From Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science
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The Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science has appointed Indecon International Economic Consultants to undertake an independent review of the Student Grant Scheme, which was announced on October 13 as part of Budget 2021 in line with the Programme for Government – Our Shared Future (June 2020).
The department and Indecon now invite contributions from stakeholders on the student grant system based on the Terms of Reference of this review. The aim of this review is to conduct comprehensive research on the current SUSI eligibility criteria, the maintenance grant support, the potential impact of increasing the grant values and/or making adjustments to the income thresholds and the impact and associated costs arising from widening the supports to include part time provision.
The research study will address the following terms of reference:
1. To review the following SUSI eligibility criteria:
“Approved course in an approved institution: To be deemed an approved undergraduate course outside the State, the course must meet the following criteria:
As part of reviewing the approved course criteria the review will explore the impact and likely longer-term impact of expanding the current definition of an approved course and the associated costs if the scheme was to include blended/online and part time provision.
2. To review the current income thresholds: The Student Grant Scheme provides for different levels of income thresholds for grant support including where families have (i) less than 4 dependent children (ii) between 4 and 7 dependent children and (iii) 8 or more dependent children. The review will investigate the impact of any changes to income thresholds whilst acknowledging the cost implications for the Exchequer.
3. To review the current maintenance grant which is a contribution made towards a student’s day-to-day living expenses and is paid in nine monthly instalments. The review will investigate the impact of increasing the maintenance grant values whilst acknowledging the cost implications for the Exchequer.
4. To review the current adjacent/non adjacent rates of grant and cost implications of making any changes to the present rates. The qualifying distance criterion for entitlement to the higher nonadjacent rate of grant (distance from home to the higher education institution) was changed from 24 kilometres (15 miles) to 45 kilometres (28 miles). This measure took effect for all students, both new and renewal, from the start of the 2011/2012 academic year.
5. To identify and reflect on the current support measures in other jurisdictions and benchmark the student grant system in Ireland against other EU states. Regard to the totality of the supports available in the State and other jurisdictions should be made to allow for comparisons between different support systems. Best practice should be referenced and should help to inform the recommendations in the report.
6. To ensure that the aforementioned SUSI eligibility criteria are explored in the context of the fact that the Programme for Government also undertakes to provide a long-term sustainable funding model for higher education and research on this topic is already underway. Detailed costings should be provided when recommendations on any revisions to the eligibility criteria are being proposed.
7. To consider current supports available to Further Education and Training (FET) learners undertaking traineeships, apprenticeships and level 5 & 6 programmes (i.e. courses that are not PLC courses) with a view to exploring whether a common cross-FET student financial support system can be incorporated into the student grant scheme.
8. To consider current supports for postgraduate students and explore the impact of extending these supports to include maintenance grants at the same level as the current undergraduate supports. The review will investigate the impact of increasing postgraduate supports whilst acknowledging the cost implications for the Exchequer.
9. To objectively determine the real cost of attending further education and the real cost of attending higher education in the State ; and determine what proportion of the cost is met by the student grant system in Ireland.
10. To translate the research findings from the above Terms of Reference into recommendations on future policy initiatives to support access to further and higher education. All recommendations will need to be detailed, well developed, targeted and costed.
Submissions should be emailed to studentgrantschemereview@dfheris.gov.ie with “SUSI Review Submission” in the subject line. The closing date for receipt of submissions is close of business, Friday 16 April 2021.
Please note that this consultation process is just one way in which views on the Student Grant Scheme will be sought. Indecon International Economic Consultants will also conducts of undergraduate students, postgraduate students and FET learners as part of their research methodology.
Please note that it is intended that all submissions received will be made available under the Freedom of Information Acts and as such may be published on the department’s website following the completion of the review. However, if any interested stakeholder wishes to submit information that they consider commercially sensitive, they should identify that information in their submission and give reasons for considering it commercially sensitive. The department will consult with them regarding such information before making a decision to disclose it.