Jan O’Sullivan TD, Ireland’s Minister of Education and Skills, announced last week plans to enhance levels of supports from Irish higher education institutions to support the Generation Study Abroad goal of doubling the number of U.S. students studying abroad over the next five years.

At the recent NAFSA conference in Boston the Irish Universities Association announced funding support for 350 scholarships for US students to study in Ireland in this year. Institutes of Technology Ireland also announced a funding package that will see 100 American students come to study in Ireland. Irish private colleges will support 80 scholarships. Together, with the scholarships that will flow from the Government's direct support for the Generation Study Abroad initiative, the total number of scholarships available to U.S. students wishing to study in Ireland this year is more than 500.