AHEAD: Association for Higher Education Access & Disability
Creating inclusive environments in education & employment for people with disabilities.

Menu

Funding & Supports

Erasmus Funding

  • Students may be awarded an ERASMUS grant to help cover the travel and subsistence costs (including insurance and visa costs) incurred in connection with their study period abroad.
  • ERASMUS students - whether or not they receive an ERASMUS grant - are exempted from paying fees for tuition, registration, examinations and access to laboratory and library facilities at the host institution.
  • An Erasmus grant will help cover of your costs so give yourself plenty of time when researching programs and the costs involved with living abroad.

Funding for Disability Supports in Erasmus Programs

Students with disabilities may apply for a specific grant after they have been selected for a mobility period.

What grant is available?

Your ERASMUS grant is higher than the normal study or placement grant to offset the specific difficulties with which you are faced (such as physical access and the organization and content of teaching).

How to apply

  • Ask the ERASMUS coordinator of your home higher education institution about the application procedure (application deadline, where you can obtain the application form, where to submit your application form etc.)
  • You have to fill in a form describing your disability/special need and additional requirements it entails, as well as a detailed cost estimate of the financial support you will need.
  • Your application shall include a statement delivered by an authorised instance or institution attesting the disability and its degree of severity, its impact on the mobility and an estimation of the additional costs for your participation in the mobility programme.
  • Hand in your application to your home higher education institution or to the National Agency for the Lifelong Learning Programme (depending on the procedure).
  • Your home higher education institution or National Agency will assess your application and will decide on the additional amount you may receive.
  • If you are entitled to an additional grant, you will have to sign a grant agreement which clarifies your rights and duties.
  • It is important to anticipate all possible needs and apply for the appropriate support before you go abroad, otherwise may not be possible to get them.
  • After your study or placement period you will have to report the precise amount of your additional expenses and provide evidence with invoices. Your grant agreement will contain the specific rules concerning this report.

Funding for Disability Supports in Non Erasmus Study Abroad

If you have decided to study a course in another EU state you may be able to get funding for disability supports from the Irish government. They fund the cost of disability related educational supports for students studying full time undergraduate courses in publicly funded colleges in the EU. Which courses are eligible.

This funding is administered by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) through the Fund for Students with Disabilities and if eligible, the funding is given to the student's host college to put the requisite support in place.

How to Apply

  1. Ask the Disability Officer in your new college to request a Fund for Students with Disabilities application form from the Higher Education Authority (HEA).
  2. The Disability Officer should then complete and return the form to the HEA.
  3. If the application is successful, the HEA will send funds to the student's hosts university.
  4. The host university should then put the supports in place.

© AHEAD
Creating Inclusive Environments in Education and Employment for People with Disabilities

East Hall, UCD, Carysfort Avenue, Blackrock, Co Dublin.
T +353 1 592 1467 E ahead@ahead.ie W www.ahead.ie RCN 20025182