Budget 2026: Gozitans studying in Malta to receive €280 monthly grant

Gozitan students who study in Malta will see their monthly grant increase to €280 to help with the financial burdens associated with their studies.

The measure, which is set to be announced on Monday for Budget 2026, goes beyond the monthly stipend that all undergraduate and post-secondary students receive.

“Gozitan students who study in Malta face unique financial challenges due to travel and accommodation costs associated with commuting between the islands,” government sources told Times of Malta.

To address this burden, the government will provide a monthly grant of €280 to eligible students, they said.

Students who are over 18 and are permanent residents of Gozo while being enrolled in educational institutions in Malta will be eligible for the grant.

Some 1,000 Gozitans study in Malta full time and the measure is expected to cost €5 million.

Currently, Gozitan students receive a sum of €500 every three months (€166.60 a month) to help with the financial burdens of studying in Malta.

With this measure, those eligible will see an increase of more than €100 a month.

While many Maltese students opt to stay at their family homes while studying full time, many Gozitan students move to Malta for the duration of their course.

Those who commute across the channel need to take a ferry.

The grant increase comes after the government abandoned a project to build accommodation for Gozitan students in Pietà.

Dar Fatima, a disused Dominican convent on Triq Santa Monika, Pietà, was planned to be converted into student lodging by the third quarter of this year. The ministry had plans approved by the Planning Authority in 2021.

But after spending €90,000 in rent and architectural plans, the ministry decided to scrap the project after discovering its refurbishment would cost far more than expected.

Birth grant to increase

The government will also announce an increase to the birth/adoption bonus by €500.

That means parents will receive €1,000 for their first child, €1,500 for the second and €2,000 from the third child onwards.

Children’s allowance for low-income families is also set for a bump-up.

Families earning less than €30,000 will see an increase of €250 in the children’s allowance, which is paid four times a year.

The government’s theme for Budget 2026 is ‘A strong economy – a future for our children’.

Prime Minister Robert Abela pledged that Budget 2026 will be the “best ever”, and will see continued investment in families, workers, youth and pensioners, the government said in a statement on Thursday.

Speaking during Times of Malta’s business breakfast on Tuesday, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana revealed the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) payments will be set at less than €5 per week, while pensions are set to see a “hefty increase”.

Times of Malta will run a live online blog during tomorrow’s budget speech.