Third-level student fees and charges

Most undergraduate students attending publicly funded third-level courses do not have to pay tuition fees. Under the terms of the Free Fees Initiative, the Department of Further and Higher Education pays the fees to the colleges instead.

A separate annual charge is payable to colleges for the costs of student services and examinations (see ‘Student contribution’ below).

Charges for Post-Leaving Certificate courses (PLCs) operate under different rules. You can read about Post-Leaving Certificate courses.

Free fees

To qualify for free fees, you must meet criteria based on:

• Residence
• Nationality and immigration status
• Course requirements

Residence

You must have been living in an EEA member state or Switzerland or United Kingdom (UK) for at least 3 of the 5 years before starting your course.

The members of the EEA (the European Economic Area) are the member states of the EU, along with Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein.

Nationality and immigration

You must also meet one of the following criteria as regards nationality and immigration status in Ireland.

You must be one of the following, or have been granted one of the following:

• A citizen of an EEA member state (see above), Switzerland or the UK
• Have official refugee status
• A family member of a refugee and have been granted permission to live in the State
• A family member of an EU national and have permission to live in the State, with a stamp “4EUFAM” on your residence card
• Have been granted humanitarian leave to remain in the State
• Have been granted permission to remain in the State by the Minister for Justice, following a determination by the Minister not to make a deportation order under Section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999
• Have been granted subsidiary protection with permission to reside in the State by the Minister for Justice
• Have been granted certain permissions under the International Protection Act 2015

Course requirements

You must also meet all of the following course requirements.

You must be starting a full-time undergraduate course that lasts at least 2 years (or certain shorter courses in institutes of technology).

You must be starting an undergraduate course for the first time. However, you may also qualify for free fees if you:

• Already hold a Level 6 or a Level 7 qualification and are progressing to a Level 8 qualification on the National Framework of Qualifications, or
• Previously attended a course but did not complete it, and are returning to study an approved course at the same level after a break of at least 5 years

You must not be repeating a year because of failing your exams or changing course (this may be waived in exceptional circumstances, such as a certified serious illness).

Eligible institutions and courses

Free fees arrangements apply to undergraduate courses in:

• Universities
• Institutes of technology
• Publicly funded colleges of education
• National College of Ireland
• A number of religious education institutions

You cannot get free fees for courses in private colleges, whether they have Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) approval or not. A course being listed by the Central Applications Office (CAO) does not mean it is a free fees course.

You can get detailed information about assistance with tuition fees on the Higher Education Authority (HEA) website.

EU fees

If you do not qualify for free fees, you may still be eligible for EU fee rates. EU fee rates are set by each individual third-level educational institution. You should contact the one you are interested in to find out about the EU fee rate and whether you qualify.

Some examples of when people might qualify for an EU fee rate include:

• You originally qualified for free fees and are now repeating a year that you failed.
• You do not fulfil any of the nationality and immigration status criteria listed above but have been tax resident for a number of years in an EEA member state or Switzerland (however, as the third-level institutions are autonomous bodies, this is at the discretion of the institution concerned)

An Irish, EU, EEA or Swiss student who has spent at least 5 years in primary school or second-level school in Ireland can avail of EU fee rates.

If you do not qualify for EU fees, you can be charged non-EU fees. Each third-level educational institution sets its own fee rates. You should contact the ones you are interested in to find out more about their fees (see 'Where to apply' below).

Most colleges charge an annual student contribution, formerly called the student services charge. It is also known as a registration fee and it covers student services and examinations. The amount of the contribution varies from one institution to another.

The maximum rate of the student contribution for the academic year 2023-2024 was €3,000.

If you are getting Back to Education Allowance (BTEA), you may qualify for exemption from the student contribution. You can read more about social welfare payments and the student contribution.

Student grants

Student grants provide financial support to eligible students. Student grants are divided into:

• Maintenance grants
• Fee grants

A maintenance grant is a contribution towards your living costs.

A fee grant can cover:

• All or part of your tuition fees (if you do not qualify for the Free Fees Scheme)
• All or part of the student contribution
• Costs of essential field trips

If you have qualified for a maintenance grant, you will generally qualify for a fee grant.

If you do not qualify for a maintenance grant, but your family’s reckonable income is below certain limits, you may qualify for a partial fee grant. This means that you will either be exempt from 50% of the student contribution, or exempt from 50% of any tuition fees and all of the student contribution.

Read more about the Student Grant Scheme for full-time students.

Part-time fee scheme for undergraduate courses

From August 2024, a part-time fee scheme for students studying specified undergraduate courses is available. The scheme only offers support with fees and is not a maintenance grant.

Read more about the part-time fee scheme for undergraduate courses.

Postgraduate fees

You may get financial assistance under the Student Grant Scheme with the cost of tuition fees for approved postgraduate courses in Ireland and Northern Ireland. You cannot get support under the Scheme for courses elsewhere in the EU.

Tax relief

You may be able to claim tax relief on tuition fees that you have paid. Families who pay student contributions for more than one student in a year can also claim tax relief on the second and subsequent contributions.

Read more about tax relief for third-level fees.

There is no separate application for the Free Fees Initiative. Your eligibility will be assessed based on the information you give when applying for a college place (see ‘Free fees’ above).

For information about fees, contact your chosen third-level educational institution.