522 students are attending the university on an scholarship

522 university students from 21 countries are studying at the University of Navarra during the 2025–2026 academic year on an scholarship . The students have received a total of 4,756,738 euros, which amounts to average 9,112 euros average scholarship. The university held a presentation of graduation sashes the 22nd class of Alumni scholarship recipients, consisting of 102 students who are completing their academic studies at the University this year.

This scholarship program at the University of Navarra is designed for students with strong transcript and is funded by contributions from companies, friends of the University, alumni other individuals and institutions. 

This year's 522 recipients are from Spain (442), Mexico (18), Hungary (11), Ecuador (9), Honduras (6), Peru (5), Guatemala (5), Colombia (4), and the United States (3). In addition, 165 of them are from Navarre. Since 2003, more than 2,000 students have participated in this program. 

The presentation of graduation sashes Rosalía Baena, Vice President Student Affairs; Isabel Olloqui, Vice President development; Javier Santos, Full Professor Business Organization and class patron; Santiago Martínez, a medical student who spoke on behalf of the scholarship recipients; and John Erceg, a donor to the Alumni Scholarships program. 

“It’s worth investing in a university that educates not only competent professionals, but also people with a sense of responsibility toward others,” he said. “There’s something wonderful about generosity: it transcends time. Someone you’ll probably never meet helped make it possible for you to be here today. And someday, what you do will allow other students to sit in these very same chairs,” he added.

Santiago Martínez expressed his gratitude for the donors’ generosity and their contribution to the scholarship recipients’ staff professional growth. “Our time at this university has not only given us knowledge in a discipline . It has also given us something perhaps even more important: a way of understanding work life as an opportunity to serve others with joy, availability generosity.” 

23 Alumni Scholarships

The event took place as framework the second annual Benefactor Day, a workshop to thank donors of Alumni Scholarships for their support. These scholarships are established through a donation to the University’s endowment fund, which reinvests a portion of the funds to finance the scholarships and another portion—generated from the interest on the initial sum—back into the fund itself to ensure its sustainability. To establish a Perpetual scholarship , the donor—whether an individual, a foundation, or business—makes a contribution to the scholarship fund of at least €200,000. 

“I like to imagine the University of Navarra this way: alive. Alive because of the people who make it what it is, and alive also because it is enriched by all those connections—stories, relationships, a chain of generosity, commitment, knowledge affection,” said the president, María Iraburu. 

There are currently 23 Alumni Scholarships funds. Five have been established in the past year, including those established by Fernando de Parias Merry, Javier Garro Arza, the González Enciso Foundation, and Gaudí-Alumni Barcelona.

Cristina de Parias, a representative of the de Parias family, said, “As donors, we should be grateful for the opportunity to change people’s lives and invest in the future.”