Written answers
Tuesday, 11 May 2021
Department of Education and Skills
Student Universal Support Ireland
Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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593. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the percentage of the higher education student population receiving a SUSI maintenance grant since 2012; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23725/21]
Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The principal support provided by the Department in financial terms is the Student Grant Scheme. Under the terms of the Scheme, grant assistance is awarded to students attending an approved course in an approved institution who meet the prescribed conditions of funding, including those relating to nationality, residency, previous academic attainment and means.
The information requested by the Deputy is provided in the tables below.
Postgraduate students in receipt of fee grant only
| 2012/13 | 2013/14 | 2014/15 | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Enrolments | 20,955 | 21,566 | 21,924 | 22,637 | 23,092 | 23,819 | 24,855 | 27,366 |
| Total in receipt of fee grant | 2563 | 2716 | 2,467 | 2,341 | 2,156 | 1233 | 1158 | 1069 |
| % in receipt of fee grant | 12.2% | 12.6% | 11.25 | 10.3% | 9.3% | 5.1% | 4.7% | 3.9% |
Undergraduate students in receipt of SUSI fee grant only
| 2012/13 | 2013/14 | 2014/15 | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Enrolments | 143,543 | 147420 | 151,300 | 156,717 | 157,518 | 159,823 | 160,619 | 162,538 |
| Total student in receipt of fee grant only | 6501 | 11,731 | 14,367 | 15,088 | 13,787 | 13,310 | 12,502 | 11,471 |
| % students in receipt of fee grant only | 4.5% | 8% | 9.5% | 9.6% | 8.8% | 8.3% | 7.8% | 7.1% |
Postgraduate students in receipt of Maintenance and Fee grants
| 2012/13 | 2013/14 | 2014/15 | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Enrolments | 20,955 | 21,566 | 21,924 | 22,637 | 23,092 | 23,819 | 24,855 | 27,366 |
| Total in receipt of grant | 2563 | 2716 | 2,467 | 2,341 | 2,156 | 2,208 | 2,214 | 2,079 |
| % in receipt of grant | 12.2% | 12.6% | 11.25 | 10.3% | 9.3% | 9.3% | 8,9% | 7.6% |
Undergraduate students in receipt of SUSI maintenance and fee grants
| 2012/13 | 2013/14 | 2014/15 | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Enrolments | 143,543 | 147420 | 151,300 | 156,717 | 157,518 | 159,823 | 160,619 | 162,538 |
| Total SUSI | 29,609 | 47968 | 61,492 | 68,466 | 67,655 | 66814 | 64,588 | 65,428 |
| % | 20.6% | 32.5% | 40.6% | 43.7% | 43% | 41.8% | 40.2% | 40.2% |
The data provided in the tables is in respect of students who were awarded a grant from the centralised grant awarding authority, SUSI, which has just entered its tenth year of operation. It does not encompass data relating to the 66 awarding authorities who had continued to process renewal applications on a transitory basis.
At present, postgraduate students from low-income households who meet the qualifying criteria for the special rate of grant under the Student Grant Scheme 2020 may be eligible to have their tuition fees paid up to the maximum fee limit of €6,270 as well as receiving the special rate of maintenance grant of up to €5,915. All other postgraduate students undertaking approved courses may apply for a Postgraduate Fee Contribution in the amount of €2,000 towards tuition fees. The income threshold for this payment was €31,500 for the 2020/21 academic year, increasing relative to the number of family dependents.
As the Deputy may be aware For 2021/22 I have expanded the income threshold from €31,500 to €54,250 and the fee grant contribution has increased from €2,000 to €3,500. This will enable more students to take part in those courses.
The Deputy will be aware that in Budget 2021, I secured a commitment to commence a review of the Student Grant Scheme and an independent review is currently underway. It anticipated that the findings will be presented to me in the autumn and will inform future considerations regarding the development of student grant policy.
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