Student Contribution Loan Full-time Undergraduate, Northern Ireland Students

1. What is it?

It's a loan to help pay the fee costs charged by universities in the Republic of Ireland

This funding is only available to Northern Ireland students who are studying an eligible course in the Republic of Ireland.

Your university or college should be able to tell you if your course is eligible for this funding.

University and colleges in the Republic of Ireland don't charge undergraduate tuition fees however most will require students to pay an annual Student Contribution Fee. A Student Contribution Loan is funding to help with the cost of this Student Contribution Fee.

If your application is successful your Student Contribution Loan is paid to your university or college on your behalf.

You can apply for a Student Contribution Loan on its own or alongside any other available finance as part of your student finance application each year.

The quickest way to apply is to sign into your student finance account.

Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI)

Some Northern Ireland students studying in Republic of Ireland may be able to receive a non-repayable grant from Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI). You may want to speak to them before you apply for a loan from us.

You can apply to Student Finance NI for any additional available finance and if you cannot get a grant from SUSI to cover this cost, you can still apply for a loan from us. The deadline for applying to Student Finance NI is 9 months from the first day of your academic year.

You're not able to receive funding from both SUSI and Student Finance Northern Ireland for the same purpose, so if you are getting funding from SUSI for your contribution fee, you cannot also get funding towards the contribution fee from us. If this happens, you should contact us to let us know as soon as possible.

Does it need to be paid back?

Yes - Student Contribution Loans are repaid. Interest is charged on any amount borrowed from the date the first payment is made to your university or college.

As part of your student finance agreement, you must keep us up to date with any changes to your course or personal details as these can affect your funding, including how much you have to repay and when.

Find out more

The following pages will explain who can get this loan, how much you can get, how and when to apply and how it's paid.