Financial aid for students in higher education

Anyone registered for a course of higher education may apply for financial support as long as they meet a number of conditions.

Purpose

The conditions for students applying for financial aid for higher education studies are:

• the applicant must be registered for a full- or part-time course of higher education leading to a higher education diploma, title, certificate or rank that is officially recognised in the country where the studies are pursued,
• the applicant must aim for at least 15 ECTS credits per semester or attend a course lasting at least half the minimum duration of the course (for distance learning and part-time courses),
• for all vocational training courses undertaken outside the Grand Duchy:
• the student must check that the training involved is not available in the Grand Duchy,
• written authorisation must be obtained from the Vocational Training Department (Service de la formation professionnelle) of the Ministry of Education, Children and Youth (Ministère de l’Éducation nationale, de l’Enfance et de la Jeunesse);

All applicants resident in the Grand Duchy must be either:

• a Luxembourg national,
• a national of an EU or EEA country working in the Grand Duchy,
• a member of the family of a person in one of the previous categories,
• resident in the Grand Duchy for at least the past five years, or
• a political refugee.

All applicants not resident in the Grand Duchy must be either:

• a national of an EU or EEA country working in the Grand Duchy,
  
  
• a member of the family of a national of an EU or EEA country who:
• has worked in the Grand Duchy for at least five of the seven years preceding the application for financial aid,
• receives a pension, annuity or supplementary unemployment allowance from the Luxembourg State,
• receives an orphan's pension.

Non-resident students whose parents have never worked in the Grand Duchy are nevertheless eligible if one of the parents has a new spouse or official partner who meets the conditions listed in the previous paragraph.

This financial aid may be combined with research scholarships (Aide à la formation-recherche - AFR) to support researchers during their doctoral and post-doctoral studies (www.fnr.lu), grants under Erasmus+ to promote the international mobility of students or scholarships granted according to the student's merit.

The financial support cannot be combined with any equivalent financial support paid in the student's State of residence or with any other financial advantages relating to the person's status as a student. For non-resident students, the financial support constitutes substitution support. Before applying, these students must have carried out all the procedures in their country of residence to obtain financial support for their studies.

Example

Lucas, 35, wishes to prepare for a master's degree in Business Management as ongoing training, and is wondering what support he is entitled to. Registration costs EUR 5,000, and the course will be held over two years, on Fridays and Saturdays. Lucas submits a request for individual training leave which is granted by his boss. If the request is approved by the competent ministry, he may obtain up to 20 days of additional leave while still receiving his salary. He also obtains information from the higher education documentation and information centre (Centre de Documentation et d'Information sur l'Enseignement Supérieur - CEDIES) at cedies.lu to find out if the State can grant him financial aid for his higher education studies and/or by directly contacting the Service, at aide-fi@mesr.etat.lu.

Financial support – Grants and Loan

The financial support for each semester comprises:

• a basic grant of EUR 1.025,
• a mobility grant of EUR 1.286, if the applicant studies in a country other than his/her country of residence and pays rent there,
• a need-based grant of up to EUR 1.995, dependent on the total annual taxable income of the household to which the applicant belongs (a 'household' means parents, parent and spouse/partner, student and spouse/partner),
  
• a family grant of EUR 262 if any other child in the household to which the applicant belongs is receiving financial support for higher education,
• a basic student loan of EUR 3.250, guaranteed by the State.

Use the Simulator to calculate the amount of the financial support.

For students with their own income

Income from a student job of up to 10 hours per week and holiday jobs are not taken into account in the calculation of the need-based grant.

Any other income available to the student during the current academic year is added to the household's total annual income and may affect the amount of a need-based grant.

A student with total own income that is more than the guaranteed minimum wage for unskilled workers may only receive financial support in the form of a loan.

A student with total own income that is more than 3.5 times the guaranteed minimum wage for unskilled workers may not receive any financial support.

Loans should start to be be repaid two years after the student has completed the studies or dropped out. As a rule, the maximum repayment period is 10 years.

Registration fees

Registration fees are taken into consideration when calculating financial support.

In order to qualify they must exceed EUR 100 per year, and be no more than EUR 3.700 per academic year. In all cases, 50% of the fees are included in the grant and 50% in the loan.

Example
For registration fees of EUR 2.300, after deducting EUR 100, EUR 1.100 is added to the grant and EUR 1.100 to the loan.

Use the Simulator to calculate the exact amount of the refund of registration fees.

Procedures and deadlines

An application should be submitted for each semester:

• between 1 August and 30 November for the winter semester
• between 1 January and 30 April for the summer semester

Applications submitted outside these periods will not be considered.

Applications may be submitted totally online via MyGuichet. The MyGuichet Tutorial will guide you through the procedure.
Paper forms are also available on the Forms page of the website at MyGuichet (deadlines and procedures are set out on the form).

According to the applicant's circumstances, some or all of the following documents must be attached to the application:

• definitive registration certificate issued by the university,
• invoice and proof of payment of the registration fees,
• payslips for the previous three months,

• depending on the applicant's situation, other documents may be required.

More information on financial aid can also be obtained online by checking the FAQ on the website at www.cedies.lu.