From Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science
Published on
Last updated on
In May 2022, the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science published its policy on the future of third level education in Ireland.
The Funding the Future policy confirmed the Government’s intention to increase the funding given to third level institutions and to reduce the cost of education.
The policy committed to, beginning in 2022, an annual options assessment for measures including student contribution changes and SUSI grant scheme changes be developed, with a view to informing the annual budgetary process.
The options assessment is intended to identify costs and potential impacts, by the department and is published without prejudice to eventual Government decisions.
The following paper outlines various options to examine ahead of Budget 2023. This paper is simply a list of options and issues to be considered in the budgetary process.
Estimate costings are provided for each individual option, however, it should be noted that should two or more options be actioned, this may lead to an increase in demand and accordingly costs.
While this paper focuses on higher education, the department continues to consider reducing the cost of education for students in further education and for those in apprenticeship.
In addition, over time, the annual options assessment is intended to consider progress on other strategic priorities, particularly the extension of supports to enable more flexible forms of learning including blended/online and part-time, and simplification of the student grant system to make it more learner-friendly.
The paper is broken down into three sections:
This relates to the Student Grant Scheme and the costs and impacts associated with making changes to the scheme to address the cost of going to college for students and their families. This section considers recommendations from the independent review of the Student Grant Scheme.
This relates to options in respect of the Student Contribution and other schemes that the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science has budgetary responsibility for. The measures in this section also look to contribute to reducing the costs of going to college.
This references other policy interventions that may be considered over the medium term. The costs of these measures will not be known until these potential policy measures are developed further.
The estimated costs associated with measures outlined in this paper have been calculated using the number of students paid a maintenance grant or who have had a fee contribution paid to their higher education institution on their behalf for the 2021/22 Academic year up to the 29th July 2022 & have been adjusted to reflect potential change of numbers in the 22/23 scheme when the eligibility distance for the higher non-adjacent grant reduces from 45km to 30km. (Appendix 1)
These student numbers may increase once SUSI has completed their full 2021/22 reconciliation, however, the numbers below are the most up to date numbers available for the purpose of this exercise.
The Student Grant Scheme is a statutory-based scheme underpinned by the following legislation:
The eligibility criteria for student grants are reviewed annually by the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. All proposals made in relation to tertiary education expenditure, including student grants, are considered and prioritised each year in the context of the Budget process.
As the national student grant awarding authority, the decision on eligibility for a student grant is a matter, in the first instance, for SUSI to determine within the parameters of the scheme. However, a comprehensive appeals process is in place for any students who are of the view that the scheme has not been interpreted correctly in his/her case. An appeal may be submitted firstly to an Appeals Officer within SUSI, and then subsequently to the independent Student Grants Appeals Board.
The Programme for Government contains the following three commitments regarding the Student Grant Scheme:
In relation to the first commitment, a review of the COVID-19 impact on the Student Grant Scheme was completed and approved by the minister in March 2021.
In relation to the second commitment, the Government, in Budget 2021, provided enhanced postgraduate supports from the 2021/22 academic year including the fee contribution grant amount rising from €2,000 to €3,500 and the income threshold for eligibility for these grants increasing from €31,500, now €54,240.
To address the third commitment, the minister announced an independent review of the Student Grant Scheme at the time of Budget 2021.
There was significant public interest in the review, with around 280 submissions and over 9,000 survey responses from students. As well as wide stakeholder engagement and student consultation novel research on SUSI data and deprivation index data was conducted.
The minister brought the report to the Cabinet alongside the future funding model report on 4 May 2022.
The report made the following recommendations:
The report outlines that ensuring that Ireland maintains the high rates of attendance at further and higher education is of critical importance to building on the success of the knowledge-based economy and recommends that the Government should therefore over time aim to increase student maintenance grants in line with inflation and prioritise:
Non-adjacent students whose costs have risen the most and who report the highest levels of financial difficulty, and who are more likely to have been affected by rising rent levels; and
Those students on lower incomes who research shows are more likely to come from deprived areas (i.e., students on special rate and 100% maintenance grant).
