Undergraduate Fees and Maintenance Grant

Going to college is an expensive enough process in your home country, let alone when pursuing an education abroad. This is probably the one area of planning that requires the most preparation, so examine carefully your funding options and set yourself a realistic budgetary target.

Tuition Fees

Course fees also vary considerably across the various higher education providers in Ireland. The table below is only an approximation of the tuition fees for university undergraduate courses.

Subject	Annual Fee (EU student)	Annual Fee (Non-EU student)
Medicine	€6,500 - €8,000	€25,000 - €42,000
Engineering	€6,500	€14,500 - €20,000
Science & Technology	€6,500	€14,500 - €20,000
Business	€4,500 - €5,000	€11,000 - €15,000
Arts & Humanities	€4,500 - €5,000	€11,000 - €15,000

Annual tuition fees are generally less in the case of institutes of technology: €2,250 to €3,000 for EU students, and €7,000 to €11,000 for non-EU students. These figures are only a guideline; it is essential in every case that you contact the institution in question to ascertain the exact fee for the course that is of interest to you.

Free Fees

First time undergraduates in Ireland are entitled to free fees. International students however, must pass three tests – Nationality, Residency, Previous Studies – before they can avail of them.

The Nationality Test: The applicant must be a national of an EU member state.
The Residency Test: The applicant must have resided in an EU member state for at least three of the five years preceding entry to an undergraduate course.
The Previous Studies Test: Free fees are not available to students in the following circumstances: repeating a year, having failed their end of year examinations as a result of changing courses; undertaking a second undergraduate course; or any student who has already attended but did not complete a certificate, diploma or degree programme.

Funding

Maintenance grants are intended to help students with their costs of living during full time study. The local authorities in Ireland provide maintenance grants to students who are entering undergraduate education for the first time. Only EU nationals who have resided in the relevant local authority since the 1st of October of the year previous to starting the course may apply. Candidates for the maintenance grant must also undergo a means test, as your income must be below a certain level before the grant is awarded. Application deadlines are usually in the August of your first year of studies.
Visit www.studentfinance.ie  for further details.

NB – The free fees and maintenance grant schemes only apply to approved and publically funded institutions and not to private colleges.