Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 January 2026
1083. Deputy Donna McGettigan asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the number of applicants for SUSI who were refused; the reasons for refusal; the number of applicants approved, in each of the years 2020 to 2025, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3883/26]
View answerThe main support available to assist students with the cost of attending higher education is the Student Grant Scheme. Under the Scheme, grant assistance is awarded to eligible students attending an approved course in an approved institution who meet the prescribed conditions of funding, including those relating to nationality, residency, previous academic attainment and means. A Part-Time Fee Scheme for Specified Undergraduate Courses provides fee support to eligible part-time students attending specified publicly funded undergraduate courses leading to a major award. This includes specified in person and blended/hybrid courses and its aim is to provide additional flexibility in respect of course provision to students who are socio-economically disadvantaged. The decision on eligibility for a student grant is a matter, in the first instance, for SUSI to determine.
The following table provides the number of awarded and paid applications for the academic years 2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26.
|
Application Year |
2020/21 |
2021/22 |
2022/23 |
2023/24 |
2024/25 |
2025/26* |
|
Awarded |
79,273 |
76,459 |
66,374 |
83,538 |
81,723 |
89,701 |
|
Paid |
74,789 |
70,575 |
60,944 |
78,532 |
77,023 |
52,931 |
Please see below the number of refused applications and the reason for the refusal for the academic years 2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26.
|
Reason |
2020/21 |
2021/22 |
2022/23 |
2023/24 |
2024/25 |
2025/26* |
|
Ineligible as applicant is in receipt of Back to Education Allowance |
344 |
292 |
226 |
207 |
211 |
299 |
|
Ineligible as applicant is not progressing in their education - course is at a lower level |
994 |
1,030 |
1,046 |
1,335 |
2,878 |
2,938 |
|
Ineligible as applicant not progressing - course is at the same level as a previous course |
1,139 |
1,011 |
812 |
1,071 |
1,153 |
1,358 |
|
Ineligible as course not approved for funding |
852 |
925 |
973 |
1,106 |
1,135 |
1,073 |
|
Ineligible as total household income over the maximum threshold for funding |
10,037 |
8,891 |
9,626 |
5,495 |
5,298 |
4,924 |
|
Ineligible as applicant did not submit sufficient documents to confirm eligibility |
3,474 |
3,203 |
3,062 |
4,734 |
5,064 |
5,373 |
|
Ineligible as applicant has exceeded the maximum period of study allowable at PLC, Undergraduate or Postgraduate level |
Less than 20** |
Less than 20** |
Less than 20** |
Less than 20** |
44 |
47 |
|
Ineligible as applicant does not have an eligible permission to remain in the State for funding |
140 |
179 |
256 |
286 |
211 |
239 |
|
Ineligible as applicant not progressing – repeating same year of course |
75 |
69 |
32 |
36 |
Less than 20** |
Less than 20** |
|
Ineligible as applicant does not meet the residency requirements |
39 |
50 |
88 |
172 |
149 |
229 |
|
Ineligible as applicant is in receipt of a scholarship or bursary from public funds |
Less than 20** |
Less than 20** |
Less than 20** |
Less than 20** |
54 |
49 |
|
Ineligible due to reasons other than those listed above |
1,478 |
2,201 |
2,583 |
2,761 |
550 |
261 |
|
Grand Total |
18,572 |
17,851 |
18,704 |
17,203 |
16,747 |
16,790 |
Data is as of 9 January 2026.
* Please note that these figures are likely to change as SUSI continues to process applications for academic year 2025/26.
Please note that fee only awards have not yet been paid as reconciliation of fees occurs in April/May each year. Once reconciliation is complete in Spring 2026, SUSI will pay awarded fees for the 2025/26 academic year directly to the institutions.
** The Deputy will notice on the above table that some values of 20 or less are not specified. To ensure compliance with data protection regulations and to safeguard the privacy of grant applicants, SUSI redacts any datasets where the number of values is 20 or less. This measure is taken out of an abundance of caution to prevent the potential identification of individuals, even in anonymised data.