In Budget 2022, the minister commenced implementation of this recommendation.
For the academic year 2022/23, this will mean an:
This paper outlines a number of measures the department can take to meet the recommendations of the Student Grant Review and address the cost of education.
The student maintenance grant is a contribution towards the living costs of a student. The student grant scheme provides for different levels of maintenance support, depending on means. Grants are also provided at adjacent and non-adjacent rates. These rates depend on the distance a student resides from their college. If you live further away, you are entitled to a higher level of funding.
This measure proposes to increase the non – adjacent rate of grant across certain Bands as set out in the table below. This would equate to all non- adjacent grants having increased by at least 25% on the 2021/22 maintenance grant rates, taking account of measures brought in in Budget 2022)
These increases are estimated to benefit circa 32,000 students.
on 2021/22 rates
| Non Adjacent Rate | Number of Students | 2021/22 rate | 2022/23 rate (Additional €200 Budget 2022) | 2023/24 rate | Increase to student | Cost per Rate (millions) |
| Special Rate | 11,512 | €5,915 | €6,115 | €7,394 | €1,279 | €14.72m |
| Band 1 | 17,755 | €3,025 | €3,225 | €3,781 | €556 | €9.87m |
| Band 2 | 944 | €2,270 | €2,470 | €2,838 | €368 | €0.35m |
| Band 3 | 1,934 | €1,515 | €1,715 | €1,894 | €179 | €0.35m |
| Band 4 | 1,798 | €755 | €955 | €955 (No change 25% exceeded with Budget 2022 measures) | No change 25% exceeded with Budget 2022 measures | N/A |
| Total | 33,943 | €25.29m |
This measure would increase the adjacent rate of grant across certain Bands as set out in the table below.
This would equate to all adjacent grants having increased by at least 25% on the 2021/22 maintenance grant rates, and this measure would benefit circa 20,000 students who currently receive an adjacent rate of maintenance grant.
| Adjacent Rate | Number of Students | 2021/22 rate | 2022/23 rate (Additional €200 Budget 2022) | 2023/24 rate | Increase to student | Cost per Rate (millions) |
| Special Rate | 8,421 | €2,375 | €2,575 | €2,969 | €394 | €3.32m |
| Band 1 | 11,472 | €1,215 | €1,415 | €1,519 | €104 | €1.19m |
| Band 2 | 576 | €910 | €1,110 | €1,138 | €28 | €0.016m |
| Band 3 | 1,158 | €605 | €805 | €805 (No change 25% exceeded with Budget 2022 measures) | No change 25% exceeded with Budget 2022 measures | N/A |
| Band 4 | 1,146 | €305 | €505 | €505 (No change 25% exceeded with Budget 2022 measures) | No change 25% exceeded with Budget 2022 measures | N/A |
| Total | 22,773 | €4.53m |
The above options 1 and 2 estimate the costs of increasing the maintenance grant rates by 25% from the rates that were applicable for the 2021/22 Academic Year.
The following options 3 and 4 estimate the costs of increasing the Special and Band 1 maintenance grant rates applicable for the 2022/23 academic year by different levels.
