Housing scholarship: conditions and requirements

The housing scholarship is a monetary aid provided to students to help them pay for the rent of the residence halls. This benefit is only granted to those who, for study reasons, have to live away from home during the school term.

It should be noted that this assistance is only a supplement to the MEC grant, i.e. from the Ministry of Education. Moreover, due to the great relevance of this economic contribution, it is necessary that you know its requirements, application processes, among others, and we will explain all this.

Requirements

There are various requirements for applying for this assistance. However, the general requirements are as follows:

• To be a full enrolment, on-campus student. Students with partial enrolment are automatically excluded.
• To be a regular student of baccalaureate or university undergraduate or master’s degree. This also applies to students of religion, arts, sports or military in higher degrees.
• You must have proof of residence outside your family home. The details of this residence and the rental contract must be included in the housing scholarship application document.

If you do not have this information, because you have not been able to find a house or residence, you can tick the corresponding box on the application form. However, once you have obtained proof of this, you must submit the rental contract to the Scholarship Unit.

• There must be no other suitable educational institution in the locality of the applicant’s residence, unless they are university students.
• The rental value of the residence hall cannot exceed 1600 euros.
• You must be a beneficiary of the MEC grant to apply for this financial aid.
• Do not have a family member living in the vicinity of the educational centre where the student will study.

Application process

The application process for this grant starts at the same time or after applying for the MEC grant, as it is a complement to this grant. To apply for it, you must fill in sheet 1, in section D of the application form, with the details of the residence and your rental contract.

The process is first carried out online, where you must complete the application form and at the end, you will be able to download the voucher, which you can then present during the formalisation of the application. Once you have completed this process, you will have to present this voucher without any other documentation, unless required by the Scholarship Unit.

Amount of the housing scholarship

The maximum amount of this grant is up to 1600 euros. This amount can be lower, as it will be adapted to the cost of renting the residence, so if the amount of the residence is, for example, 700 euros, the grant will be for this amount.

Entry period

For the entrance periods, annual calls for applications are established in which students must apply. In the case of the period 2022-2023 it was last March and the application process has already been closed.

However, this process is reopened annually for students between the months of February, March or April. Therefore, it is advisable to be alert to the call for applications for this housing scholarship and residence assistance.

Advice

The scholarship and residence grant is a simple process to follow, as it is a complement to the MEC scholarship. However, here are some tips that may help you:

If you have already applied for this grant in previous years, the system will automatically save your data, so do not forget to update your data in the online application.
In case the contract for the rental of the residence can be verbal, it is necessary that you require a written rental contract, which should be as complete and detailed as possible.
Keep proof of monthly rent payments in a folder.

The scholarship and residence grant is one of the tools of the Ministry of Education to help students who must study away from their family home. Therefore, if this is your case, do not miss the opportunity to apply for this grant and enjoy its benefits.