Search for a College

Area
Category

Type

Higher Education Grants

You can apply for the Higher Education Grants Scheme if you are a student undertaking an approved full-time undergraduate course of at least 2 years in duration or a full-time postgraduate course. You must meet a number of criteria to qualify for the grant including academic attainment and a means test.

For approved undergraduate courses in Ireland and other EU member states maintenance grants are available but there are no fee grants for courses in other EU member states. For approved postgraduate courses in Ireland and Northern Ireland grants are available for maintenance and fees. See 'Rules' below for details of approved courses and eligibility criteria.

There is detailed information on the range of grants and funds for students in further and higher education on the website http://www.studentfinance.ie/.

Proposed changes to student support scheme

The Student Support Bill 2008 has been published by the Minister for Education and Science. It proposes a number of changes including:

A new single unified grant scheme to be administered by the vocational education committees (VECs)
New independent appeals board to be introduced
New requirement to be resident in State for 3 of previous 5 years

As the Bill has not yet been passed existing arrangements will continue to apply to grant applications for 2009/2010.

Rules

The Higher Education Grants Scheme applies to you if you:

Are starting an approved course for the first time in the academic year in question.
Are a mature student, who in the academic year in question is either entering in order to complete an approved course at undergraduate level for the first time or re-entering in order to pursue or complete an approved course at postgraduate level for the first time or already hold a postgraduate qualification and are re-entering to progress to a further postgraduate course which represents progression. (In order to be considered a mature student, you need to be at least 23 years of age on January 1 of the year you enter your chosen course).
Have attended but not successfully completed an approved course and are returning following a break of at least 5 years in order to pursue an approved course at the same level in the academic year in question. In this instance, you will be considered a Second Chance Student

To be eligible for a grant under this scheme, you must also fulfill the following conditions as to residence, age, academic attainments, means and nationality.

Residence

Your parents or guardians or, you yourself if you are an independent mature candidate, must have been ordinarily resident in the administrative area of the local authority from 1 October prior to applying for the grant. The local authority has discretion to waive this requirement in exceptional circumstances.

Age

You must be at least 17 years of age on January 1 of the year following your application.

Nationality

In order to get a maintenance grant you must:

Be a national of an EU member state or an EEA member state or Switzerland or
Have refugee status or
Have been granted humanitarian leave to remain in Ireland (foreign nationals granted leave to remain under the Irish Born Child scheme - IBC/05 are not eligible) or
Are eligible for subsidiary protection or have been granted leave to remain under the European Communities (Eligibility for Protection) Regulations 2006 or
Have permission to remain following a determination not to make a deportation order or
Have permission to remain in Ireland by virtue of marriage to an Irish national living here or be the child of such a person or
Have permission to remain in Ireland by virtue of marriage to a national of another EU member state who is living in Ireland or be the child of such a person

Approved courses

The courses approved under this scheme are:

(a) Full-time undergraduate courses of not less than 2 years' duration or full-time postgraduate courses of not less than one year duration taken in one of the approved institutions

(b) Full-time undergraduate courses of not less than 2 years' duration taken in a publicly-funded university or third-level institution in another EU member state, with the exception of the following:

Courses provided in a college that are offered in private commercial third-level colleges in the state and that are validated by that college
Courses in colleges akin to private commercial colleges in Ireland

(c) Full-time undergraduate courses of a minimum duration of 1 year in one of the approved institutions that represent progression from a FETAC Level 5 qualification and that lead to the award of a qualification of third-level standard following a terminal examination

(d) Full-time undergraduate courses of a minimum duration of 1 year in one of the approved institutions which represent progression from a Level 7 (Ordinary Bachelor Degree or National Diploma) course to an add-on Level 8 (Honours Bachelor Degree) course

Independent mature candidates

Candidates who were ordinarily resident with their parents from October 1 of the year preceding the year of application are considered dependent on their parents and their income is assessed together with their parents income(s). Independent mature candidates are candidates over 23 who live separately from their parents from October 1 of the year preceding the year of application. They are assessed on their own income.

Family income limits

The family income limits for eligibility for a maintenance grant (for the period 1 January to 31 December 2008) are set out below.

Number of Dependent Children	Full Maintenance	Part Maintenance (75%)	Part Maintenance (50%)	Part Maintenance (25%)	Exempt from student service charge (SSC)*
Less than 4	€41,110	€42,235	€44,720	€47,205	€51,380
4 to 7	€45,165	€46,415	€49,145	€51,880	€56,460
8 or more	€49,045	€50,400	€53,360	€56,320	€61,295

* Full student service charge is paid where income is at or below this level.

In the 2009/2010 academic year, where 2 or more children (or the candidate's parent) are pursuing the courses listed below, the reckonable income limits may be increased as follows:

In Full Maintenance and Exemption from SSC categories by €4,980 where there are 2 such children, €9,960 where there are 3 such children and so on, by increments of €4,980
In Part Maintenance 75%, 50% and 25% categories by €4,815 where there are 2 such children, €9,630 where there are 3 such children and so on, by increments of €4,815

The courses in question are:

Full-time third-level courses
Recognised PLC courses, student nurse training or student garda training
Fáilte Ireland courses of at least one year's duration
Full-time Teagasc courses in agricultural colleges
Recognised full-time further education courses of at least one year's duration in Northern Ireland

Special rates of grant for disadvantaged students

Disadvantaged students who meet a number of conditions can qualify for special rates of grants.

Applicants must qualify for the ordinary maintenance grant for the academic year 2009/2010 and total reckonable income in the tax year January to December 2008 must not exceed €22,308 net of Qualified Child Increases and standard exclusions.

For students, including mature students, who are assessed on parent(s)/guardian income, their parent(s)/guardian must, on 31 December 2008, have been:

Claiming long-term social welfare payments, or
Claiming Family Income Supplement or
Participating in designated programmes (for example, FÁS training programmes).

For students assessed on their own income, on 31 December 2008, the student must have been receiving an eligible (long-term) social welfare payment (including long-term Jobseeker's Allowance), or Family Income Supplement or participating in a designated programme.

Rates

The rates of maintenance grants for 2009/2010 have not changed since 2007/2008. Increases in grant rates are now considered during the annual Budget process and become effective in January at the beginning of the financial year rather than at the start of the academic year in September.

The ordinary rates of the maintenance grant for 2009/2010 are:

Rates	Non-Adjacent Rate	Adjacent Rate
Full Maintenance	€3,420	€1,370
Part maintenance (75%)	€2,565	€1,030
Part maintenance (50%)	€1,710	€685
Part maintenance (25%)	€855	€345

The adjacent rate of maintenance grant is payable where the student lives 24 kilometres or less from the college he/she plans to attend. The non-adjacent rate applies to everyone else, including all mature students both dependent and independent.

The special rates of maintenance grant are €6,690 (including top-up of €3,270) for disadvantaged students living more than 24 kilometres away from college and €2,680 (including top-up of €1,310) for disadvantaged students living within 24 kilometres of college.

How to apply

You can download the student grant application form (pdf) and accompanying notes (pdf) from the studentfinance.ie website. The form is also available from your local authority. Further information and advice about the scheme are available from your local authority.

You should send the completed application form to your local authority.

Applications must generally be received by the last working day of August in the year you are applying for the grant.