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 than 30km from their normal residence. The non-adjacent rate is paid when a student’s college is 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, the college will determine whether the student is eligible for free fees under the Free Fees Initiative (FFI). They will also determine if the course is covered under the FFI.
SUSI will pay the college the Student Contribution Charge or Tuition Fees as follows:
- If both the student and the course are covered under the FFI, SUSI will pay the college all or part of the Student Contribution Charge.
- If the student is covered under the FFI but the course is not, SUSI will pay the college Tuition Fees to maximum of €6,270.
- If the student is not covered under the FFI but their course is, SUSI will pay the college up to the full amount of 100% of the EU rate of fee for 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.
The table below sets out the income thresholds in bold and the associated maintenance grant rates for Undergraduate Students.
To be eligible for the Special Rate of maintenance grant, you:
- Must be eligible for the ordinary rate of grant;
- Your total reckonable household income must not exceed the special rate thresholds; and
- On 31 December of the previous year to your application, the reckonable household income must include an eligible long-term Department of Social Protection payment as prescribed in the Student Grant Scheme for the relevant year or its equivalence from an EU Member State.
