Funding and Finance

SUSI are responsible for further and higher education grants in Ireland. They offer financial support to students who meet their requirements and can cover your college fees as well as offer you a monthly payment if you are eligible. 

The SUSI grant application usually opens in early April, and you should make a start on your form as soon as you can. 

Beforehand, you can check if you are eligible on their website here. 

When you finish your application, SUSI will generate a list of supporting documents that you will need to send to them. These are usually related to the family finances, and can be found on the revenue website, accessed using My GovID. If you are under the age of 23, your parents or guardians' incomes will be taken into consideration, but they can usually find all of the information that SUSI need by logging into the revenue website using their GovID accounts. 

If you need help with your SUSI application, please make a guidance appointment!

There are lots of scholarships and bursaries that you can apply for alongside the SUSI grant to support you while you are in third level education. Some of these are national, and you can apply for them regardless of what college you go to, and some are tied to specific universities and programmes. 

Some of the scholarhips and bursaries are also based on an individual's circumstances, such as mature students returning to education, people with a disability, or people who are parenting alone, for example. 

Some of the main scholarships and bursaries are listed below, but there are a lot more than this. 

For scholarships, check the scholarship search engine on CareersPortal here, and for bursaries this HEA page is a good place to start.  

The 1916 Bursary aims to encourage participation and success by students who are most socio-economically disadvantaged and from groups most under-represented in higher education.

It is for people who are studying an undergraduate degree for the first time, full or part time, with a household reckonable income of less than €27,400.

2025/26 Bursary Registrations and Applications are open from 04/09/25 until 10/10/25, 5pm.

Check if you are eligible here and read more about the bursary here. 

The St Vincent De Paul Bursary supports students of all ages who may financially struggle to access or stay in third level education and training programmes. 

Learn more about the bursary here. 

The UVERSITY Higher Education Scholarship is aimed a adult learners who are doing a degree for the first time. The scholarship aims to remove the financial barriers to pursuing a third level education, and award two levels of support to successful applicants as follows: 

€5,000          no dependent children

€7,000          dependent children 

Scholarships are awarded based on online written application, successful interview and on demonstrated financial need. The scholarship is payable per annum for the duration of the Scholar's chosen degree, up to a maximum of 4 years. 

Learn more about the UVERSITY scholarships here. 

The Fund for Students with Disabilities (FSD) is to assist higher education institutions in ensuring students with disabilities have the necessary assistance and equipment to enable them access, fully participate in and successfully complete their chosen course of study.

You access these supports via the disability office in your new college, but to find out more and to see if you are eligible you can read about the fund here. 

There are also a number of scholarships specifically for students with a disability, which you can read about here (just scroll down the page!). 

The Sanctuary Scholarship is for people with refugee or international protection status who wish to pursue third level education in Ireland.  

There is a list of participating universities along with additional information about the scholarship here. 

There is a really useful, comprehensive and up-to-date guide for international protection applicants that was recently published by TU Dublin. 

If you are in Ireland under international protection, it is a great place to start if you are trying to get a better understanding of the Irish education system and how you can avail of financial support. Understanding what you are eligible or not eligible for can often be quite a complex process, but this guide gathers all of the information into one place.

You can read the guide here , and if you would like help understanding the guide or with making an application, please make a guidance appointment.