Gerald Nash
Question:1258. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the estimated cost to reinstate postgraduate grants. [39750/21]
View answerTuesday, 27 July 2021
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The main support available to students is the statutory based Student Grant Scheme where students are studying for the first time or are progressing to study at a higher level. The decision on eligibility for a student grant is a matter, in the first instance, for the centralised student grant awarding authority SUSI (Student Universal Support Ireland) to determine.
Currently Postgraduate students who meet the qualifying conditions for the special rate of grant under the Student Grant Scheme are eligible for the Postgraduate Special Rate of Maintenance grant. The income threshold for this grant is €24,500, also postgraduate students are eligible to have their post graduate tuition fees paid up to the maximum fee limit of €6,270.
Budget 2021 provided for enhanced postgraduate supports for the academic year 2021/22 including the fee grant amount rising from €2,000 to €3,500 and the income threshold for eligibility for these grants to increase from €31,500, now €54,240. This is an initial step in meeting part of the Government’s commitments regarding SUSI grant support.
The estimated cost to reinstate postgraduate grants to their pre budget 2012 levels would be in the region of €39.72m. These costings are based on the assumption that the number of post graduate grant holders (2,518) in 2020/2021 will increase to the level prior to the 2012 Budget measure (6,027 students), and that these additional students will all receive the non-adjacent maintenance grant of 100% plus 100% fees.
The Programme for Government contains commitments to, among other things, review SUSI eligibility criteria, adjacency rates and postgraduate grant supports. On foot of these commitments Ministerial approval was given to commence a review of the Student Grant Scheme. A public consultation and student survey have been carried out as part of the review and the consultants are carrying out their analysis of the data captured in the surveys. The findings will inform policy priorities for the next Estimates process and future considerations regarding the development of student grant policy.