SUSI offers funding to eligible full and part-time students in approved courses at PLC, undergraduate and postgraduate levels in Ireland and, in some cases, to students studying in the UK or EU. All types of students, from school leavers to mature students returning to education, can apply for funding.

Importantly, students do not need to have received their Leaving Cert results or accepted a college course to apply. They can provide details of their intended course and update this information later via their SUSI Student Portal.

There are two types of funding – maintenance grants and fee grants. Maintenance grants help students with their living costs and are paid directly to the student. Fee grants cover the student contribution and tuition fees for students who do not qualify for the Free Fees Scheme. These are paid directly to the college on behalf of the student.

Before applying, students are advised to visit susi.ie to check their eligibility – there is a handy eligibility indicator on the website – and explore the full range of grants available. All applications are made online, and students who previously received a SUSI grant must renew their application on a yearly basis.

Several updates for the incoming academic year have been made to the Student Grant Scheme, which will benefit new and continuing students. These include:

Holiday Earnings: The amount a student can earn outside term time has increased from €7,925 to €8,424.

Known as Holiday Earnings, this is income earned from employment outside term time within the previous calendar year by a student who was in education.

Income thresholds: Maintenance grant income thresholds for PLC, full-time undergraduate and postgraduate students have increased by 15%.

The income threshold for the special rate of maintenance grant has increased to €27,400 for a household with less than four dependent children.

Full-time undergraduate student contribution: Income thresholds for the full-time undergraduate student contribution grants have increased by 15%.

This increase means that the €500 student contribution fee grant introduced in 2023 is now available for eligible undergraduate students from households earning between €71,300 and €115,000.

Part-time undergraduate fee contribution and postgraduate fee contribution: The income thresholds for the part-time undergraduate fee contribution grant and the postgraduate fee contribution grant have increased to €64,315.

New income disregards: A wide range of payments are excluded from the income calculation for grant assessment purposes, which are described as income disregards. These include Child Benefit, Carer’s Allowance and Disability Allowance, for example.

New income disregards this year that may apply to some farm families include the Cessation Turf Cutting Compensation Scheme and the Protected Raised Bog Restoration Incentive Scheme.

Meanwhile, the first €5,000 of any eligible scholarship programme or bursary award (excluding stipends) will now be excluded from the income calculation.

Students who receive a scholarship from public funds that is listed as an eligibility exclusion under the Student Grant Scheme and does not fully cover their fees may also be eligible for a grant to cover the remaining fees.

The nationality criteria has been expanded to include:

• Applicants whose permission to reside in the State was granted by the regularisation scheme for long-term undocumented migrants.

• Applicants who were granted permission to reside in the state on the basis that they are a parent of a child with Irish citizenship.

Closing dates: The priority closing date for renewal of grant applications was 5 June last. For new applicants, the date is 10 July.

Applications received before these dates will receive priority assessment. SUSI will continue to accept applications for student funding after these dates, however, these applications will not receive priority assessment. The sooner an application is sent in and received by SUSI, the sooner the student will receive an outcome.