HEA or Free Fees Initiative (FFI)

EU students eligible for inclusion in the Irish Free Fees Initiative will be liable for the Student Contribution and the SLC (Student Levies & Charges).

In order to meet the nationality criteria of the Free Fees Initiative students must meet one of the following:

Students must be a national of:

• an EU Member State,
• a state which is a contracting state to the EEA Agreement,
• the United Kingdom
• the Swiss Confederation

Students must also be resident in the EU/EEA/UK/Switzerland for three out of the past five years prior to starting your course.

You should not have attended college/university before. If you have attended then you are excluded from the Free Fees Initiative scheme for the equivalent period you attended college within the EU/EEA/UK/Switzerland.

However:

• if it has been more than 5 full academic years since you last attended college and if you were never awarded a degree qualification you will be considered a "second chance" student and you will qualify for the Free Fees Initiative 

And also:

1. Persons who have official refugee status in this State.
2. Family members of a refugee  who are granted permission by the Minister for Justice and Law Reform to enter and reside in the State under Section 18 of the Refugee Act 1996
3. Persons who have permission to remain in the State as a family member of a Union citizen under the provisions of the European Communities (Free Movement of Persons) Regulations 2006 and 2008 and Directive 2004/38/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council
4. Persons who have been granted Humanitarian Leave to Remain  in the State (prior to the Immigration Act 1999)
5. Be a person in respect of whom the Minister for Justice and Law Reform has granted permission to remain following a determination 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:

• You must be undertaking a full-time undergraduate course of at least 2 years' duration.
• 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.)
• 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.

Students who acquire EEA citizenship up to 31st January in an academic year may be entitled to free tuition fees from the second half of the academic year.
Students who acquire EEA citizenship from 1st February may be entitled to free tuition fees from the commencement of the next academic year.
In order to be eligible under this ‘Change of Nationality’ clause students must have met all other criterion of the Free Fees Schemes, apart from nationality, at date of entry to their course of study.

SUSI (Student Universal Support Ireland)

SUSI - Applications

• Apply to SUSI as early as possible through the SUSI website.

• Applications open from the end of April for the coming academic year.

• Irish, UK and EU full-time students can apply (new and continuing).

• Renewal applications must be made each year by previous grant holders.

SUSI - Appeal a Decision

You have received communication from Trinity Student Finance Office and/or SUSI, confirming SUSI have declined your funding towards fees for the current academic year.

• Students have the right to request a review and/or appeal a grant decision through the SUSU website.

SUSI - Add Funding to Account

• To raise SUSI grant funding on your account, prior to registration, you need to log in to your portal and click on 'My Financials'. From there, click on ‘Enter my SUSI Funding’ and within this screen there will be facility to enter your SUSI reference (W) number and select the award value as stated on your award letter for the current academic year.

• UG student award values for AY2023/24 - €3,000; €1,500 and €500 euro.

• PG students award values for AY2023/24 - €4,000 and €6270 euro.

• In the instance that you have been awarded an amount different to the above, you need to submit a soft copy of your award letter to ARfinanceforms@tcd.ie with subject line ‘FAO SUSI Officer’. No hard copy award letters will be accepted.

• If your SUSI reference number is not submitted, you must pay required amount to register.

• If subsequently awarded, submit award letter with refund request form to ARfinanceforms@tcd.ie with subject line ‘FAO SUSI Officer’

SUSI - Important Notes

• If you are granted a medical or exceptional circumstances repeat by the university, you must advise SUSI of this in your application to them. You may be eligible for SUSI funding.

• If you have accepted a place in another university and subsequently attend Trinity, you must advise SUSI of this change so your grant can be awarded to the correct institution.

• If you are going into year 5 of an integrated course SUSI will consider this as a postgraduate course and you must apply to SUSI as a postgraduate student.

• If you are not eligible for HEA (FFI) tuition cover but have been granted a SUSI award you may be eligible for cover of both your tuition and student contribution or a portion of both.

SUSI - Third-Party Authorisation

• If your query is being resolved by Student Finance and we need to contact SUSI, you will be required to complete a Third-Party Authorisation within your SUSI Portal.

• Please follow the process outlined https://www.susi.ie/online-consent-process/

• You should indicate ‘TCD Student Finance Office’ as the authorised party.

• Please confirm to ARfinanceforms@tcd.ie with subject line ‘FAO SUSI Officer’ that a Third-Party Authorisation has been submitted and we can proceed in liaising with SUSI on your behalf.

