New applications for student grants are down more than 2,000 so far this year, figures from the awarding body reveal.

Applications for the Student Grant Scheme open today.

Rising employment and income levels have seen grant applications drop, despite funding being available again for postgraduate students this year.

Setting off to college this coming September? Gráinne McGuinness has some sund financial advice for you.

Students eligible for SUSI grants are being denied their funding due to their intention to pursue education at a private college, Griffith College student union officer Michael McNamara has said.

More than 1,200 students mistakenly paid €3,000 each in grants were able to keep the money after authorities admitted there was no hope of getting it back.

Students could have earlier decisions on applications for college grants this year as a result of improvements to the €375m scheme.

Some of the changes to the Susi grants system this year include greater use of technology to calculate how far they travel to college and the resultant level of payment they are due.

Almost 60,000 students have been paid their grants or had their €3,000 college fees paid as Student Universal Support Ireland (Susi) continues to improve its processes.

Applicants in rural Ireland have more success in getting a college grant compared to their Dublin counterparts.

Students should get grants quicker than previous years this autumn, and should also have an extra payment before Christmas.

The student grants body is warning of an email scam.

The student grants system that caused “chaos” when set up four years ago has lost so much money it would risk being closed down if it was a private company, the chair of a Dáil group has claimed.

The body charged with awarding grants to students has announced its online application system for the academic year 2015 to 2016 is now open.

Bad planning, outsourcing core services with no contract, and inadequate staffing contributed to student grants agency SUSI’s disastrous first year of operations that cost €5.9m — more than three times its budget.