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Fees Information

Students who accept an offer of a place via CAO will be contacted by the College Fees Office with regard to payment of all fees due.

  1. Free Fees
  2. EU Fees
  3. Non-EU Fees
  4. TCD Finance

1. Free Fees

EU Students eligible for inclusion in the Irish government’s Free Fees Initiative will be liable for the Student Contribution (€2,500 in 2013), previously known as the Student Charge. In addition students are required to pay the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) membership levy (€8 in 2013) and the Student Sports Centre charge (€77 in 2013), but will not be liable for tuition fees if approved for the Free Fees scheme.

Students eligible for a local authority grant will be liable only for the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) membership levy (€8 in 2013) and the Student Sports Centre charge (€77 in 2013).

In order to qualify for free fees you must have been living in an EEA member state or Switzerland 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.

You must also fulfil one of the following 6 criteria as regards citizenship and rights of residence in Ireland:

You must:

  1. Be a citizen of an EEA member state (see above) or Switzerland or
  2. Have official refugee status or
  3. Be a family member of a refugee and have been granted permission to live in the State or
  4. Be a family member of an EU national and have permission to live in the State, with a stamp “4EUFAM” on your residence card or
  5. Have been granted humanitarian leave to remain in the State or
  6. Have been granted permission to remain in the State by the Minister for Justice and Equality, following a determination by the Minister not to make a deportation order under Section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999.

You must also fulfil all of the following 3 course requirements:

  1. You must be undertaking a full-time undergraduate course of at least 2 years' duration.
  2. You must be a first-time full-time undergraduate. (However, prior undergraduate qualifications may be taken into consideration where exemptions are provided to a student pursuing a higher undergraduate qualification, to a maximum of Level 8 on the National Framework of Qualifications.)
  3. In general, you must not be repeating the year because of failing your exams or changing course. This exclusion may be waived if you repeat a year due to certified serious illness.

2. EU Fees

2.1 Students who are not EU nationals but have been resident in the EU for three of the five years preceding admission may be eligible for EU fees.

(a) For students aged under 23

The student must have been ordinarily resident in an EU Member State and must have received full-time post primary education in the EU for three of the five years prior to entry,

AND

Parent(s) must have been ordinarily resident (that is – principal residence for the purpose of taxation) in an EU Member State for three of the five years prior to students entry.

(b) For students aged 23 and over

Student must have been ordinarily resident as a tax-payer (that is – principal residence for the purpose of taxation) or in full-time education in an EU Member State for three of the five years prior to entry.

2.2 EU fees may apply for students born in the EU who do not meet the normal residency requirements but who received all their primary and secondary education in the EU.

3. Non-EU Fees

If you do not satisfy the criteria set out above for Free Fees or EU Fees then you must pay non-EU Fees regardless of nationality or citizenship.

Supporting Documentation

Applicants may be requested to provide additional documentation to support their claim for Free Fees or EU Fees – e.g. An Irish / EU passport; letter from the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform granting Refugee Status in Ireland, P21 tax certificates, Social Welfare documentation etc.,

List of fees

EU and Non-EU fees and general fee information can be found in the Student Fees section of the Treasurers Office.

Payment of fees

Students who accept an offer of a place will be contacted by the College Fees Office with regard to payment of fees due.

Students will not be permitted to register without bank-receipted evidence of payment of all relevant amounts.

4. TCD Finance

TCD Finance, supported by Bank of Ireland, has been specially designed with Trinity College Dublin to help you spread the cost of Student Contribution Charges with manageable monthly payments. See the TCD Finance webpage for full details.


Last updated 4 September 2013 by admissions@tcd.ie (Email).