Additional supports

Students on the SUSI special rate grant may be eligible to apply for additional supports, such as the 1916 Bursary and the Trinity Laptop Loans Scheme. For further information, please contact Trinity Access.

For more info about SUSI, please watch the video below.

Scottish Aid, Student Finance Northern Ireland & Student Loan Company

Student Finance Northern Ireland

• Apply to Student Finance NI as early as possible via https://www.studentfinanceni.co.uk
• Applications open from January/February for the coming academic year.
• UK/EU full-time students can apply (new and continuing).
• Renewal applications must be made each year by previous grant holders.
• Prior to registering enter your Student Finance NI customer reference number (11 digits) on the portal under the My Finance tab. This will raise your SFNI sponsorship on your account within 24 hours. In the event your award differs from the standard €3,000 EUR – 100% Student Contribution fee (£2,587.80 GBP as per SFNI loan award letter). Trinity will require a soft copy of your award letter to ARfinanceforms@tcd.ie with subject line ‘FAO SFNI Officer’.
• If your SFNI reference number is not submitted, you must pay required amount to register.
• If subsequently awarded, submit award letter with refund request form to ARfinanceforms@tcd.ie  with subject line ‘FAO SFNI Officer’.

Important points to note if you are awarded SFNI:

• No hard copy award letters will be accepted from 2019/20.
• Student Finance NI do not offer loans to Postgraduate courses in the Republic of Ireland, with exception of the final 5th year of an Integrated Masters programme

For more info about SFNI, please watch the video below.

Student Loan Company

• Information on Student Loan Company can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/student-loans-company
• Student Loans Company do not offer loans to Postgraduate courses in the Republic of Ireland

Prior to registering submit soft copy of award letter to ARfinanceforms@tcd.ie with subject line ‘FAO SLC Officer’. No hard copy award letters will be accepted from academic year 2019/20. If award letter not submitted, you must pay required amount to register.
If subsequently awarded, submit award letter with refund request form to ARfinanceforms@tcd.ie with subject line ‘FAO SLC Officer’

Scottish Aid

• Information on Scottish Aid can be found at https://www.saas.gov.uk
• Scottish Aid do not offer loans to Postgraduate courses in the Republic of Ireland

Prior to registering submit soft copy of award letter to ARfinanceforms@tcd.ie with subject line ‘FAO SAAS Officer’. No hard copy award letters will be accepted from academic year 2019/20. If award letter not submitted, you must pay required amount to register.
If subsequently awarded, submit award letter with refund request form to ARfinanceforms@tcd.ie with subject line ‘FAO SAAS Officer’.

US Federal Financial Aid and US Private Student Loans

Details for applying for federal aid can be found here.

Queries should be sent through the ASK AR button in your my.tcd.ie portal or ARfinanceforms@tcd.ie with subject line “FAO Fees: Federal Aid”.

The Academic Registry do not fill in 1098t Tax Return Forms however we can supply you with a letter detailing your attendance and fee payments for the required years.

Requests should be sent through the ASK AR button in your my.tcd.ie portal or ARfinanceforms@tcd.ie with subject line “FAO Fees: 1098t Forms”..

The Academic Registry can fill out these forms.

Requests should be sent through the ASK AR button in your my.tcd.ie portal or ARfinanceforms@tcd.ie with subject line “FAO Fees: Canadian Loans”.

How can my employer become a TCD Approved Sponsor?

• To become a TCD Approved Sponsor, your employer is required to sponsor a minimum of 10 students in an academic year.
• To apply, please request your employer to complete a TCD Approved Sponsor Application form and submit this to ARfinanceforms@tcd.ie with email subject line “Application to become a TCD Approved Sponsor”.
• Your employer’s application will be assessed by our Financial Services division and a decision confirmed within a number of days.
• If your employer is approved to become a TCD Approved Sponsor, please refer to the section “How can my TCD Approved Sponsor pay my fees”.
• If your employer is not approved to become a TCD Approved Sponsor, please refer to the section “ How can my employer pay my fees if they are not a TCD Approved Sponsor”

How can my TCD Approved sponsor pay my Fees?

