To find out how much it costs to study for a postgraduate degree, please visit our postgraduate fees page.

Educational bursaries and trusts
EGSA’s funding factsheet has useful information on bursaries and trusts, mainly based in Northern Ireland, such as the David West Trust, Bank of Ireland Millenium Scholars Trust, the Lawler Educational Grants Programme, O’Reilly Foundation, Print Futures Awards, and North-South Masters Bursaries. Further information about EGSA is available here.

North/South postgraduate scholarships for academic year 2010/11
Universities Ireland, the Joint Business Council of the Confederation of British Industry (NI), and IBEC are offering four to six scholarships to students undertaking a recognised masters or the first year of a PhD programme at a Northern Irish or Irish university.

The scholarships are worth approximately £13,500 each. Two to four of the scholarships will be in areas of study of particular relevance to business and industry (and will offer an opportunity to undertake a structured three-month graduate placement opportunity managed by IBEC); two will be in another area (humanities and social sciences).

Eligibility: these scholarships are open to all students currently registered at an Irish or a Northern Irish university, or Dublin Institute of Technology (or who have graduated within the past five years) proposing to take up a place on a masters or PhD programme which would require them to locate to the other Irish jurisdiction.

Application method: 1400- to 1500-word essay
Closing date: Monday 17 May 2010 (5pm)

Detailed information is available on the Universities Ireland website

Professional and Career Development Loans
Professional and Career Development Loans are bank loans that can be used to help pay for work related learning. You can borrow between £300 and £10,000 to help support the cost of up to two years of learning (or three years if it includes one year’s relevant unpaid practical work).

The Learning and Skills Council will pay the interest on the loan while you are learning and for one month afterwards. The loan can be used to pay course fees or other costs such as travel and living expenses. You can also use the loan to supplement other forms of support such as grants or bursaries.

Because the Professional and Career Development Loan is a commercial loan product, they should only be considered as an option once all other student funding options have been investigated. For further information on financial assistance to support your learning, please visit the Directgov website or contact Careers Advice on 0800 100 900.

Payment of your loan
Once you have registered with the University and completed the Course Start Notification Form you should take this to the Registry Office on your campus where a member of staff will complete the section relating to the Learning Provider (that is, the University) to enable your loan to be paid.

Funding for Research Study
A summary of the main sources of publicly funded awards for full-time postgraduate research study in Northern Ireland can be found on our research pages along with details of current research opportunities. In some cases Heads of Research Graduate Schools or the Research Office may be able to advise applicants of other awards available in specific subject or project areas.