Portugal 2015/16 - student fees and grants

National student fee

The annual tuition fee for 1st cycle courses, integrated 2nd cycle courses (mestrados integrados) and for 2nd cycle courses (mestrados) that are legally required after the 1st cycle course for the practice of a specific profession is fixed by each public higher education institution. It ranges from EUR 656.50 to 1 063.00.

For all other cases in the 2nd cycle, tuition fees are fixed freely by public higher education institutions with no limits imposed. Those courses are not legally required for the practice of a specific profession.

The minimum value of the above fees is calculated as a 1.3 times the national minimum wage at the beginning of each school year. The maximum wage value is updated every year according to the rate of inflation. Most institutions adopt the maximum value.

International students pay higher fees than national students, and higher education institutions are autonomous to decide on the amounts charged.

Student grants

Student grants can be need or merit based.

Eligibility for need-based scholarships is determined by the income of the student and his family. Need-based grant amounts depend on the fee levels and vary between EUR 1 063 and EUR 5 675.

Merit-based grants are set at EUR 2 525.00. There are several criteria, namely:

• Completed with success all enrolled disciplines on previous year;
• All assessed course work is marked over 16 [grading system 0-20].

Additional grants are provided for the first time in 2014/15 to a maximum of 1 000 students who move to study in regions of Portugal where there is less pressure on the population. The annual amount is EUR 1 500.

Loans

There is a special loan scheme for higher education students at low rates, with government guarantee.

Tax benefit for student's parents

Tax benefits for parents are provided through tax deduction on educational expenses.

Family allowances

Family allowance – child benefit – is granted to families with sons/daughters under 24 years old and enrolled in higher education, when the household income does not exceed 1.5 times social support index times 14 (2013: EUR 8 803.62) and when the family assets are less than 240 times social support index (2013: EUR 100 612.80).