The University will offer eight fellowships, ranging from $10,000 to $20,000, to students entering the Executive MBA (EMBA)?program this year.
Barry Van Dyck, the director of degree programs in Executive education, said this will open doors for highly qualified applicants who may have trouble financing their education.
"We always have highly qualified applicants to the EMBA program where funding is a challenge," Van Dyck said. "Our purpose with these fellowships is to provide services to students."
The fellowships will be awarded based on a combination of merit and need and will function similar to undergraduate awards of the same type.
The awarding of these fellowships has been a few years in the making, Van Dyck said.
"The program is funded by both contributions from EMBA alumni into the John Cardinal O'Hara Society and by the J.A. Bernel Fellowship awards," he said. "We have had the idea for this program for a little while and now have enough saved to put it into place."
Alumni of the program have donated money to the John Cardinal O'Hara society for this purpose.
In order for a candidate to be considered for one of the fellowships, one must submit a completed application to the EMBA program and then apply for the scholarship.
Winners will be notified anytime between their acceptance into the EMBA program and the first day of class.
"When considering applicants for the program, we are looking for them to have a variety of assets," Van Dyck said. "We want candidates who are experienced, performed well as undergraduates, and who are need based. Basically, similar criteria to what is looked at when applying for scholarships as an undergrad."
After the fellowships are awarded, an allotted amount of the total award will be distributed at the start of each progression.
Recipients of the award must maintain a cumulative 3.25 grade point average to remain eligible for the fellowship.
The EMBA program has locations in Chicago, Cincinnati and South Bend.
Early application to the program is encouraged. The deadline for the Class of 2011 applications for the South Bend and Cincinnati locations is June 1 and Nov. 1 for the Chicago location.
The average student in the EMBA program is 36 years of age and works full time. Van Dyck also said many enrolled in the program have families.
"It takes a great deal of discipline to complete this program," said Van Dyck. "Not only do these people have full time jobs and families to attend to, but they are also full time students as well."
Van Dyck said he predicts the biggest pool of applicants will come from the South Bend and Chicago locations, the program's two largest sites.
The EMBA program has been around for almost 30 years, graduating its first class at the South Bend site in 1984.
According to its Web site, Notre Dame Executive Education "provides leaders in the executive and management ranks the opportunity to develop and strengthen their leadership abilities and business acumen skills through both degree and non-degree programs."
