The country's first post-graduate loan initiative for students has been announced by Bank of Ireland.
The scheme has been developed in conjunction with the Department of Education and Skills and the National Treasury Management Agency.
It has been welcomed by Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn, but the Union of Students in Ireland has warned that the minister is creating a two-tiered education system.
The latest figures, for September 2011, show that over 22,000 students who had completed their primary degree registered for a post-graduate course in that year.
Speaking on RTÉ's News At One, USI President John Logue criticised Mr Quinn for removing the post-graduate maintenance grant in the last budget.
He said the requirement of a good credit history will prevent the most disadvantaged students from accessing the loan scheme.
The new loan initiative from Bank of Ireland will cover the full cost of course fees, and an additional maintenance loan may also be available to students who received a maintenance grant as an undergraduate.
Repayments will be interest-only for the period of study and an additional three months thereafter, at which point repayments will be capital and interest at 10.8% APR variable, and the repayment period can be up to five years.