| Non Adjacent Special Rate | Adjacent Special Rate | Full Year Cost | 2023 cost 4/9th | |
| 21/22 adjusted paid students | 11,512 | 8,421 | ||
| 22/23 rate | €6,115 | €2,575 | ||
| Rate if increase by €100 | €6,215 | €2,675 | €1,993,300 | €885,911 |
| Rate if increase by €200 | €6,315 | €2,775 | €3,986,600 | €1,771,822 |
| Rate if increase by €300 | €6,415 | €2,875 | €5,979,900 | €2,657,733 |
| Rate if increase by 7% | €6,543 | €2,755 | €6,442,916 | €2,863,518 |
| Rate if increase by 10% | €6,727 | €2,833 | €9,217,962 | €4,096,872 |
| Rate if increase by 15% | €7,032 | €2,961 | €13,807,010 | €6,136,449 |
| Non Adjacent Band 1 | Adjacent Band 1 | Full Year Cost | 2023 cost 4/9th | |
| 21/22 adjusted paid students | 17,755 | 11,472 | ||
| 22/23 rate | €3,225 | €1,415 | ||
| Rate if increase by €100 | €3,325 | €1,515 | €2,922,700 | €1,298,978 |
| Rate if increase by €200 | €3,425 | €1,615 | €5,845,400 | €2,597,956 |
| Rate if increase by €300 | €3,525 | €1,715 | €8,768,100 | €3,896,933 |
| Rate if increase by 7% | €3,451 | €1,514 | €5,148,358 | €2,288,159 |
| Rate if increase by 10% | €3,548 | €1,557 | €7,363,889 | €3,272,840 |
| Rate if increase by 15% | €3,709 | €1,627 | €11,025,484 | €4,900,215 |
The review of the Student Grant Scheme recommended that an adjustment should be considered to the 2021 distance criteria to allow an increased financial support to students' whose normal residence was located under 45km from their further or higher education institution.
This recommendation was quickly actioned in Budget 2022 and the qualifying distance criterion for students to qualify for the non-adjacent rate of grant has been reduced from 45km to 30km, effective from the start of the 2022/23 academic year.
| Types of maintenance grants | Budget 2022 Adjacent Rate | Budget 2022 Non-Adjacent Rate | Increase to the Student who benefits from the higher non-adjacent rate** |
| Special Rate Maintenance | €2,575 | €6,115 | €3,540 |
| Maintenance Band A | €1,415 | €3,225 | €1,810 |
| Maintenance Band B | €1,110 | €2,470 | €1,360 |
| Maintenance Band C | €805 | €1,715 | €910 |
| Maintenance Band D | €505 | €955 | €450 |
The current qualifying distance of 30km for the higher non-adjacent rate of student grant is believed to take into account a reasonable radius within which students may commute on a daily basis.
The estimated cost in further reducing the qualifying distance criteria from 30km to 24km is €6 million based on applicants awarded a grant in 2021/22. However, this is a demand-led scheme and estimates may vary based on awarded applicants on a yearly basis.
The review of the Student Grant Scheme outlines that the Government should consider adjusting income thresholds to take account of changes in real incomes over time.
The income threshold to qualify for the standard rate of student grant has been increased by €1,000 and will be implemented in the Student Grant Scheme 2022 for the academic year 2022/2023.
Notwithstanding the change for the 2022 academic year, the Report recommends that this be reviewed annually.
The figures below identify the potential cost of incrementally increasing standard income thresholds:
| Increase Income Threshold by | Estimated students who will benefit | Estimated cost to exchequer (excluding cost of new students who may enter the Grant) |
| €250 | 1,100 | €0.9M |
| €500 | 2,300 | €1.8M |
| €750 | 3,500 | €2.7M |
| €1,000 | 4,700 | €3.7M |
| €2,000 | 8,800 | €7.5M |
| 5% | 10,000 | €9M |
| 7% | 13,000 | €12.5M |
| 10% | 15,000 | €17.5M |
This measure would increase the income thresholds across all Bands (excluding the special rate of grant which is indexed to social protection rates and the postgraduate fee contribution rate that was increased in Budget 2021).
This measure would lead to eligible students receiving an enhanced grant rate and would lead to some new eligible students receiving a grant but it is not possible to estimate how many additional students might be eligible for a grant.
Reckonable income under the Student Grant Scheme is household income from all sources including income from a student’s employment.
However, income from an applicant’s employment which represents holiday earnings outside of term time but within the reference period up to a maximum limit can be deducted from the total reckonable income assessed. The reason for the limit is to mitigate against students working so much during their tertiary education that it negatively impacts on their ability to fully participate in their course. This rationale was also highlighted by the recent independent review of the Student Grant Scheme.
