Financial Information for Students

There are three main forms of financial assistance available to students; maintenance grants, tax relief and scholarships. Students may also qualify for rent allowance and travel subsidies upon production of Student I.D.

Maintenance Grants
There are a number of maintenance grants available to both EU and overseas students. The majority of these are part funded and approved by the Irish government, specifically the Department of Education and Science and the Department of Social Welfare. These grants vary in monetary terms, but are generally paid the two or three block payments over the course of two semesters. In brief, the primary maintenance grants available are:

Higher Education Grants Scheme (HEG Scheme) for full time undergraduate courses of two years or more.
Third Level Maintenance Grants Scheme for Trainees (TLT Scheme) for full time undergraduate courses of least one year’s duration.
Vocational Education Committees’ Scholarship Scheme (VEC Scheme); candidates must be undertaking either a 2 year certificate or a three year diploma course.
Maintenance Grants Scheme for Students attending European Social Fund-Aided Post Leaving Certificate Courses (PLC Scheme) is a grant available to those doing a post leaving cert course of at least one year’s duration.

Generally Grants are not available for part-time and evening courses though the exception to this is the Department of Education and Science’s Back to Education scheme part time.

Tax Relief
A wide range of tax breaks and tax relief measures are available in lieu of grants, where these do not apply. These can either be deducted from income tax or directly from any tuition fees paid. Further information is available from the tax office at revenue.ie

Scholarships
A number of scholarships to university courses in Dublin are offered by private philanthropic foundations such as the O’ Reilly Foundation, Fulbright scholarships and Chuck Feeney’s Atlantic philanthropies. These scholarships are much sought after and the application process is extremely competitive, successful candidates generally will have attained first class honours.

Whether you are applying for a scholarship, grant or tax relief there a number of important things to keep in mind;
Most of these schemes have strict deadlines, so the earlier your application is submitted, the more likely it is that you will be awarded the grant.
One of the most common reasons for application being rejected is that they are incomplete or have been incorrectly filled out.
Be sure to read the entry requirements carefully, so that you are certain that your course is eligible.

More information: www.welfare.ie