Student grants hiked 11% for poor families

COLLEGE students from the poorest backgrounds will be eligible for support grants more than 11% higher than last year this autumn, under a package announced by Education Minister Mary Hanafin yesterday.

But she was accused by student leaders of overstating the merits of the increased grants, which will barely match inflation increases for most of the 57,000-plus qualifying students.

The ‘top-up’ grant will rise to €5,970 or €2,390, depending on whether the student is at a college near home. Last year, more than 12,500 third-level students qualified for this level of support, with the income threshold now raised more than 7% and available to anyone with a household income below €16,748.