Major changes could soon be made to the student grants system, affecting thousands of people and changing the way student money is handed out.

Education minister Ruairi Quinn is said to be considering changing the rules for people with second homes and large savings accounts, according to the Irish Independent.

With 185,000 people owning two or more homes, the proposal would also need to be careful only to affect affluent families, rather than those who have carefully saved for their children's feature.

This latest development comes after the Minister for Education and Skills suggested that farmland and business assets could be included for the first time in the third-level grant system.

Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney is stated to be against the proposal as it could mean many children from farming families would no longer qualify for a grant.

At present, means testing is based on income - including rental income and interest from savings - but this does not currently include the number of properties someone owns or the amount of money in their savings account.

Written by Donal Walsh

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