In June 2022 Minister Harris announced an increase to the income disregard for holiday earnings outside of term time from €4500 to €6552. This measure will allow students to earn up to €6,552 during non-term time without it affecting their eligibility for a grant under the Student Grant Scheme for the 2023/2024 academic year, enabling students to have more income to address the cost of living expenses they encounter when attending college.
The measure is also intended to also help alleviate the skills shortages that have been identified in certain sectors of the economy by allowing students to work more hours during their academic breaks.
The option costed above would remove the provision which limits the deduction of holiday earnings to “earnings outside of term time”. If all students who can possibly benefit from the option do claim, the estimated cost using 2021/22 AY numbers, would be €8m and would benefit 7,350 students.
If both measures were to be introduced simultaneously, to limit the discount to €6,552 and include term time earnings, the cost is estimated at €11m and would benefit c 9,100 students.
The review of the Student Grant Scheme recommends that the Government should consider extending maintenance support for low-income students who do not qualify for maintenance currently for postgraduate study in a similar manner to the support that is available for undergraduate study.
At present maintenance support for postgraduate students is currently limited to those who are eligible for a special rate award.
Currently maintenance supports for postgraduate students is limited to those who are eligible for a special rate award (income under €24,500 and who have a qualifying social welfare payment).
This measure would provide maintenance supports to postgraduates on the same level that is provided to undergraduate Students. In the academic year 21/22 there are circa 2,290 postgraduate students receiving a contribution towards their fees of up to €3,500 but not receiving maintenance.
At present, postgraduate students that are eligible for the special rate of grant receive maintenance grants similar to undergraduate students and receive a fee contribution towards the cost of their tuition of €6,270.
For all other postgraduate students, the tuition grant contribution is €3,500. This measure would increase the fee contribution grant for all eligible postgraduate students to €6,270 or €5,500 or €4,500.
This measure would increase the tuition fee contribution for c 2,290 postgraduate students from €3,500, allowing the state to contribute a higher proportion of the tuition fee that SUSI awardees pay towards the cost of post graduate studies.
Under the department’s free fees schemes, the Exchequer provides funding toward the tuition fee costs of eligible undergraduate higher education students with students paying the student contribution.
The student contribution charge increased incrementally to €3,000 in the 2015/16 academic year and has remained at this rate during the subsequent years.
The State pays the student contribution (in full or part) on behalf of students who qualify under the student grant scheme.
In 2020/21 over 65,000 (approximately 45% of Free Fee Eligible students) students had all or part of their student contribution funding paid on their behalf through student support grants at a cost of c. €190 million
In 20/21 the amount paid directly by the students was €248 million.
There are two primary options available to reduce student contribution costs for undergraduate students:
It is estimated that c.80,000 to 85,000 free fees eligible students would benefit to the full value of any reduction and c 3,000 students would benefit to half of the value of any reduction (SUSI students in receipt of a 50% student contribution support).
| Amount of Reduction | Net Cost to State | Gross Cost to State** |
| €100 | €8.5 million | €15.1 million |
| €250 | €21.3 million | €37.7 million |
| €500 | €42.7 million | €75.4 million |
| €750 | €64 million | €113 million |
| €1,000 | €85.3 million | €150.7 million |
| €1,250 | €106.7 million | €188.4 million |
| €1,500 | €128 million | €226 million |
| €1,750 | €149.3 million | €263.8 million |
| €2,000 | €170.7 million | €301.4 million |
| €2,250 | €192 million | €339.1 million |
| €2,500 | €213.3 million | €376.8 million |
| €2,750 | €234.7 million | €414.5 million |
| €3,000 | €256 million | €452.2 million |
Net cost to the State includes the associated saving on student grants (student contribution paid by the State for student in receipt of supports).
Gross cost is the cost of implementing this measure without factoring in the associated Student Grant Saving.
An alternative option may be to consider an increase the student grant budget to provide for an increased number of students to be eligible for the full or half rate student contribution grant.
