Maintenance grant and fee grant funding is available to Undergraduate students pursuing approved courses within the State.
Tuition students and students in receipt of a Back to Education Allowance (BTEA) are not eligible to receive a maintenance grant.
The maintenance grant is a contribution towards day-to-day living costs which is paid directly to eligible students through nine monthly installments over the course of the academic year.
Maintenance grants are paid at adjacent and non-adjacent rates. The adjacent rate is paid when a student’s college is less 30km from their normal residence. The non-adjacent rate is paid when a student’s college 30km or more from their normal residence.
The fee grant is made up of the following three elements:
- Tuition Fee
- Student Contribution Charge
- Compulsory Field Trip Expenses
Following registration by a student on their chosen course, their college will determine whether the Free Fees Schemes apply to the course being undertaken and whether the student is eligible for free fees under those schemes, further to which it will be determined that the Fee Grant will cover either the Student Contribution Charge or Tuition Fees, as follows:
- Student Contribution Charge where the Free Fees Schemes apply to the course and the student is eligible for free fees under those schemes, OR
- Tuition Fees to a maximum limit of either
- €6,270 where the Free Fees Schemes do not cover the course, or
- The full amount of 100% of the EU rate of fee for the course where the Free Fees Schemes apply to the course.
In some cases, a student will be eligible for Compulsory Field Trip Expenses if it applies to their course and if there is sufficient funding remaining from the total grant awarded.
Students whose course of study includes a compulsory period of study abroad, and those registered in participating higher education institutions who take part in compulsory periods of study or work on Erasmus, will continue to receive their maintenance grant payments, where applicable.
To be eligible for the Special Rate of maintenance grant, your:
• reckonable income must not exceed €24,500; and
• the reckonable income must include one of the long-term Department of Social Protection eligible payments as prescribed in the Student Grant Scheme for the relevant year or its equivalence from an EU Member State.
