Student Grant Scheme (SUSI)

The Student Grant Scheme is the main financial support scheme for students studying in Ireland and abroad. It is also known as the SUSI grant because the Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) is the awarding authority for the Student Grant Scheme. Q. When does the application process for SUSI Grants open?

A. The student grant application process is open to all applicants from Thursday, 28 April 2022.

If you are already getting a student grant, you can submit a renewal application from 10 March 2022. The closing date for applications last year was November. The closing date for student grant applications in 2022 is to be confirmed.

Q. What do I need before starting my application?

A. You must make your grant application on-line. To register with SUSI and apply online for a student grant, you will need your Personal Public Service (PPS) number, an email address and a phone number. The applicant is the student not the parent.

Q. Do I need to know the course which I will be taking before applying?

A. No, you do not need to know what course you will be taking to apply online.

Q. Who qualifies for a student grant?

A. There are a number of conditions which applicants must satisfy and to qualify for a student grant, you must meet all the conditions of the scheme. You should contact your local Citizens Information Service for more detail about these conditions and how they apply to you.

Q. What does the student Grant cover?

A. Student grants are divided into Maintenance grant and Fee grants

Maintenance grants help students with their living costs. Fee grants pay tuition fees for students who do not qualify for the Free Fees Scheme. Fee grants can also pay the Student Contribution and the cost of essential field trips. Students doing Post-Leaving Certificate (PLC) courses do not get fee grants, but if you qualify for a maintenance grant, you are exempt from the PLC participant contribution.

Q. What is taken into account in the means test?

The means test for a student grant in 2022-2023 is based on you or your family’s gross income for the previous full tax year (2021). However, if you or your family have had a change of circumstances (which is likely to be permanent) since 31 December 2021, your changed circumstances will be taken into account.

Q. Is that the parent’s income only?

A. No, that is the parent’s income and the student’s income, however €4,500 of the student’s income which they earn outside term time is excluded.

Q. What type of limits apply to the grant?

A. Well, it varies, but if the student was coming from a family with less than four dependent children, in order to qualify for the maximum rate of grant the total net income in the previous tax year would have to have been €40,875 or less. However, if there is more than one student attending college from the same household, the limit may be increased by €4,950.

Q. How much is the maximum amount of Student Grant?

A. 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 30 kilometres or less from your college you get the adjacent rate. If you live further away than 30 kilometres, you get the non-adjacent rate. This is based on the distance of where you ordinarily lived in the year before you started college..

The maximum adjacent rate is €3,225

The maximum non-adjacent rate is €1,415

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

Q. How do you qualify for the special rate of maintenance grant?

A. In order to be considered a disadvantaged student one of the parents would need to have been on a long term social welfare payment on the 31st of December 2021 and their net income would have to be less than €24,500, not including Qualified Child Increases and standard exclusions.

If this is the case a special rate of grant is paid. The adjacent special rate of grant is €6,115. The non-adjacent special rate of grant is €2,575.

For anyone needing information, advice or who has an advocacy issue they can call a member of the local Citizens Information team in North Cork.

Phone Fermoy 0818 07 7970, Monday and Tuesday from 9-5pm, Wednesday and Thursday from 9-1pm; Mallow 0818 07 8000, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 9-5pm and Tuesday from 9-12.30pm; Mitchelstown 0818 07 8030 – calls being answered by Mallow.

Alternatively you can email us on fermoy@citinfo.ie and mallow@ citinfo.ie or log on to www.citizensinformation.ie for further information.