Malta was ranked as the country in Europe which offers most support to students studying for first degrees within tertiary education, the Education Ministry said in a statement.

In its report for 2017/18 on national student fee and support systems in Higher Education, Eurydice identified Malta as the country which offers grants to the highest percentage of students while charging fees to the least number of students following first degrees in Higher Education.

The study indicates that Malta charges no fees for first degrees while 93% of students following first degrees receive grants. This places Malta as the country which offers the highest amount of support to students studying for first degrees in Europe. The countries which rank immediately after Malta in this regard are Denmark, Sweden, and Finland.  

The study was carried out among 38 countries: the 28 EU member states as well as Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Montenegro, Norway, Serbia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Turkey. The 38 participating countries are covered by 43 Higher Education systems (Belgium is covered by three separate systems – French Community of Belgium, Flemish Community of Belgium and German-speaking Community of Belgium –, and the United Kingdom by four systems in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland).

Eurydice is a network funded by the European Commission to explain how education systems are organised in Europe and how they work.