Maintenance Grant Scheme 2006/7

Greetings,

This is hopefully an informative post aimed at giving students or would-be students some information about the maintenance grant scheme for 2006/7. I've set up a website which hopes to give some basic information to anyone looking to obtain the grant for the first time and DeVore and the other Admins have granted some space on Boards.ie for a forum. My website is here and the forum is here.


Deadlines:

The first thing to keep in mind in this is that August 31st is the deadline by which you need to apply for your grant - however, some City / County Councils / Vocational Education Committees (VECs) do accept the applications after this date. It can take some time to obtain the documentation, so you should try to start obtaining them soon.


Not sure where to begin?

There is a 'Getting Started' section available here which should give you the basics. Remember though, your local authority / VEC are the ones who will be giving you the grant, so queries should be addressed to them first and foremost.


Income Limits & Grant Rates for 2006/7:

As of the 14th of July 2006, they have not been placed online, but you should check with your local authority / VEC as to whether they are due out anytime soon.


Frequently Asked Questions:

There are some here, with several more placed on individual local authority / VEC websites around the country.


Application Form:

Available at your local authority/VEC. Ring them to send one out to you, but you can start looking at what is needed by viewing the sample application form here (PDF).

There are also accompanying notes to the application form here (PDF).


Contact Details:

1. City/County Councils: http://www.mygrant.ie/cc.html.
2. VECs: http://www.mygrant.ie/vec.html.
3. Oasis.gov.ie: http://oasis.gov.ie/education/third_level_education/maintenance_grant_schemes_for_students_on_third_level_courses.html.
4. Students' Unions: http://www.mygrant.ie/su.html.
5. Student Support Unit:

The Department of Education & Science have a Student Support Unit, which can be helpful when explaining some of the detail. Their contact details are:

The Student Support Unit,
Department of Education and Science,
Portlaoise Road,
Tullamore,
Co. Offaly
Tel: (0506) 21363 or (01) 8734700
E-mail: StudentSupportUnit-Tullamore@education.gov.ie


***

Good luck,

Dónal

Jonny Arson

Oooh just spotted this.... great work Myth!


Mods: may I suggest giving this thread stickification until the end of August as I'm sure it will be useful for current students and new 1st year students who will have queries about grants.

hullaballoo

Siht, I was meant to sticky this ages ago.

Right, done.

Blush_01

Can this be stickied again? Pweeze?

hullaballoo

Stuck. Again.

I'm only applying for my grant now, it's a bit late but fingers crossed.

Blowfish

hey Myth, I have gotten the grant over the past 2 years, and was sent out the details about getting it for this year again, only I lost the form. What do I need to send them, is it just the successful results, or is there more to it?

Blush_01

Blowfish, you'd probably have a better chance of getting a response if you PMed Myth. Or, you could call your local authority offices, get the details and if they're not that far from you, pop in and pick a replacement form up. Otherwise they'll probably post you out another one if you asked.

hullaballoo

hullaballoo wrote:

Stuck. Again.

Cheers!

I'm only applying for my grant now, it's a bit late but fingers crossed.

Deadline is 31st of August, so you should be OK. If you're running a bit late, contact your Council as a 'just-in-case' - they might then let you know when is the latest you can apply for.

Blowfish wrote:

hey Myth, I have gotten the grant over the past 2 years, and was sent out the details about getting it for this year again, only I lost the form. What do I need to send them, is it just the successful results, or is there more to it?

I'm unsure to be honest, so the best thing would be to contact the Council when you can, plus to listen to Blush_01. Well, this time at least

Blush_01 wrote:

... Or, you could call your local authority offices, get the details and if they're not that far from you, pop in and pick a replacement form up. Otherwise they'll probably post you out another one if you asked.

Again, check when is the latest you can hand it in for - if your Council is strict and says that the 31st of August is the FINAL date, then you might want to get a bus out to the Council to pick up a form.

Woof!

i never applied for one last year... going into second year and would be nice to have one.... when do u know if u have gotten it because i want to pay my fees in time to select good modules (dont ask)

Usually takes a few weeks, and then your Council will let you know. If you're applying for a grant, mention it to your fees office (or whatever it is in UCD!) so you won't have to pay the Reg Fee and then have them reimburse you later.

singingstranger

Myth wrote:

... mention it to your fees office (or whatever it is in UCD!) ...

Hehe, I guess Dónal has a mental block of trying to figure stuff out from here in Belfield. Couldn't blame him really.

Anyway, in UCD it's the Fees and Grants Office and their website is at http://www.ucd.ie/fees/.