Erasmus Mundus MARIHE Scholarship 2027 — Master's in Higher Education (7 Countries)

Here is something most MARIHE articles don't tell you upfront: even if you don't receive the Erasmus Mundus scholarship, your tuition is still free.

That single fact changes how you should think about this programme entirely. The €18,000 participation cost for the full two-year MARIHE Master's is waived for every admitted student scholarship holder or not. The Erasmus Mundus scholarship on top of that covers your monthly living costs, travel, and installation expenses. So the actual question this application is answering is not "can I afford to study here?" but "how much financial support will I receive while doing so?"

That reframing matters, because it means the MARIHE 2027 intake is worth applying to regardless of whether you think you're competitive for the scholarship tier. You study for free either way. The scholarship determines whether you also receive €1,400 per month for 24 months.

This guide covers everything confirmed for the 2027 intake directly from the official MARIHE website the two-round application process with confirmed deadlines, exactly what the four funding tiers look like, the English proficiency rules that quietly eliminate a large percentage of applicants, the semester-by-semester mobility structure, and what the selection committee is actually scoring your application against.

What MARIHE Actually Is and Why It's Different from Other Erasmus Mundus Programmes

The Master in Research and Innovation in Higher Education is not a generalist education management degree. It has a specific and unusual subject matter: the institutions of higher education themselves, how they are organized, funded, governed, led, and reformed across different national systems. If you are drawn to the mechanics of how universities work, how research systems are built and sustained, and how policy shapes innovation capacity at national and institutional levels MARIHE is one of the very few Master's programmes in the world built specifically around those questions.

MARIHE is jointly conducted by an international consortium with partners from Austria, China, Finland, Germany, Hungary, India, and Portugal, providing a comprehensive expert perspective on higher education, research and innovation.

The coordinating institution is the University for Continuing Education Krems in Austria, a specialized university focused entirely on continuing and professional education, which makes it an unusually fitting academic home for a programme studying higher education systems. The consortium partners are Tampere University in Finland, Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences in Germany, Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) in Hungary, the University of Aveiro in Portugal, Beijing Normal University in China, and the Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology in India.

Seven institutions across two continents means seven distinct national higher education systems that students move through over two years. That's not an abstract asset, it's the core pedagogical claim of the programme. You cannot study comparative higher education policy by reading about it in one country. MARIHE is structured so that the study journey itself is the curriculum.

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The Full Funding Structure: Four Tiers, Not Two

Most coverage of MARIHE presents the funding as a binary: scholarship or no scholarship. The reality is more structured than that, and understanding all four placement outcomes changes how you approach the competition.

Tier 1: Erasmus Mundus Scholarship: Main List

Erasmus Mundus Scholarship recipients enjoy full coverage of tuition fees for the two-year master's program, plus €1,400 per month for the full study duration of up to 24 months.

The monthly allowance is designed as a contribution toward travel, visa costs, installation, and subsistence, not a full coverage of all living costs in every European city. In Krems (Austria), Osnabrück (Germany), and Aveiro (Portugal), €1,400 monthly is genuinely comfortable. In Helsinki, where Tampere University's city is located, costs run higher and the allowance is tighter. Factor this into your financial planning from the start.

The scholarship also covers travel costs between your home country and the first semester location, travel between programme locations during mobility, and visa and residence permit fees associated with the programme itself.

Tier 2: Erasmus Mundus Scholarship: Reserve List

Reserve list candidates do not immediately receive a scholarship offer but are moved up to the main list as main list candidates decline their places. In competitive Erasmus Mundus programmes, reserve lists move meaningfully particularly after the acceptance deadline passes. Being placed on the scholarship reserve list is a real outcome worth accepting, not a rejection.

Tier 3: Tuition Fee Scholarship: Main List

For students without an Erasmus Mundus scholarship, the participation costs are waived by the consortium (tuition fee scholarship). MARIHE offers tuition-free master's studies.

This is the tier that most guides underemphasize. The €18,000 participation cost covering all classes, enrolment at partner institutions, administrative support, examinations, and degree document issuance is waived entirely even without the Erasmus Mundus scholarship. You study at seven internationally recognized institutions across Europe and Asia, receive a recognized joint or multiple degree, and pay nothing in tuition.

What the tuition fee scholarship does not cover is your living costs, travel between semesters, or visa fees. Those are your responsibility. For students who have personal savings, employer support, a national scholarship from their home country, or family resources that can cover living costs, this tier makes MARIHE financially accessible at zero academic cost.

Tier 4: Tuition Fee Scholarship: Reserve List

Same structure as Tier 2, but for the tuition-only track. Reserve movement applies here too.

The Special Background Scholarship

An additional scholarship option exists for students from deprived backgrounds and/or first-in-family students, awarded by the consortium for two selected students per intake.

