An estimated 20,000 students who have yet to apply for financial assistance for the upcoming academic year are being urged to submit their application before Thursday’s deadline.
Those seeking financial assistance or maintenance grants have until the close of business on July 12th to submit their application to the national student grant body.
Student Universal Support Ireland (Susi), the agency that provides financial assistance for students in approved full-time third-level education in Ireland, has received just 80,000 out of a projected 100,000 grant applications to-date.
While applications received after July 12th will be accepted, those submitted before the deadline will be prioritised for processing.
The national awarding body processed more than 103,000 applications last year and approximately 80,000 students received funding for the 2017-18 academic year.
The agency is now urging new and returning students who have not applied for funding for the 2018/19 academic year to do so immediately.
"Our aim is to have as many grant application decisions communicated to students before the beginning of the academic year as possible. To that end I would encourage students to go to our website where they can find all the necessary information about applying for a grant," Aoife Greene, communications and information services manager with Susi, said in a statement.
“Leaving certificate students do not need their results or their final course choice to apply. I would advise them to have gathered their PPSN and the PPSN of other parties to the application such as parents, spouses, etc.; the income information for 2017 as applicable to these persons within a household; and to have their first choice course details to hand when they sit down to apply. Once we receive an application we will write out to them directly if we need additional documentation.
“Presently fewer than half of all applicants are required to provide additional documents, the remainder are processed fully online,” she added.
“Four-fifths of all expected applications including both new and renewal applications have been received. However we have received just two-thirds of the new applications that we are expecting which means that about 20,000 students have yet to apply to us so we would really like to see a surge in applications by our 12th July priority deadline. This is in order that we can meet these students’ expectations to have a decision well before they go to college.”
Students who have applied but who have not received communication from Susi, should expect to hear back from them “within a matter of weeks,” the agency said.
Information on eligibility criteria for grant funding and details of how to make grant applications can be found on the Susi website. Students can also track the progress of their applications and confirm that their documentation has been received at susi.ie
SUSI Support Desk Contact Details:
Tel: 0761 08 7874
Email: support@susi.ie
Facebook: @susisupport
Twitter: @susihelpdesk
