The following table details the number of students both new and renewal who received student grants from the academic year 2008/09 to 2011/12. A student grant comprises of two elements maintenance and fees with a number of students only qualifying for one of those elements. This data is compiled from information supplied to my Department by the 66 grant awarding authorities and is not available for these years on an institutional basis.
The Deputy will appreciate that final data in relation to the 2012/13 academic year is not yet available.
The higher education institutions are autonomous bodies and the criteria governing the level of tuition fees to be charged (EU or Non EU rate) in cases where undergraduate students do not qualify under my Department's free fees schemes, is a matter for the institutions to determine and my Department has no role. Accordingly, the information requested by the deputy in relation to the number of students who paid fees in full in the academic years referred to by the Deputy is not readily available.
Number of students who were awarded a student grant.
Academic Year
|
Number of students
|
2008/09
|
57,261
|
2009/10
|
69,486
|
2010/11
|
71,532
|
2011/12
|
76644*
|
* This is a provisional figure and has been compiled from data supplied to my Department by the 66 Grant Awarding Authorities.