Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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556. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the percentage of third level students who receive each level of SUSI support such as full maintenance grants, full fees, 50% fees and so on; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23842/20]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The data provided in the table attached is the a breakdown of all Higher Education students who were in receipt of a grant for the 2019/20 academic year.

Please note that all Undergraduate students in receipt of any element of Maintenance Grant also qualify for the 100% student contribution.

Further Education students not included in the above data.

The data in relation to the number of third level full-time students enrolled in colleges for the 2019/20 academic year is currently not available from the Higher Education Authority.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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557. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if SUSI will alter the process of classifying students at their first point of entry to an approved post-leaving certificate course or an approved higher education course in view of the fact it disadvantages students that move out of the family home that is become independent unless they take a break from pursuing their education for five years; his views on the solution required for students negatively affected in 2020 as a result of the process; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23856/20]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The purpose of the Student Grant Scheme is to provide additional assistance where parental income is below a certain threshold, or in the case of independent mature students, where the level of income of the student and his or her spouse warrants additional assistance by way of a grant.

The decision on eligibility for student grant applications is a matter for the centralised grant awarding authority, SUSI (Student Universal Support Ireland).

The scheme operates in the context of competing educational priorities and limited public funding. The aim of the scheme is to make a contribution to the cost of going to college; covering the full cost has never been a feasible option.

For student grant purposes, students are categorised according to their circumstances either as students dependent on parents or a legal guardian, or as independent mature students.

A student may be assessed as an independent student (i.e. assessed without reference to parental income and address) if he/she has attained the age of 23 on the 1st of January of the year of first entry to an approved course, and is not ordinarily resident with his/her parents from the previous 1st October. Otherwise, he/she would be assessed as a dependent student, i.e. assessed with reference to parental income and address. A student’s status for grant purposes is defined at their first point of entry to an approved further or higher education course or at their point of re-entry to an approved course following a break in studies of at least three years, and continues to apply for the duration of their studies.

However, there are points at which a student may reclassify from a dependent student to an independent student. These are where he/she:

- Progresses from further education to higher education.

- Is returning following a 3 year break in studies.

- Is returning as a "second chance" student after a five year break in studies.

For students seeking entry to the 2020/21 scheme as independent, 1 October 2019 would be the relevant date for determining their status. This obviously predates and exceptional circumstances arising from the response to Covid-19 earlier in the current year.

Applicants who do not meet the criteria to be assessed as an independent student for grant purposes, or who cannot supply the necessary documentation to establish independent living for the required period, may still apply to SUSI to have their grant eligibility assessed as a dependent student. The relevant information, including details of parental income, would be required by SUSI to determine grant eligibility as a dependent student.

Further information regarding class of applicant (independent or dependent) and the types of documentation accepted as evidence of living independently from parents is available from SUSI’s website: