An Oireachtas committee has recommended that low income students enrolled at private third level colleges should be entitled to grants in the same way that students at public institutions are.
Currently the State's maintenance grants are not available to students attending colleges that are run for profit.
The recommendation is made in a report from the Joint Committee on Education and Skills which met affected students last year.
One of the country's largest and most prominent private colleges, Griffith College, has been lobbying strongly on the issue.
The Government's lobbying register shows that Griffith College has met a number of TDs and departmental officials on the issue over the past year and a half to push for this change.
