Written answer
Education Costs
PME students may access SUSI maintenance and fee grants, with increased postgraduate support and the Student Assistance Fund available for financial hardship.
4180. Deputy Shane Moynihan asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the financial supports available for graduates undertaking Professional Master of Education (PME) programmes in teacher shortage subjects, particularly Irish; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55412/26]
Comment on this
The Student Grant Scheme, which is administered by Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI), provides fee and maintenance grants to all students who meet the qualifying criteria such as means, residency, nationality and progression. The decision on eligibility for a student grant is a matter, in the first instance, for SUSI to determine.
Students undertaking a Professional Master of Education (PMEs) may apply for SUSI and may be eligible for the following supports:
• A student Maintenance grant which was restored for postgraduate students in September 2024 for the first time since the financial crash. The annual rates and the income thresholds for maintenance grants are the same for undergraduate and postgraduate students.
• A postgraduate fee contribution of €4,500 or a postgraduate fee grant, up to a maximum of €6,270 towards the cost of fees is available.
- To be eligible for the postgraduate fee contribution grant of up to €4,500 plus a maintenance grant, the total household income must be within the www.susi.ie/eligibility-criteria/income/postgraduate-income-thresholds-and-grant-award-rates/#d.en.14684
- To be eligible for the postgraduate fee grant up to a maximum of €6,270, the student must be eligible for a maintenance grant at the special rate.
This is dependent on the level of a student's reckonable income and meeting all other eligibility criteria.
In Budget 2026 I was very pleased to increase the Post Graduate Fee Contribution Grant by €500 from €4,000 to €4,500. In addition to this, I have increased to all non-adjacent maintenance grant rates effective from September 2026 - with a pro-rata benefit for students this academic year. This benefits Postgraduate Students, Undergraduate and PLC students whose normal residence is 30km or more from their institution.
In addition to these measures, I provided €19.3 million for the Student Assistance Fund which is more than a quarter of a million euro up on the previous year. It is available to all students who have an emergency financial need and supports approximately 22,000 students each year.