Going back to College? Check here for Mature/Disabled/Access/Grant & Fees information

ditzyfairy

Just off the phone with SUSI (my new bff) to see if there's been any progress with my appeal (i was turned down for the fee grant bk in August because i'd done 1st year of same level and appealed based on the fact I meet the requirements for 2nd chance student) so anyways ur man looked it up and said that a checklist had been posted to me yesterday so will probably get it monday, and he saw no reason for them to send a checklist if my appeal had been unsuccessful so fingers crossed thigns are looking up

ditzyfairy

moonandstars wrote: »

Bleugh! I wish I could curse here but I've got a warning so I better be a good girl!
Didn't get mine this week so hopefully next week..

call up ur local SW office, mine told me last week that my payment would be out the 4th and told me I would be getting the €300 along with it

Hogzy

I have a primary degree in law and I want to go back to college and do a legal masters.

On the welfare website it says you must be doing a h.dip in order to get BTEA, What about masters? Are they specifically disallowed or something?

Seems a bit unfair.

paperclip2

Hogzy wrote: »

I have a primary degree in law and I want to go back to college and do a legal masters.

On the welfare website it says you must be doing a h.dip in order to get BTEA, What about masters? Are they specifically disallowed or something?

Seems a bit unfair.

Yes, unfortunately BTEA is not available for any qualification beyond a H.Dip.

Drezden

Hi Paperclip

I was attending a course in 2009/2010, (level 8 Psych) and left at about March, during my first year. I am currently considering re-applying for the year 2014/2015, (level 8 Computer Science) which would be five years since I started the course, but unfortunately not five years since I last attended eductaion.

Do you reckon I will have to pay the full tuition for the first year and then free fees for the subsequent years?
Any help would be much appreciated

Long Term Louth

Are free fees available for a H Dip?

paperclip2

Drezden wrote: »

Hi Paperclip

I was attending a course in 2009/2010, (level 8 Psych) and left at about March, during my first year. I am currently considering re-applying for the year 2014/2015, (level 8 Computer Science) which would be five years since I started the course, but unfortunately not five years since I last attended eductaion.

Do you reckon I will have to pay the full tuition for the first year and then free fees for the subsequent years?
Any help would be much appreciated

Hi Drezden

There's a good chance you would be hit for fees. However if I was you I would check with the new college. The dept of education can pay your tuition fees if you fulfill the 5 year rule and have left one university degree and are re-entering another. SUSI can pay your tuition fees if you are a Mature student, fulfill the 5 year rule, and are within the income limits.

But check with the college first.

FatherFrost

Hey folks, I'm thinking of going to College as a Mature student this September(so doing CAO lark this weekend) and plan to get the BTEA, I assume I can get it fine as I'm currently getting jobseekers and will be up till the courses start If I don't get a job.

My only worry is that I done 1 year in an IT years ago when I was like 18, I done the sept-may year, but never 'completed' anything as I had lots of repeats from crimbo and summer and never bothered with em, I was there for all the wrong reasons and just a daft kid
Will that affect my BTEA plans?

Tks..

s08t

What does SUSI stand for? and what is the difference in getting a grant from a VEC and SUSI. As a mature student should I be with SUSI?

Help in answering these would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

s08t

Hi FatherFrost. As a mature student myself I was asking the same thing as you last year. This was posted to me so hope it helps :

'To get the BTEA you would need a minimum of 9 months on a social Welfare payment before starting the college course. It doesn't have to be a full rate of social welfare, a partial rate will be ok. If you get BTEA you cant get the Maintenance grant but you could apply for a fee grant to cover the college registration fees'.

Have you ever recieved the BTEA allowance before? I think you can only apply for it once, then your application is closed. Well thats what happened to me.

Hope it helped.

Maldesu

FatherFrost wrote: »

Hey folks, I'm thinking of going to College as a Mature student this September(so doing CAO lark this weekend) and plan to get the BTEA, I assume I can get it fine as I'm currently getting jobseekers and will be up till the courses start If I don't get a job.

