A new opportunity to apply for state student financial aid is being offered to those who missed the deadline or submitted an incorrect application, as the online platform will reopen for a few days in October. At the same time, approximately 3,000 applications from the current cycle are still in the payment process.
Speaking on the Alpha Enimerosi program, the Head of the Grants and Benefits Service at the Ministry of Finance, Gabriel Mithillos, stated that the platform will resume operations from October 12 through October 20. “The application submission system has been closed and will reopen on October 12, starting at 10 a.m., and will remain open until October 20, at 2 p.m., so that those who have not yet submitted an application, as well as those who had submitted one but were rejected because they had filled out their applications incorrectly, can submit their applications,” he explained.
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Among the problems identified were cases of unmarried students who submitted the application themselves, rather than having it submitted by their parents, as well as cases of parents who, when filling out the application, incorrectly identified themselves as students. According to Mr. Mythillos, applicants whose applications had such issues were notified electronically, and they were given a prior deadline to resubmit their applications.
Regarding the status of payments, Mr. Mithillos stated that a total of more than 17,000 applications were submitted, with approximately 3,000 currently pending completion of the payment process. “Of these 3,000, we expect to pay out about 2,000 by the end of the week, perhaps even more,” he said, adding that the goal is for the vast majority of the remaining applicants to be paid by the end of October.
At the same time, approximately 600 cases have been returned to the applicants for additional documentation, though not all have responded so far. As the Head of the Service explained, before any payment can be made, the information must be cross-checked with the banks. “We have to send information to the banks, which must then send it back to us, and only then can we make the payments,” he said, clarifying at the same time that there are also applications that were rejected from the outset and therefore did not need to go through this specific process.
Mr. Mithillos also noted that applicants are notified electronically about the status of their applications and are asked to check the relevant messages on the platform. Regarding the next cycle of state student financial aid for the current academic year, he stated that the process is expected to begin in the new year, while for the 2025–2026 cycle, the goal remains to complete most of the outstanding payments by the end of the month.