• TCD Approved sponsors are required to complete a sponsorship form in advance of registration and submit it (password protected) to ARfinanceforms@tcd.ie with email subject line “Sponsorship and their TCD Sponsor Code”.
• The TCD sponsorship forms are linked here
• TCD Sponsorship form – update by %
• TCD Sponsorship form – update by value
• A new form must be submitted annually.
• The form is to be typed instead of handwritten, to avoid any misinterpretation of data.
• This will be raised as a sponsorship on your account and will be reflected on your online bill.
• If your sponsorship form has been submitted to Trinity, and your bill does not display it, please contact ARfinanceforms@tcd.ie as your bill may need to be re-generated.
• All sponsored students are required to pay their application and deposit charges themselves. A refund (if applicable) will be processed once your sponsor has paid.
• If your sponsor does not pay your course fees by the required date detailed on the invoice TCD will send them, the debt will be transferred to your account and you, the student, will then be required to pay these fees within 30 days.

How can my employer pay my fees if they are not a TCD Approved Sponsor?

If your employer is not a TCD Approved Sponsor, but is paying your fees, the following options are available to you.

1. Your employer can pay on your behalf via EFT into the Trinity No 7 Bank Account, prior to your registration.

Bank Name:	Bank of Ireland
Branch Address:	College Green, Dublin 2, Ireland
Account Name:	TCD No 7 Account
Account Number:	92771039
Sort Code	900017
IBAN	IE03BOFI90001792771039
Swift Code:	BOFIIE2D

Your employer should also use your 8 digit student code as reference and note it can take up to 10 working days for EFT payments to be reflected on your account.

2. You can add your Employer details to your own student bill, to help facilitate your employer paying your fees to Trinity.

You can add your Employer details to your own student bill, to help facilitate your employer paying your fees to Trinity.

This can be completed in 2 places:

• Student Portal/ My Finance/ “View and Pay your Bill” - Click “Add Employer details” button displayed at the end of your bill.

• Student Portal/ My Finance/ “View my Financial Statement” - On your statement, select “View invoice” - Click “Add Employer details” button displayed at the top of your bill.

Within the “Add Employer details” screen, the “Company Name” and “Address Line 1” fields are mandatory to update.

“Address line 2 and 3, Eircode and Purchase Order number” are optional fields to update.

Once updated, these Employer details will be displayed on your student bill.

You then have the option to either:

• Download the bill in PDF and send this to your employer yourself.
• Print the bill in PDF or
• Send the bill by email directly to your employer.

If you select the option to send your bill directly to your employer, you are required to add your employer’s email address and click “send email”.
Your employer will receive a copy of your bill and a standard email from Trinity, explaining how they can make payment to Trinity on your behalf.

Employer details can be subsequently

• Deleted
• Amended

Notes

• It is important to note, that although you have added your employer’s details to your bill, to enable your employer to generate payment to Trinity College Dublin, you as a student will remain liable for all fees until these are paid in full.
• Bill value will be shown net of any deposits/payments made.
• Students can only add their employer details to the current academic year’s bill. If a prior year’s bill requires your employer details, please contact arfinanceforms@tcd.ie and Student Finance will complete this for you.

How Can My Department/Research Principal Investigator Pay My Fees?

With effect from 1st January 2024, Student Finance will no longer be processing Department/Research Funding Forms. Schools/Departments will be required to input funding directly for students via the TCD Portal.

Student Finance will only be processing funding forms in relation to the PG Renewals Fee Differential which should be emailed to ARfinanceforms@tcd.ie by School/Department staff.

A copy of the required form for the PG Renewals Fee Differential can be found here.

Trinity Financial Assistance

Information about the financial assistance programmes available at Trinity can be found here.

TCD Foundation and Non-Foundation Scholars

Registration form:
Are you a TCD Scholar intending to use your scholarship for tuition fees and/or student contribution? Complete this Scholars Registration form. Submit to ARfinanceforms@tcd.ie with subject line ‘FAO Scholars” in soft copy 4 weeks prior to registration. The details provided on this form will be used to raise the appropriate sponsorship on your account enabling you to register.

Emoluments:
At the end October emolument forms will be emailed to scholars and must be returned by the date detailed on the form in order to avail of your privileges. Your schols payments are scheduled over the year as below:

• Cash in Lieu of accommodation €738.33 three times a year on last day of December, March and June.
• Cash in Lieu of commons €62.50 four times a year on last day of December, March, June and September.
• Salary of €250 once a year on the last day of December.
• Waiters’ payment of €100 once a year on the last day of December.

If the student is claiming cash in lieu of commons they must give a valid reason to the Dean at the start of the academic year.

Full details on Scholars entitlements can be found here:
https://www.tcd.ie/calendar/undergraduate-studies/foundation-and-non-foundation-scholarships.pdf

Other Undergraduate Scholarships