This is a small but meaningful addition to the funding ecosystem two places per cohort, selected by the consortium independently of the main Erasmus Mundus ranking. If your application would otherwise be competitive but your financial background represents a genuine barrier, this scholarship is worth specifically noting in your motivation letter if it applies to your situation.

The Programme Structure: Where You Go and When

Understanding the mobility structure matters before you apply, because your specialization choice at application is linked to which institutions become your primary semesters abroad and certain restrictions apply depending on where you currently live.

The MARIHE programme runs across four semesters. The fourth semester involves the Master's thesis, which can be completed at one of the partner universities in Finland, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Portugal, China, or India.

The first semester is at the coordinating institution in Krems, Austria this is mandatory for all students. From there, students move through partner institutions based on their chosen specialization track, with the thesis semester offering the widest range of location choices.

One restriction is firm and frequently missed: students living in Austria or Finland at the time of application cannot choose the specialization at UWK (Austria) or TAU (Finland). This prevents students from using the programme to remain in their current country of residence. If you are based in Austria or Finland, plan your specialization track accordingly before submitting.

The mandatory internship embedded within the programme is another distinguishing feature. The programme includes a mandatory internship, providing direct working experience in higher education institutions, government agencies, or international organizations. This is where the career application of the academic content becomes concrete. Past MARIHE students have completed internships at national education ministries, European university alliances, UNESCO offices, international accreditation bodies, and research funding agencies.

Admission Requirements: What You Must Have Before Applying

The Degree Requirement

Applicants to MARIHE must hold a first university degree with a minimum duration of three years of studies (full time), corresponding to 180 ECTS for example, a Bachelor's degree. MARIHE does not require this university degree to be in a certain field or subject.

That open-field admission policy is genuinely unusual. Engineering graduates, social science graduates, humanities graduates, law graduates, science graduates all are eligible. The programme's argument is that higher education systems need people with diverse disciplinary backgrounds to study, work in, and lead them effectively. What they are selecting for is not your prior subject, but your demonstrated capacity and motivation.

One restriction matters: a cumulative recognition (e.g. 2-year Bachelor + 2-year Master) or the recognition of work experience is not possible. For admission purposes, only the first university degree is taken into account. If your Bachelor's degree was two years long and you completed a two-year Master's to bring it to the equivalent of a full degree, MARIHE cannot recognize that combination for eligibility. The first degree alone must meet the three-year minimum.

The English Proficiency Requirement: The Most Commonly Misunderstood Rule

This is where the largest number of otherwise-eligible applicants are rejected on formal grounds, so read this section carefully.

The following test certificates are accepted: TOEFL iBT with a minimum score of 92; IELTS Academic with a minimum overall score of 6.5, with no individual score below 5.5; PTE Academic with a minimum score of 62; Cambridge C1 Advanced with minimum grade C; Cambridge C2 Proficiency with minimum grade C1. All other test certificates including Duolingo, WAEC, or university proficiency letters are not accepted.

Those last two words are the ones that eliminate thousands of applications annually. Duolingo English Test scores increasingly accepted at other international programmes are not accepted by MARIHE. University letters stating that you studied in English are not accepted as standalone evidence. There are no exceptions to this rule due to national laws and the regulations of the MARIHE partner institutions.

The exemption pathway and its specific limits:

An exemption from submitting a language test certificate is only possible based on specific previous studies. Applicants can only be exempted if they have successfully completed a Bachelor's degree, Master's degree, or doctoral degree in English in one of the following countries: any EU/EEA country, Australia, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Botswana, Cameroon, Canada, Dominica, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, Hong Kong, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Namibia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Philippines, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sierra Leone, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, UK, USA, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Importantly, completing previous studies in English does not automatically exempt you from the requirement to submit an English language test certificate. If your degree was taught in English but was not obtained in one of the listed countries, you are still required to provide a valid English test certificate. No exceptions can be made for individual circumstances.

This distinction trips up applicants from countries not on the list who attended English-medium universities international branch campuses, for example. If your English-medium degree was earned at a campus physically located outside the listed countries, the exemption does not apply even if the degree was conferred by a UK or US institution.

English language test certificates usually expire after two years. MARIHE advises applicants to check their certificate validity carefully. If a certificate has expired before the MARIHE Secretariat verifies it, the application may be rejected on formal grounds.

The practical implication: if your IELTS or TOEFL score is approaching its two-year expiry window, retake it before applying rather than assuming the programme will accept a technically expired certificate.

The Two-Round Application Process for the 2027 Intake

The application process for the 2027 intake consists of two rounds. Round 1 requires all applicants to submit nine mandatory application documents. The Round 1 deadline is September 21, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. CEST.

