AQW 4123/22-27

Mr Stewart Dickson
Alliance Party
East Antrim

Tabled Date: 05/10/2022
Answered On Date: 13/10/2022
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for the Economy to outline what steps he is taking to support university students during the cost of living crisis.

Answer:

I acknowledge the impact the cost of living is having on households across Northern Ireland.

In recognition of the cost of living crisis and the impact this is having on higher education students, for the current academic year, I have been able to allocate additional funding of £2.8m to the Higher Education Support Funds which are administered on my Department's behalf by the five local higher education institutions. The Support Funds provide financial help to students whose access to higher education might be inhibited by financial considerations, or who, for whatever reason, face financial difficulties in meeting their living costs.

This additional funding brings the total allocation for the year to £5.6m. My Department has provided greater flexibility for the local higher education institutions, when dealing with student applications, to ensure that any student who is experiencing genuine financial difficulty has access to support.

I have also approved an allocation of £1.17m to provide a further 10% increase, in addition to the already planned 2.9% uplift, to the non-repayable stipend to cover DfE funded Post Graduate Scheme student’s living costs in academic year 2022/23. This increase is designed to help mitigate against the impact of the increased cost of living for PhD students, particularly those from a lower socio-economic background. The increase means that 729 Full Time Equivalent DfE-funded PhD students commencing or continuing their studies in October 2022, will see their annual living cost stipend rise from £16,062 in academic year 2021/22, to £17,668 academic year 2022/23.