success will have an opportunity to nurture their talents at UCD Smurfit School.”

Professor Ó hÓgartaigh added, “The selection of candidates will be based on financial need and ability.  We want to ensure that these scholarships go to students who are worthy recipients. Education makes a difference and this scholarship will help change the course of their lives. UCD Smurfit School has an alumni network of over 20,000 graduates in over 100 countries. Joining the School will provide these scholars with the chance to learn from the very best academics, network with industry leaders and position themselves for a successful career in business.” 

Successful candidates will commence their studies in September 2012 and special arrangements are in place to allow students to borrow the balance of the fees, if necessary, with repayments starting two years after completing the course. Students can choose to study any of the wide range of MSc and MBA programmes that  UCD Smurfit School has on offer.

UCD Smurfit School is the only business school in Ireland and one of less than 60 worldwide to hold the ‘triple crown’ of accreditation from the three centres of business and academic excellence; AACSB (US), EQUIS (Europe) and AMBA (UK).  Less than 1% of the world's business schools are triple accredited. The School’s programmes are consistently ranked by the Economist and the Financial Times amongst the top 100 in the world and it  is the only Irish business school to appear in these rankings.