“In the last four years, the Government has invested more than €135 million directly in students through stipends and grants and will continue to invest because we want the best for our children.” This was stressed by the Minister for Education, Sports, Youth, Research and Innovation Clifton Grima when he announced that applications will open for students to apply for stipends and grants for this scholastic year from Monday 29 September.
Minister Grima emphasised that this investment will continue: “The stipends will remain, and not only will they remain, but we will continue to strengthen them. In fact, today we are announcing that the eligibility bands for the supplementary grants have been extended, which are expected to include around 350 more students. It is also worth noting that the investment of more than €135 million will increase substantially when we add to it the amount of stipends and grants that we will invest in the call we are making today,” said Minister Clifton Grima.
He said that this is a confirmation of the Government’s commitment to continue to provide financial support through the awarding of stipends and grants to all eligible students with the aim of helping both them and their families at a delicate and important moment in their educational journey.
He also recalled the stipend reform that was announced at the beginning of the 2023/24 academic year when a higher stipend (Prescribed) was allocated to a number of new courses with an investment of six and a half million over three years. Over 4000 students are benefiting from this investment.
The 2024/25 academic year also saw the introduction of the second phase of upgrading the classification of a number of courses offered by the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST) at level 4 and by the University of Malta at level 6 of the Malta Qualifications Framework. This was the second year during which more MCAST students following courses at level 4 of the Malta Qualifications Framework began to benefit from a higher rate of stipend and grants to which they are entitled.
Minister Clifton Grima stressed that the Ministry’s work is ensuring that no student is left behind – even financially. Above all, we believe that the greatest investment we can make is in the best resource our country has – the human resource. We are doing this in a concrete way so that not only the student benefits, but the country as a whole, because we are also strengthening the supply of the necessary competencies and skills for the economy,” the Minister continued.
Horace Laudi, Chairperson of the Student Maintenance Grants Board, also spoke at the press conference. He said that reforms in this sector have continued to be implemented, so much so that the Board has in recent months approved more new courses as prescribed courses so that more students can benefit from higher stipends. He urged all eligible students to apply as early as possible and not leave it until the last minute. Students who apply by the end of December 2025 will be considered for the stipend from the beginning of the academic year.
Applications for Student Maintenance Grants for the Academic Year 2025/2026 will open on Monday, 29 September 2025 at 10:00. Further information and the application form can be found on the website https://stipendsandgrants.gov.mt/ .