A potential in this respect is to:
Graduate Entry Medicine (GEM) is one of the pathways to study undergraduate medicine.
Graduate entry courses require applicants to hold a level 8 qualification prior to entry and completion of a graduate entry medicine degree confers a further level 8 qualification.
Students pursuing second level 8 degree courses are not eligible for free fees funding or for student grants, and therefore graduate entry medicine students have not qualified for these programmes since the introduction of this course.
The total level of fees charged to graduate entry medicine students is a matter for the higher education institutions, consistent with the principle of their institutional autonomy.
In order to widen access to GEM programmes, and give assistance towards the financial burden on each student pursuing these programmes, the fees of participating EU students are partly subsidised by the State via the HEA.
The HEA advise that in academic year 21/22 the state contribution is €11,950 per student with the balance of fees payable by the student.
The HEA advise that, based on the 2020/21 GEM student numbers, the estimated costs of increasing the HEA contribution towards GEM (grant per student) are by:
The fee rates charged for all courses are a matter for the HEIs as autonomous bodies.
Under the terms of the Student Grant 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.
To satisfy the terms and conditions of the Student Grant Scheme in relation to progression, a student must be moving from year to year within a course, having successfully completed the previous year or be transferring from one course to another where the award for the subsequent course is of a higher level than the previous course.
Students pursuing GEM programmes do so as second degree courses and consequently are not eligible for free fees funding or for student grants.
The Student Grant Scheme review comments on the issue of Graduate Entry Medicine and states that a wider issues remains as to whether greater flexibility in the criteria for the student grant scheme could be considered in areas of critical skills shortage reflecting graduate entry routes.
There are significant policy, legislative and funding considerations, as well as wider implications, if the current treatment of graduate entry medicine was amended.
In June 2022, Government approved a revised approach to funding of medical education places including GEM. This included addressing sustainability challenges arising from cross subsidisation from fees of non-EU students and additional places for Irish/EU students on a phased basis.
Students on graduate entry medicine courses may be eligible to apply to the Student Assistance Fund for financial support. The guidelines provide that students with a previous higher education qualification at the same NFQ level may be considered for support on a case-by-case basis and subject to available funding.
The minister has recently announced that holders of Bursaries under the 1916 Bursary Scheme may continue their bursary if they wish to pursue Graduate Entry Medicine. Full details of same are available on studentfinance.ie .
The Student Assistance Fund (SAF) provides financial assistance to students experiencing financial difficulties while attending higher education. Students on full or part-time courses leading to a higher education award (NQF level 6-10) in the universities, institutes of technology and other approved colleges can apply for the SAF. The Student Assistance Fund typically provides financial assistance to students who are having difficulty covering the following kinds of expenses:
The costs of the above expenses has increased over the last year and these additional costs are affecting students who are most experiencing financial difficulties while attending higher education.
The Student Assistance Fund ordinarily supports c 14,000 students to the tune of on average €650 without the additionally provided through COVID funding.
When COVID funding was available, the SAF supported 21,000 students to the tune of on average €850.
We can see from these figures that there has been an increase in the number of students accessing the fund and a need for a higher allocation per student over the last two years. This evidence along with the increased cost of living for students and the decision to allow Section 60, temporary protection students access the fund will create an expected increase in the numbers of students who will require assistance from the SAF.
Article 13(6) of the Student Grant Scheme states that “A mature student pursuing an approved course shall be known as a Second Chance Student where the student:
This measure would reduce the period of time that a second chance student as referred to above has to wait before returning to study from 5 years to 3 years. This measure would be in line with the ambitions in the National Access Plan which prioritises entrants from socio-economic groups that have low participation in higher education, including mature students.
It is not possible to cost this measure as we do not know the number of students who may potentially avail of same. This measure if implemented would also require a similar measure under the free fees scheme.
The review raises the issue of flexible learning. Many individuals, particularly those from lower-income families or disadvantaged groups, may not be in a position to engage full-time in higher education and the review finds that many of these students would have considered part-time if the option had been available to them.
