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Maintenance Grant The maintenance grant is the main source of financial help available from the Irish State for students in full-time Post Leaving Certificate Courses (PLCs) and full-time higher education undergraduate/postgraduate courses. Support is available to eligible students in most colleges in Ireland as well as eligible Irish students in many colleges in Northern Ireland, the UK and other EU States. For eligible students, the maintenance grant is there to help with the various costs of participating in further or higher education. Students on part-time courses, access or foundation courses (in higher education institutions) and short courses are not eligible to apply for a maintenance grant. Family and/or personal income is a key factor that will be assessed when you apply for a maintenance grant but there are also some other conditions. Studentfinance.ie can help you to assess whether you are eligible and guide you in starting the process. In all cases, the official decision on eligibility is of course made by the grant-awarding bodies. To work out whether you may be eligible for a maintenance grant you need to be aware of the main conditions of the schemes. The 10-step guide, which you can access from the left-hand side of this page, will assist you in this process. Each step has a button that will guide you through the eligibility requirements of the schemes in a way which is relevant to your own particular circumstances. We suggest that you start with Step 1 and allow the website to guide you through each in turn. If you think you are eligible for the maintenance grant, you should apply for it as soon as possible after the application process opens, usually in June of each year. You do not have to wait until you receive an offer of a place or enroll in college. The initial closing date for receipt of completed applications by the grant-awarding agencies for the 2009-10 academic year is 31 August 2009, however grant-awarding agencies may at their own discretion accept applications for a period after this date. Only when your application has been completed in full and submitted to the grant-awarding authority can your eligibility be determined.
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