Improvements lead to earlier application dates for grants
Among these are the earlier opening date to apply to Student Universal Support Ireland (Susi), which has been accepting details online since April 5. Last year, students could not apply until late April.
By the middle of last week, over 47,500 applications were received, including 21,500 from first-time applicants. The remainder were from those who had a grant in the past college year.
Up to last week, nearly 21,000 students had been told they qualify for a grant or to have their €3,000 student fees paid or part-paid, depending on family incomes. While most of these were renewal students, who have already been receiving support through Susi this year, 3,200 are first-time applicants.
A further 1,110 applications have been refused by Susi since it opened for business eight weeks ago for the 2016/17 college year.
Last year, 108,000 applications were received, but almost 28,000 of the 83,000 who got a grant or a fee waiver were paid in September. This was the first time students have been paid their grants before October.
In addition to the continued streamlining of the system, more students may qualify this year for the top rate of grant — as high as €5,915 for those studying more than 45km from home — due to changes to qualifying criteria.
Although grant rates are unchanged since last year, a budget of €375m has been set aside, down €12m on what was spent last year. The spend in 2015 had jumped from €345m to over €387m last year, partly due to the fact that the student contribution paid on behalf of grant recipients increased to €3,000 — a figure that remains unchanged this year.
With an expected rise in applications to more than 110,00 this year, Susi communications and customer service manager Graham Doyle said availing of the early application date is more important than ever. Not only did applications open earlier, but students must also register before an earlier deadline this year in order to be prioritised for processing their grants later in the summer. They or their families must apply by July 8 or face what could be considerable delays later in the process. Last year, 17,000 applications were received after the priority application dates.
“Students who believe they may be entitled to grant support should submit their applications before the priority closing dates so that they can benefit from earlier decisions and grant support,” said Mr Doyle.
“We’re awarding people now, whereas in previous years our new applicants such as those doing the Leaving Cert couldn’t be awarded until they had received their exam results.”
While they may previously have been given provisional award, this development is expected to offer more peace of mind to families. They can be assured of being qualified for support well before getting results and any college offers in the middle and late August. But applying on time is not enough to guarantee quicker turnaround on applications.
“Students are also required to return requested documentation complete and on time to enable the processing of their applications,” said Mr Doyle.
“The key thing is to encourage people to apply before June 6 for those applying for grant renewals and July 8 for new applications. You don’t have to wait until you get your Leaving Cert results and CAO offers.”
The Leaving Cert results are expected to issue this year on Wednesday, August 17, and offers for most college applicants go out the following Monday, August 22.
“We take the named course they nominate at application, and if they end up being accepted on to another course, that will be notified to us if they have ticked the relevant box on their CAO application,” Mr Doyle said.
Although final confirmation of registration on a course will still be required from colleges before grant payments issue, this is one of many streamlined processes being run by Susi to reduce the paperwork involved in running the system.
