The Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science has published a paper outlining options for reducing the cost of going to college or doing an apprenticeship.
It is the third time the department has produced such a document in advance of the budget.
The document costs various options that are available to the Government to consider.
The options set out include reducing the fees students pay, increasing the grant supports available to students, reducing the cost of student accommodation, as well as other measures to reduce the financial burden of going to college on families and students.
In April, the department held a meeting with stakeholders to discuss how to improve student supports.
The department said feedback from that day contributed to the preparation of this paper.
Those in attendance included students, access officers, student services employees and others who work with students on a day-to-day basis or who advocate for them.
According to the department, student accommodation, the cost of transport, the removal of fees, more funding for students and more support for disadvantaged students were highlighted as the issues that need to be prioritised to reduce costs for students.
Suggestions from those who participated in the April event included the introduction of free travel for all students, changes to how income from holiday work is calculated for grant eligibility purposes, the abolition of fees for students, as well as more support for graduate entry medicine students who currently face exorbitant fees and who are not entitled to SUSI grants.
The department said its options paper was intended to identify costs and potential impacts, and was being published without prejudice to eventual Government decisions.
