Student grant applications deadline is July 8

THE national student grant awarding body, SUSI (Student Universal Support Ireland), is urging students who have yet to submit their applications for student grant funding for the 2016/17 academic year to do so now. The deadline for applications is Friday, July 8.

SUSI is currently in its fifth year of operations and opened its 2016/17 online application system, for new and renewal student grants, on April 5. This was almost three weeks earlier than in 2015/16, and to date SUSI has received 70,000 applications.

Graham Doyle, head of communications and customer service with SUSI, has the following message for students: “We are expecting to receive approximately 110,000 applications for the 2016/17 academic year. We have received 70,000 applications to date and we would urge students to apply before the deadline of July 8 to ensure that their applications receive priority.”

The national awarding authority has already awarded grants to 37,000 students for 2016/17, including almost 8,000 new students, the first time that such applications have been awarded so early.

Mr. Doyle added: “I would encourage students who are thinking of applying for a student grant to visit our website - www.susi.ie - where they can review information about the eligibility criteria for student grant funding. In particular, they should use our online ‘grant eligibility reckoner’ where they can quickly, and easily, self-assess whether they may/may not be entitled to a student grant.”

Students are also encouraged to use their own SUSI ‘online application trackers’, where they can track the progress of their applications and confirm that documentation has been received without having to contact SUSI directly.

GMIT’s incoming Students Union president, Amy Ni Cheallaigh, said: “We would be strongly advising students to submit their applications by this deadline to ensure that they are eligible for the SUSI grant for the coming year. There are large volumes of students applying, and we want to ensure that all students have their applications assessed before September.”