Skip to content

Higher Education Scholarships for Adult Learners

Unlocking potential, realising ambitions

APPLICATION PERIOD FOR SCHOLARSHIPS FOR ACADEMIC YEAR 2025/26 WILL OPEN ON 1ST FEBRUARY 2025

Applications for academic year 2025/26 will be open from 1st February – 31st March 2025

2024 Uversity Graduation
2024 Uversity Graduation

About Uversity

Uversity is a Registered Charity that grants Higher Education Scholarships to Adult Learners seeking to unlock their potential and realise their academic, personal and professional ambitions.

Uversity’s Scholarships help to alleviate the financial barriers that may be preventing older students, aged 23 and over, from earning a Bachelor’s Degree for the first time.

What distinguishes Uversity Scholars is their commitment to transforming themselves and others as a result of the Scholarship and educational experience.

What are the Scholarships?

Uversity’s Scholarships comprise multi-annual financial support and programming for successful candidates to pursue a Bachelor’s degree. Degrees can be in any discipline and used to enrol in selected institutions on the island of Ireland.

Preference is given to candidates enrolling on full-time degree programmes.
Part-time degree programmes will be considered on a case by case basis.

Uversity understands that there are significant financial costs and sacrifices associated with pursuing a degree as a Mature Student.

Uversity provides two levels of financial support, €5,000 or €7,000 per annum for the duration of the chosen degree i.e. 3 or 4 years. Payments are made monthly over the course of the degree programme and are subject to continued academic registration and progression.

Who are the Scholars?

Ciara

Ciara Hicks

Hayden

Hayden Nightingale

Karen

Karen Horan

Michelle

Michelle Murray

Octavian

Octavian Visan

Patrick

Patrick Lynch

Ciara Hicks

Ciara worked in the gaming sector prior to returning to education initially at the Cork College of Commerce.  After her degree, Ciara intends to complete a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology.  She eventually wants to “work as a mental health professional in Cork City in the public sector and provide therapies and support to people who need it and improve people’s quality of life.”

View all Scholar Profiles

Hayden Nightingale

Hayden was motivated to return to education when he gave up his job to move back home to help care for his mother. Knowing that he “wasn’t living up to his potential” and wanted to find a career he had a passion for, he enrolled on Belfast Metropolitan College’s Access Diploma in Mathematics and Computing.  After his degree, Hayden may pursue a Master’s in Corporate Governance and hopes to specialise “in the programming development side of the IT industry and more long term work on a self-employed basis and develop my own company.”

View all Scholar Profiles

Karen Horan

Karen was brought up in a working class community and experienced the difficulties faced by the community in relation to equal justice.  By working for Inclusion Ireland she built up skills in information provision.  She went onto volunteer as a Citizen Information Officer, where she developed a passionate interest in Law.  She recently joined the National Advocacy Service as the National Administrator where she works full-time while completing her degree.  Karen intends to use her legal knowledge to give back to the community that has given her so much.

View all Scholar Profiles

Michelle Murray

Michelle’s passion is for animal welfare, particularly horses.  In 2016, she set up a project to support equine health and education with the Kildare Traveller Action group.  She subsequently completed a Community Development & Leadership course prior to enrolling on her degree. She recently completed a Level 7 Certificate in Youth Studies at Maynooth University.  Her ultimate aim is to set up a mobile equine health unit to help horse owners in disadvantaged and rural communities that struggle to access veterinary care.

View all Scholar Profiles

Octavian Visan

Octavian worked for many years as a Hotel Receptionist prior to setting up his own tennis equipment business in 2014.  The onset of ill health motivated him to further his education and change career direction.  He has completed a Level 6 Business Administration course along with extra modules in Maths and Computerised Accounts.  His work placement in Cora Systems allowed him to further develop his existing design and communication skills.  With his degree, Octavian intends to start a career in Digital Marketing and open his own business in the future.

View all Scholar Profiles

Patrick Lynch

Due to the onset of a degenerative back disease, Patrick had to cease being a self-employed carpenter.  As he is also a musician, Patrick decided to pursue this alternative career path.  He hopes to equip himself “with a qualification relevant to a career in music, arts and media” and to continue to develop his own creative ambitions as an artist.

View all Scholar Profiles

Get in Touch

If you cannot find what you are looking for, feel free to get in touch for further information or with a question.