Vol. 474 No. 2
68 Cecilia Keaveney asked the Minister for Education the number of postgraduate students who currently have their fees paid; the number who qualify for maintenance; the number who do not qualify for either fees or maintenance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2657/97]
Postgraduate students can apply for grants in respect of their fees and maintenance under the higher education grants scheme and the vocational education committee (VEC) scholarship scheme. In addition students pursuing courses approved under the ESF-aided advanced technical skills programme do not pay tuition fees. All courses under the ATS programme are at postgraduate level.
The latest available figures are those in respect of the 1995-96 academic year which indicate that there were approximatelty 9,500 full-time postgraduate students in State funded third-level institutions.
Tuition fees were paid for 1,646 postgraduate students attending courses in 1995-96, under the ATS programme. These students can apply for maintenance grants under the higher education grants scheme and the vocational education committee scholarship scheme. A total of 2,768 postgraduate students qualified for grants under the higher education grants scheme in 1995-96 at a cost of £5.8 million. A breakdown of these students between those who received fee only grants or fee and maintenance grants is not available.
The number of postgraduate students awarded grants under the vocational education committee scholarship scheme is not available.
