Explainer: Financial supports for students taking up a college place this autumn

The grants and supports available for third level students are a topical issue at this time of year, when students preparing for the Leaving Cert will be looking ahead to taking up a college place in the autumn and considering what financial supports will be available to them.

The Student Grant Scheme is the main financial support for students studying in Ireland and abroad. It is commonly known as the SUSI grant as Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) is the awarding body.

Grant applications are made online - there are no paper forms. Applications for the 2025-2026 academic year opened at noon on April 3.

To apply, you must first register with SUSI, so you will need a Personal Public Service (PPS) number, an email address and a phone number. When you set up your SUSI account, you will receive a pin code which will allow you to go in and out of your account. It is important to remember this.

It is also important that you regularly check the email address you use for your application as SUSI will use this to communicate with you and request any additional information they may require. Remember, the applicant is the student and not the parent.

Do applicants need to be accepted for a course before they can apply?

No, you don’t need your Leaving Certificate results or to know what course you will be taking (you can add this at a later date). If you ticked the SUSI box on your CAO application, the CAO will notify SUSI of the course you have accepted. The closing date for priority applications is July 10, 2025, with a final closing date usually early in November.

What about supporting documentation?

If you are considered eligible on initial assessment of your application, you will get a provisional grant approval in the post and a personalised list of the supporting documents you will need to provide. On receipt, SUSI will then process your application to award stage, subject to confirmation of your acceptance on an approved course.

What does the student grant cover?

They are divided into Maintenance Grants and Fee Grants. The first help students with their living costs, while fee grants pay tuition fees for students who do not qualify for the Free Fees Scheme. From September, 2024, the Student Contribution fee is to be abolished for all incomes under €55,924.

Can you get a student grant if you are studying outside of the State?

The SUSI Maintenance Grant is available to eligible undergraduate students pursuing approved courses of at least two years duration outside the Irish State. You will, however, have to pay fees in the same way as nationals of the country concerned. Remember that SUSI does not pay fees for overseas. It’s only the maintenance part that is available

Who qualifies for a student grant?

Applicants must satisfy several conditions and you must meet all these. They include:

Nationality condition

Residence condition

Means test

Approved course of study

Progression from your previous level of study

Maximum period of grant assistance available at each level of study

SUSI has a helpdesk for queries at support@susi.ie and by telephone at 0818 888 777.

What is taken into account in the means test?

If you are dependent on your parents, the means test for a student grant in 2025-2026 is based on your and your family’s gross income for the previous full tax year (2024). If, for example, a student has a job in term time at weekends, that income will be counted in the means test and added to the parent’s income.

However, €7,925 of the student’s income they earn outside term time is excluded. This is called holiday earnings and includes earnings in Christmas, Easter, and summer holidays. It is also worth noting that if you or your family have had a permanent change of circumstances from January 1, 2025, this will be taken into account.

What about the means test for Independent Mature Students?

If you are 23 or over on January 1, 2025, and live independently not dependent on your parents, you are assessed on your income (and that of your spouse, civil partner, or cohabitant, if applicable).

Mature students returning to education who are unemployed, parenting alone or have a disability and are getting certain payments from the Department of Social Protection may alternatively qualify for the Back to Education Allowance, but you cannot get that and the Student Grant at the same time.

What income limits apply to the student grant?

It varies, but if, for example, the student was coming from a family with less than four dependent children, to qualify for the maximum rate of grant the gross income limit would be €47,010 or less. However, if there is more than one student attending college from the same household, the limit may be increased by €4,950 for each student.

If there are fewer than four dependent children and the family income is under €58,470, you get a partial maintenance grant.

How much is the maximum amount of maintenance grant?

The SUSI grant rate you get depends on the following factors:

• Your assessed means
• The distance you normally live from the college you are going to attend
• If you are a disadvantaged student
• If you normally live 30km or less from your college, you get the ‘adjacent rate’. If you live further away, you get the ‘non-adjacent rate’. This is based on the distance of where you ordinarily lived the year before you began college.

The maximum adjacent rate is €1,774

The maximum non-adjacent rate is €4,292 (paid over 9 months €476.88 per month)

Disadvantaged students can qualify for a special rate of maintenance grant.

Once awarded, do students have to re-apply for the grant each year?

You must renew your application for each year of your course. SUSI will contact you by email to remind you.