The government expects record numbers of students to apply for the SUSI grant next year, with 10,000 applications received on the day the scheme opened, according to a report in the Irish Times.
The increase, which saw 30,000 apply overall by the end of last week, comes as families and students grapple with an uncertain financial future as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Minister of State for Higher Education Mary Mitchell O’Connor told the Irish Times that supports are being put in place to make sure supports will be available to anyone who needs them.
“The Susi grant scheme contains enough flexibility to address matters which may arise due to Covid-19”, she said.
The government has expanded the criteria for those eligible for the SUSI grant as a result of the pandemic.
Applicants who have experienced a fall in income can seek to have their application reviewed under the change of circumstances provision within the scheme, as long as they can show that any change in income is likely to continue for the duration of the approved course or for the foreseeable future.
Applicants are encouraged to use SUSI’s “eligibility reckoner” to determine the possibility of receiving a grant, and are encouraged to submit as early as possible.
Ireland’s universities, which have been closed since March, are battling to keep pace with the financial implications of the coronavirus. They’ve called for a €230 million investment from the government to offset the “massive blow” to their finances as a result of a drop-off in international student revenue.
Figures compiled by the Irish Universities Association (IUA) show colleges are set to lose out on €374 million in 2020 and 2021 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Yesterday, the director general of the IUA, Jim Miley, told RTÉ Radio 1 that colleges are bracing for an 80 per cent reduction in the number of first-year students coming from abroad next year.
He said universities hope the loss of international student revenue “will be temporary – that we will recover this critical business in two to three years”.
In the meantime, however, the fall represents a “massive blow”, he said.