It also suggests that facilitating students to complete their third – level education on a more flexible basis would also mean that some students could remain part of the labour force & contribute to the Exchequer via taxes on employment income. The review notes that:
The review highlights that the issue of potentially expanding part-time delivery of tertiary education in Ireland is a complex one and the review outlines that significant planning would need to be conducted at both national and institutional level to manage the significant impacts on educational institutions. In particular, a clear understanding of what constitutes part-time, blended and other forms of learning needs to be established at a national level to guide policy and aid implementation/roll out. Further, individual educational institutions would need to plan if they are to expand their part-time education options including which courses should be part-time. It further notes that once the education sector is in a position to identify what potential options could be made available further economic modelling would be required at this stage to consider the exchequer impact.
The review noted that initially the level of student grant support for part-time/flexible/on-line students could be set at a lower level than applies to full-time students. The review outlined that Indecon do not believe that the same level of maintenance support would be needed, given a greater ability to continue working while studying, and lower transport and other costs. They also recommended that supports should only apply to households where annual incomes are below specified levels.
The review also noted that there is merit in considering the proposal that a minimum threshold for eligibility of part-time courses based on that course’s European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) level. Further, individual educational institutions need to plan if they are to expand flexible education options and which courses should be provided in a flexible manner.
The review has highlighted some varied approaches in Europe with respect to part-time undergraduate fees. The review notes, for example In Scotland, Sweden and Austria, part-time undergraduate students are charged no tuition fee. Part-time students are also treated comparably to fulltime students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, in the sense that tuition fees are levied but supported by loans.
On 5 May, the minister set out a new funding and reform framework for higher education. In prioritising core funding increases, the intention is that quality of outcomes will improve, the agility and responsiveness of higher education will be strengthened and the reputation of Ireland’s higher education system will be enhanced, including in international rankings.
Five priority strands of work on which progress will be made are identified in the funding and reform framework:
The minister convened a Funding the Future Implementation and Review Group to support the development, implementation and review of a reform agenda at national and sectoral level to meet the ambition contained in the funding and reform framework.
The issue to extend supports to more flexible forms of learning including blended/online and part- time are being examined by the department and its agencies and the Funding the Future Implementation and Review Group but this is a medium term project and for this reason it is too early to estimate associated costs with part time provision as the definition of same is yet to be determined.
It should be noted that the Student Grant Scheme is a demand led scheme and estimates may vary based on awarded applicants on a yearly basis. The following table forms the basis for the estimated costings provided in this paper.
Where changes to the Student Grant Scheme are costed, these do not include costings for operation costs.
The table contains the number of students who were paid a student grant by SUSI for the 2021/22 year as of the 29 July 2022 and the numbers have been adjusted between bands to reflect the change in distance criteria for the 2022/23 academic year.
| Applications | Total of Paid Applicants as at 29/07/2022 adjusted to reflect changes in Adjacency distances |
| Non-adjacent Special Rate | 11,512 |
| Non-adjacent Full Maintenance 100% ( Band 1) | 17,755 |
| Non-adjacent Part Maintenance 75% ( Band 2) | 944 |
| Non-adjacent Part Maintenance 50% ( Band 3) | 1,934 |
| Non-adjacent Part Maintenance 25% ( Band 4) | 1,798 |
| Adjacent Special Rate | 8,421 |
| Adjacent Full Maintenance 100% (Band 1) | 11,472 |
| Adjacent Part Maintenance 75% (Band 2) | 576 |
| Adjacent Part Maintenance 50% (Band 3) | 1,158 |
| Adjacent Part Maintenance 25% (Band 4) | 1,146 |
| Postgraduate Fees (Special Rate Criteria) | 47 |
| Postgraduate Fee Contribution | 2,290 |
| Student Contribution 100% (Fees Only) | 6,056 |
| Student Contribution 50% | 3,168 |
| Total | 68,277 |
