Students this year have been finding it increasingly difficult to get any information on the third level grants for the upcoming academic year; or at least easily understood information. You can get all the infor on the Citizen’s Information portal here, as always.
Universities and the USI have been encouraging students to apply early and you can now apply online on the HEA’s www.studentfinance.ie website.
The new online system is quite good, but not all awarding bodies have yet to sign up to it, including Dublin City Council, one of the largest awarding bodies in the state.
If you are bored you can read the full Ministerial order which awarding bodies seem to be posting.
So here are the figures for the new academic year:
Maintenance Grant payments
Maintenance grant rates for 2011
| Type | Non-adjacent rate | Adjacent rate |
| Special rate | €6,100 | €2,445 |
| Full Maintenance | €3,120 | €1,250 |
| Part maintenance (75%) | €2,340 | €940 |
| Part maintenance (50%) | €1,560 | €625 |
| Part maintenance (25%) | €780 | €315 |
Income levels
| Number of dependent children | Full maintenance | Part maintenance (75%) | Part maintenance (50%) | Part maintenance (25%) |
| Fewer than 4 | €41,110 | €42,235 | €44,720 | €47,205 |
| 4 to 7 | €45,165 | €46,415 | €49,145 | €51,880 |
| 8 or more | €49,045 | €50,400 | €53,360 | €56,320 |
