The maintenance grant consists of:
A general course is paid the normal stipend rate, whereas a prescribed course is paid in a special higher rate as approved by the Students Maintenance Grants Board and the Minister for Education and Employment. Refer to Classification of Courses. The list of prescribed and high priority courses issued by the Ministry for Education and Employment.
You are to apply through an online application at the beginning of your first year at UM, and confirm your application on a yearly academic basis. Applications are made available by the Ministry for Education and Employment in October. If you apply before the end of December, you shall receive your first stipend backdated as from the start of the academic year in December. If you apply for the maintenance grants past the deadline, your stipend will be approved as from date of submission of application.
For further information on how to apply, you can also watch this youtube video
The documents required are:
Once submitted, the application will be vetted by the Stipends Office. Should any further documents be required, you will be notified accordingly via email/sms. If approved, you will be notified to log on the online application and confirm your application.
To confirm your application, simply
Unless you confirm your application no stipends or grants will be issued.
All payments are directly credited to the IBAN account you have provided when applying for the maintenance grant.
The grant is issued approximately 15 working days after you have confirmed your application.
Stipends are issued once the application has been approved and then confirmed by student. The stipend pay dates can be found here.
The stipend amount may vary due to COLA increase.
Diploma courses
Stipend: EUR 115.88 every 4 weeks
Yearly Grant: EUR 565.87
General courses
Stipend: EUR 115.88 every 4 weeks
One-time Grant: EUR 465.87
Yearly Grant: EUR 565.87
Prescribed courses
Stipend: EUR 196.06 every 4 weeks
One-time grant: EUR 698.81
Yearly Grant: EUR 798.81
High Priority Courses
Stipend: EUR 384.28 every 4 weeks
One-time grant: EUR 698.81
Yearly Grant: EUR 798.81
The one-time grant serves as an additional aid to first year students who are studying a full-time day at degree level course, and is issued with the yearly grant at the beginning of the academic year approximately 15 working days after that the student has confirmed the application. The yearly grant is issued at the beginning of every academic year while the student is reading for a full-time day course at University.
According to Subsidiary Legislation 605.06 Regulation 4(e), one cannot be in a full-time employment, or if in a part-time employment, one must not exceed the 30 hours per week during the academic year.
Students who are working as self-employed part-time have to upload on the maintenance grant application a set of documents depending on their mode of employment. The difference scenarios can be found in Self-Employed Students [PDF]. The SMG Board will then vet your application accordingly.
Any student may apply for the maintenance grant, and each application is vetted according to the regulations. For further info kindly refer to previous question regarding eligibility.
Overseas students
Repeating students are only eligible for the stipend, no grant is issued.
Students who are on an additional year are only eligible for the stipend on a pro-rata basis according to the number of direct teaching hours per credit they are registered for per semester.
Students who are on an extension year are only eligible for the stipend on a pro-rata basis according to the number of direct teaching hours per credit they are registered for per semester.
Students who resign or fail their course are to refund the initial yearly grant and the one time grant received for the course, or part thereof, in accordance with determined criteria established by the Board.
Students who abandon their course, are to refund the initial yearly grant and the one time received for the course or part thereof, and the stipends in accordance with determined criteria established by the Board.
The amount to be refunded is communicated through an official letter, and payment instructions are provided accordingly.
In a next course, one may apply for the maintenance grant once the online applications are made available by the SMG Board and the application will be vetted accordingly. If the refund due has been settled, eligible students shall receive the stipends and shall only be eligible for the amount of grant refunded.
Students who resign are to refund the initial yearly grant and the one time grant received for the course, or part thereof, in accordance with determined criteria established by the Board.
In a next course, one may apply for the maintenance grant once the online applications are made available by the SMG Board and the application will be vetted accordingly. If the refund due has been settled, eligible students shall receive the stipends and shall only be eligible for the amount of grant refunded.
As soon as your request for a suspension of studies is approved by the Faculty, you should inform the Stipends Office accordingly. The stipend will be put on hold, so that when you return to your studies the next year, you will start receiving it from where you left off. That is, for example, if the stipend is stopped in January, you will be eligible for the stipend as from February the following year. The grant will not be re-issued the next year. If you do not return from your suspension of studies, and decide to resign, you will have to refund part of the grant or part thereof and/or any stipend received after the last day of attendance.
The Maintenance Grant Board offers supplementary grants, which are additional monetary funds awarded to students facing certain circumstances of proven hardship, including financial difficulties. One may apply for these grants every academic year through the same online application used for the normal maintenance grant. One must substantiate the application by providing relevant documentation.
For further information on how to apply for the supplementary grants, you may also watch this youtube video
Refer to the list of Supplementary Maintenance Grants [PDF] of the required documents for specific cases available on our website.
Supplementary allowances are divided into two:
Supplementary applications are vetted by the Student Maintenance Grants (SMG) Board, and take a bit longer to be reviewed than the normal maintenance grant application. Once the applications are vetted, students will be informed accordingly. Should the SMG Board require any further documents, students would also be informed via email or sms.
Contact us via email: stipends@um.edu.mt. All correspondence must be sent through your UM email address.
Otherwise, you can call at our office. Our opening hours are:
Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays: 08:30 to 12:00
Refer to our website um.edu.mt/stipends to find all the information you require.
Should you wish to contact the Student Maintenance Grants Board you may either call 153 or log on to the online maintenance grants application and use the 'Contact Us' option, and your query will be sent directly to the Students Maintenance Grants Section at the Ministry for Education and Employment.
Students who are not attending the University of Malta should either call the free-phone 153 or may log on to the online maintenance grants application and use the 'Contact Us' option, and your query will be sent directly to the Students Maintenance Grants Section at the Ministry for Education and Employment.
Other useful links:
