Māori Education Trust — Undergraduate and Postgraduate Scholarships — Toitū Kaupapa Māori Mātauranga — Māori Education Trust

This round closed on 31 May 2027.

Rounds often reopen. Check the funder's page below for the next one, or browse what is open now.

Around three dozen named scholarships from $1,000 to $30,000, in one application. Only one is awarded, so apply for everything you qualify for.

AotearoaMātaurangaMāori-ledRangatahiWorkforceRangahau

Closes: Opens around December, closes 31 May
Who can apply: Māori students enrolled for the full academic year at a recognised New Zealand tertiary institution. Each scholarship carries its own criteria — some are open to any Māori undergraduate, others are tied to a field of study, an iwi, or a named tupuna.
Whakapapa: Māori descent. Individual scholarships within the scheme add their own iwi or hapū requirements.
Study level: Undergraduate, Postgraduate, Vocational
Amount: $1,000 to $30,000 depending on the scholarship. Around three dozen named scholarships across the undergraduate and postgraduate forms, several shared with the secondary form
Funding route: Scholarship
Applicants: Individuals & whānau, Tauira & researchers

Before you apply

Examples of the range, so you can see how specific some get: Frances Irwin Hunt is for performing or cultural arts; Regina Rudland Memorial is for Ngāti Porou descent studying agriculture or apiculture; Rose Hellaby Bursaries and the postgraduate Rose Hellaby Scholarship are for scientific, mathematical or technical fields; Roy Watling Mitchell Bursaries is for first-year students who were in Year 13 the previous year; the postgraduate Queen Elizabeth II Fellowship is open to non-Māori as well, for research that will benefit Māori. Financial need and academic merit are common tiebreakers.

Read every scholarship description rather than assuming none fit. The narrow ones are where the odds are best. The mechanic that decides how you use this: you may apply for as many scholarships as you are eligible for, in a single application, but only one will be awarded to you. So tick everything you qualify for — there is no penalty and no advantage in choosing — and let them place you.

Nine scholarships tied to a specific iwi or Māori land trust sit inside this same application, reachable only if you register that partner when you sign up. Kokako Māori Land Trust, Te Whaiti Nui-a-Toi, Ngā Tāngata Tiaki o Whanganui, the Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa Tāmaki nui-a-Rua Settlement Trust, Ngāti Kea Ngāti Tuara, Tangiharuru Apa, Whakatōhea, Te Tira Whakaari Trust and Te Rūnanga o Ngā Wairiki-Ngāti Apa each have their own eligibility and are listed separately here, alongside the two already-known ones administered through Perpetual Guardian, Otama Marere and Whakapaupakihi 6 & 7. Get your affiliations right on the form — a scholarship only becomes visible if you have registered the right iwi or land trust.

The 2026 undergraduate and postgraduate application pages still show "Apply Now" for a 31 May 2026 closing date, which has already passed — the site has not been updated since late May 2026 (its own sitemap confirms this). The secondary scholarships page, by contrast, correctly states it is closed for 2026. Treat 31 May as the expected annual closing pattern and watch for the 2027 round to open, rather than trusting the live "Apply Now" button today.

info@maorieducation.org.nz, 04 586 7971. Applications go through the portal at metscholarshipportal.tribal-ebs.com.

Official source →

Checked 16 September 2026

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Māori Education Trust — Undergraduate and Postgraduate Scholarships

Before you apply

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