Students in need of help with rent and transport from hardship funds

Students are being helped more with transport costs from college hardship funds in a trend being linked to greater difficulties finding affordable accommodation.

The €1.3m spent by the Government’s Student Assistance Fund (SAF) in 2014/15 on transport accounted for nearly a fifth of the total €6.6m provided to 14,909 third-level students.

Rent remains the biggest category for which students were helped under the SAF, managed by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) and administered locally by each college from their set budgets. However, a recent review of the fund’s operation shows the annual outlay to help with rent costs fell from half of the total spend in the 2009/10 college year to 39% two years ago.