Round 2 applies to shortlisted candidates only, who must submit one additional mandatory document: a video. The Round 2 deadline is December 11, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. CET.

This two-round structure is the most practically important thing to understand about the MARIHE application. Unlike many Erasmus Mundus programmes where you submit once and wait, MARIHE uses the video submission in Round 2 as a decisive differentiator between shortlisted candidates. If you are invited to Round 2 and miss the December 11 deadline, you are excluded from the student selection process regardless of how strong your Round 1 submission was.

What Happens Between Rounds

After Round 1 closes on September 21, the MARIHE Secretariat runs a formal eligibility check on all submissions. Applications that fail eligibility missing documents, expired English certificates, ineligible degree types are rejected before reaching the review stage. This is the stage where being careful about document completeness and certificate validity saves your application.

Eligible applications are scored by two reviewers independently, applying the programme's defined assessment criteria. Applicants are then notified whether they are shortlisted for Round 2 or rejected.

After Round 2 videos are submitted and scored, the MARIHE Admission Board forms a ranking of applicants and notifies each applicant of their placement: Erasmus Mundus Scholarship main list, Erasmus Mundus Scholarship reserve list, Tuition Fee Scholarship main list, Tuition Fee Scholarship reserve list, or not placed.

The Nine Required Documents for Round 1

The official MARIHE application requires these documents in Round 1. Prepare all nine well in advance the September 21 deadline does not move:

1. Completed application form (submitted through the MARIHE online portal)
2. Curriculum vitae (any standard format is accepted)
3. Motivation letter (specific to MARIHE's focus on higher education research and innovation)
4. Bachelor's degree certificate (or proof of anticipated graduation before programme start)
5. Official transcript of records from your Bachelor's programme
6. Proof of English language proficiency (test certificate or exemption document)
7. Passport copy or national identity document
8. Two letters of recommendation
9. Any additional documents specified in the current application guidelines

The video submission in Round 2 is not part of Round 1. Do not attempt to submit it with your initial application, as it will not be reviewed at that stage.

What the Selection Committee Is Actually Scoring

MARIHE's assessment criteria evaluate applicants' strong motivation and interest to learn and work in the field of development and management of research and innovation in higher education. Specifically important are the applicant's motives for choosing the MARIHE programme, with regard to previous education, working experience (if applicable), and future career plans.

This framing is more specific than it sounds. The reviewers are not evaluating general interest in education, they are evaluating whether your specific background, documented experience, and stated career direction connect coherently to the particular subject matter of this programme: higher education systems, research policy, institutional management, and innovation governance.

An application that says "I am passionate about education and want to make a difference" is not a competitive MARIHE application. An application that says "I spent three years working in the quality assurance unit of a university in Kenya, observed specific governance failures that national policy did not address, and I want to study comparative higher education systems specifically to understand why similar institutions in Germany and Finland produce different outcomes" that is the kind of specificity MARIHE reviewers are looking for.

Work experience is not an admission requirement for MARIHE. However, work experience can be a strong advantage for an application, especially if it has been acquired while working for higher education institutions.

That sentence deserves unpacking. Work experience in higher education as an administrator, a researcher, a quality assurance officer, a student services professional, a policy analyst, a department coordinator makes a MARIHE application significantly more competitive, because it gives you evidence-based things to say in your motivation letter and your Round 2 video. Saying "I worked as an administrator at a university for two years and observed x, y, z problem firsthand" is more compelling than theoretical interest in higher education governance as a subject.

If you are a recent graduate with no professional experience in higher education, that's not disqualifying but your motivation letter needs to work harder to demonstrate genuine intellectual engagement with the field through other means: thesis work, student union leadership, volunteering at an education NGO, or research projects connected to education policy.

The Motivation Letter: What Separates Ranked Applications from Rejected Ones

The motivation letter is the single document with the most scoring weight in MARIHE's Round 1 review, and it is the one where the largest quality gap exists between strong and weak applications.

The most common failure mode is writing a generic statement of educational interest and then padding it with compliments about the programme's international mobility. Every applicant mentions the seven-country consortium. Every applicant says they want an "international perspective." None of that differentiates you.

What differentiates a MARIHE motivation letter is a specific, honest account of the intersection between your background and the programme's subject matter. That means three things done well:

First, a clear problem statement. What specific question about higher education do you want to understand better, and why have your existing studies or work experience given you a partial answer that this programme can complete? The question should be specific enough that a reviewer can tell you've actually thought about the field not just admired it from a distance.

Second, a credible career direction. MARIHE prepares graduates for higher education institutions, government agencies, university alliances, international organizations, consultancy, and policy bodies. Pick the one or two most realistic directions for your career based on your background, and connect them to what MARIHE specifically teaches. The programme's published list of possible employment fields gives you the vocabulary your letter needs to give those directions credibility using your own history.

