Maintenance grants

All courses which have been approved and deemed as eligible for Students’ Maintenance Grants are classified either as General or as Prescribed.

The classification of a course depends on the area of study, and is determined by the Minister for Education after consultation with the Students’ Maintenance Grants’ Board.

One may apply for the both the Students' Maintenance Grant and the Supplementary Grant through Ministry for Education's portal. Both stipend and supplementary 4-weekly payments change every February of the year due to COLA increase.

Application dates: The online application for academic year 2023/2024 are now OPEN. 

The Students' Maintenance Grants can be organized into four distinct grants:


This is paid periodically in backdated four-weekly payments, for a total of 10 payments during one academic year. The first two stipends are issued in December, while the last one is issued in August. Please refer to the payment dates section.

Students reading for courses considered as prescribed and high priority receive a higher rate of stipend and grants than those who are following a General course. Refer to the list of Prescribed and High Priority courses as issued by the Ministry for Education

Students registered on 'Prescribed' courses receive a stipend of €178.30 every 4 weeks.

Students registered on "General" and Diploma courses receive a stipend of €106.91 every 4 weeks.

Students registered on 'High Priority' courses receive a stipend of €375.31 every 4 weeks.


This is available only to students in receipt of a stipend and is intended to partly cover expenses related to educational material and equipment. The initial grant is credited to students’ bank accounts a few working days after the students have confirmed their online application.

Students registered for Diploma and 'General' Courses receive the sum of €565.87 per academic year.

Students following “Prescribed” courses receive the sum of €798.81 per academic year.

Students following “High Priority” courses receive the sum of €798.81 per academic year.

This Grant complements the Initial Grant and serves as further financial aid to students who are studying at degree level at University.


Students following 'General' courses receive the sum of €465.87 at the beginning of the first academic year.

Students following 'Prescribed' courses receive the sum of €698.81 at the beginning of the first academic year.

Students following “High Priority” courses receive the sum of €698.81 per academic year. 

Students who qualify for the stipend, may apply for the Supplementary Grant through the same online application used to apply for the normal stipend. Students must apply for this grant on a yearly basis, by not later than the 30th November each year. Late applications will only be considered if the circumstance determining the eligibility of this grant is valid.

Each application for the Supplementary Grant must be supported by the relevant documentation. This will then be referred to the Students' Maintenance Grants Board for their consideration and final decision. Unless all the compulsory documents have been submitted, the supplementary application will not be processed by the Student’s Maintenance Grants Board. The Stipends’ Office has no access to the supplementary application and its attached documents.

Students are bound to disclose immediately to the Stipend Office any change of circumstance which may affect the ineligibility of this grant.

Students with a disability may also apply for the Supplementary Maintenance Grant and submit a scanned copy of the CRPD identity card.

The following are the revised household income thresholds being followed in the granting of Supplementary Grants, as per Budget 2017 and applicable as from January 2017:

EUR 12,700 - Family Rate

EUR 9,100 - Single Rate

EUR 10,500 - Single Parent Rate

Students are automatically informed by the SMG Board via email/message of any decision taken by the Students Maintenance Grant Board.

Payments for this grant are as follows:

Students, whose application for the Supplementary Grant has been reviewed and approved by the SMG Board, will receive an extra rate along with the four-weekly stipend, i.e. a total of €342.10 every 4 weeks, irrelevant of whether a course is considered as General, or Prescribed.

Students who are reading for a Diploma or General course and are approved for the Supplementary Grant will also be entitled to receive EUR 232.94/ EUR 116.47 per academic year depending on whether they are first years or not.

Download the document which contains the list of mandatory documents for specific cases.  



Termination of Students’ Maintenance Grants

Students who resign from their respective course of studies are to inform their home faculty by means of an email or letter within a week of their resignation.
Students who (a) resign or (b) fail their course will have to refund the one-time grant or part thereof and/or any stipend received after the last day of attendance. While (c) students who abandon the course without submitting a resignation will be asked to refund both the stipend and supplementary, the initial grant and/or one-time grant.


https://www.um.edu.mt/registrar/stipends/grants