IUA warmly welcomes the Student Support Act 2011, passed by the Oireachtas and signed into law by President MacAleese on 2nd February 2011. The existing arrangements for processing grants are hugely fragmented and needed radical overhaul, especially in light of ever growing demand for higher education.
The new student grant scheme, which should be in place for the academic year 2011/12, will be followed by the designation of a single grant awarding authority in 2012 to take over from the 66 local authorities and VECs through which the schemes are currently administered. This will enable all grant applications to be processed and paid centrally in the future.
Welcoming the enactment of the Bill, IUA CEO Ned Costello said “the single student grant scheme and awarding authority is a much needed development. It will reduce the red tape burden on both universities and students and enhance the student experience”.
For more information contact:
Lia O’Sullivan, Communications Manager, Irish Universities Association, Lia.osullivan@iua.ie
01 6764948 085 7141414