Third, a specific reason for MARIHE over alternatives. There are other higher education management Master's programmes in Europe. If you don't articulate why the multi-country mobility structure, the specific consortium mix of European and Asian institutions, or the programme's research focus matches something particular about your goals a reviewer has no reason to believe you've made a considered choice rather than a scattershot application.

The Round 2 Video: Don't Improvise It

Shortlisted candidates who advance to Round 2 must submit a video by December 11, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. CET. Candidates who do not upload the video on time will be excluded from the student selection process.

The video is assessed by the same two reviewers who scored your Round 1 documents; they are evaluating whether your live communication supports and deepens the picture created by your written materials, or contradicts it.

The most common Round 2 mistake is treating the video as a spoken version of your motivation letter. It isn't. The reviewers have already read your letter and they know your stated motivation. The video is an opportunity to demonstrate how you think and communicate in real time, which is directly relevant to a programme where you will be expected to participate in seminars, present research, and engage with policymakers from multiple countries.

Prepare the video carefully, but don't script it word for word. Know your two or three most important points: why you care about this field specifically, what you want to do with the degree, what you will bring to the cohort and deliver them conversationally. Speak to the camera, not at your notes. A natural, confident two-minute video that feels like a real person talking beats a polished delivery of a memorized script every time.

The Appeals Process:  Read This Before You Apply

Applicants may file a complaint within ten days from the date the selection result message was sent. The purpose of the complaint is to verify that the rules of procedure have been applied correctly and that no error was made while processing the application. It is not possible to appeal against the qualitative outcome of the review process.

This distinction matters enormously. MARIHE's appeals process is procedural, not substantive. If you believe your application was rejected because a document wasn't properly processed, a formal criterion was misapplied, or an administrative error occurred you can appeal. If you simply believe your application deserved a higher qualitative score you cannot appeal.

A complaint must be a typed paper letter signed by hand or digitally, addressed to: University for Continuing Education Krems, Department for Higher Education Research, MARIHE Secretariat, Dr.-Karl-Dorrek-Straße 30, 3500 Krems, Austria. It can be sent via registered mail or via email scan to marihe@donau-uni.ac.at.

One Thing Most Applicants Don't Factor In: The Legalization Requirement

Selection does not guarantee admission. The final admission and enrolment depends on the timely submission of all required documents, including a legalization of the first degree certificate if applicable, and the approval by the university administration.

Legalization of academic documents which in many countries means obtaining an Apostille stamp from the relevant government authority, and in some countries also requires translation by a certified translator can take weeks to months depending on your home country's bureaucracy. Candidates who receive a MARIHE offer and then miss the enrolment deadline because their legalized degree certificate took three months to process lose their place.

As soon as you submit your application, start investigating the legalization requirements for your Bachelor's degree certificate in your home country. Don't wait for your offer. The process varies significantly by country; some have streamlined online Apostille services, others require in-person visits to a ministry and a certified translator. Know your timeline before you need it.

Where MARIHE Graduates Actually Work

Possible employment fields for MARIHE graduates include higher education and research-intensive institutions, government agencies, university alliances, non-tertiary education institutions, consultancy, and start-ups.

In practice, the alumni network reflects a predictable concentration in university administration and international education organizations at mid-career level. Graduates working in European university alliances the EUA, Coimbra Group, UNICA, and similar networks are particularly well-represented, because MARIHE's European and Asian mobility structure maps directly onto the kind of international institutional knowledge those organizations need. National higher education agencies, quality assurance bodies, research funding councils, and international development organizations that work on education systems are the other major employment streams.

The programme's own published Journal of Research and Innovation in Higher Education (JRIHE) and its e-book series give you a direct window into the kind of research and professional output the programme produces. Reading two or three pieces from those publications before writing your motivation letter will give your application a specificity that most applicants don't have because most applicants describe the programme based on what the programme says about itself, not based on what it actually produces.

Key Dates for the 2027 Intake — Summary

How to Apply

The MARIHE application is submitted through the official online portal at the programme website. There is no paper application option.

• Official programme website: marihe.eu
• Admission requirements: marihe.eu/admission-requirements
• Application process and timeline: marihe.eu/how-to-apply/application-process-and-timetable
• Costs and funding: marihe.eu/costs-and-funding/erasmus-mundus-scholarships
• Contact: marihe@donau-uni.ac.at (expect up to three working days for a response during high-volume periods)

For technical difficulties with the application portal, questions about eligibility, or urgent deadline queries contact the MARIHE Secretariat directly. Do not contact individual consortium members for application questions, as they will redirect you to the Secretariat regardless.

 

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