The higher education grant schemes operate under the Local Authorities (Higher Education Grants) Acts 1968 to 1992. These Acts define a mature student to mean a person "of not less than 23 years of age, or such other age as may stand specified for the time being in regulations made by the Minister with the consent of the Minister for Finance, who have secured places in approved institutions and have reached that age on the 1st day of January, or such other date as may be prescribed from time to time by the Minister with the consent of the Minister for Finance, in the year of entry to such institutions". The Acts further provide, inter alia, for the making of grants to mature students whose means and those of their parents, where the mature students are dependent on their parents, and the means of their spouses, if any, do not exceed prescribed limits. Under the terms of the higher education grants schemes, mature students are categorised as either independent mature students or mature students dependent on parents.
An independent mature student is defined to mean a mature student who was not ordinarily resident at home with his or her parents from the October preceding their entry to an approved course. Independent mature students are assessed without reference to either their parents' income or address. When assessing the means of students, other than independent mature students, the Acts specify that the students' means and those of their parents or guardians must be below a prescribed limit. This provision requires that parental income be taken into account irrespective of the individual circumstances in any case where the student is not an independent mature student. There is, however, provision under the terms of the scheme for candidates who are re-entering as mature students, following a break in study of at least one year. Section 3.2 of the higher education grant scheme makes provision for mature candidates, who are re-entering in order to complete an approved course at undergraduate level for the first time, or re-entering in order to pursue or complete an approved course at postgraduate level for the first time, or with reference to Clause 7.7, mature candidates who already hold a postgraduate qualification and are re-entering to progress to a further postgraduate course at a higher level and which represents progression from the level at which any previous postgraduate qualification was attained.
Such candidates may be assessed under the terms of the scheme appropriate to the year in which they re-enter. Under this provision, candidates who were not independent mature students at the time of entry to an approved course may be re-classified as independent mature students for the purpose of completing a course or commencing a subsequent course such as a postgraduate course. Similar provisions apply under the terms of the other third level student maintenance grant schemes.
