Depressed by a student grant (5)
I believe the answer is:
allow
'grant' is the definition.
('allow' can be a synonym of 'grant')
'depressed by a student' is the wordplay.
'depressed' becomes 'low' ('low' can be a synonym of 'depressed').
'by' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'student' becomes 'l' (as in L-plates for learner drivers).
'a'+'l'='al'
'low' after 'al' is 'ALLOW'.
(Other definitions for allow that I've seen before include "brook" , "Sanction" , "Admit as acceptable" , "Acknowledge - concede" , "Tolerate" .)