My only worry is that I done 1 year in an IT years ago when I was like 18, I done the sept-may year, but never 'completed' anything as I had lots of repeats from crimbo and summer and never bothered with em, I was there for all the wrong reasons and just a daft kid
Will that affect my BTEA plans?

Tks..

So long as you don't have a degree already you should be ok for BTEA so long as you fill the criteria mentioned here. How many years has it been since you did the IT course? If it has been more than 5 years you should also be entitled to the 'free fees' as a second chance student.

s08t wrote: »

What does SUSI stand for? and what is the difference in getting a grant from a VEC and SUSI. As a mature student should I be with SUSI?

Help in answering these would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

SUSI stands for 'Student Universal Support Ireland'. It has replaced the VEC grants system. As a mature student you can apply to SUSI though AFAIK the application process is not yet open.

FatherFrost

Fairly sure it was like 2007-08 I done the year, so it'll just be on the line for 5 years I'd say. And Do mature students still have to pay fees? (its €2,500 i think for most places a year?)

I was under assumption we didn't, if we qualified for BTEA

s08t

There is a fee grant and a maintainance grant, If u avail of a BTEA u can still get your fee paid ( ye 2500 now I think it has risen to) but you wont get any maintainance on top of that.

You can either get the BTEA or the maintainance. not both together.

Maldesu

FatherFrost wrote: »

Fairly sure it was like 2007-08 I done the year, so it'll just be on the line for 5 years I'd say. And Do mature students still have to pay fees? (its €2,500 i think for most places a year?)

I was under assumption we didn't, if we qualified for BTEA

You'd be applying for the 2013-2014 as your first year so you should be ok for the fees if it was 07-08 you did the IT course. You will still have to pay the €2500 (which is called the student contribution) but you can apply to SUSI for the grant.

Here is a breakdown of an arts course to explain fees:

Total: 5809
Student Contribution: €2500 - Paid by student or by SUSI
Student Levy: €183 - Paid by student
EU Free Fees: €3126 - Paid if 1st time in Uni or eligible under second chance

BTEA does not cover you for any of the fees. It is a weekly payment that is granted to support you during the term. Doesn't cover anything else

FatherFrost

Maldesu wrote: »

You'd be applying for the 2013-2014 as your first year so you should be ok for the fees if it was 07-08 you did the IT course. You will still have to pay the €2500 (which is called the student contribution) but you can apply to SUSI for the grant.

Here is a breakdown of an arts course to explain fees:

Total: 5809
Student Contribution: €2500 - Paid by student or by SUSI
Student Levy: €183 - Paid by student
EU Free Fees: €3126 - Paid if 1st time in Uni or eligible under second chance

BTEA does not cover you for any of the fees. It is a weekly payment that is granted to support you during the term. Doesn't cover anything else

Tks for info, And ye I wasn't expecting a grant aswell as BTEA.
Sorry to be bit dim, but whats that EU fee you speak of, Ive never heard of that, I wont have to pay it will I?

I kinda just made some assumptions that say you get accepted after interview/tests etc to a mature spot, that you applied for BTEA through social welfare or w/e and then just got the €188 every week as if you were on the dole. I dunno why but I thought matures had no fees to pay at all(and I also assumed they got no grants at all, for that same reason)

Maldesu

FatherFrost wrote: »

Tks for info, And ye I wasn't expecting a grant aswell as BTEA.
Sorry to be bit dim, but whats that EU fee you speak of, Ive never heard of that, I wont have to pay it will I?

I kinda just made some assumptions that say you get accepted after interview/tests etc to a mature spot, that you applied for BTEA through social welfare or w/e and then just got the €188 every week as if you were on the dole. I dunno why but I thought matures had no fees to pay at all(and I also assumed they got no grants at all, for that same reason)

The EU free fees is basically the free fees paid by our government for the duration of the degree. You usually only get one chance, but if you didn't get a degree before and have been out of education for 5+ years you are considered eligible as a 'second chance student'. You don't really hear about it as most new 3rd level students get this automatically and it's not an issue. It only becomes a problem for those going back.

The student contribution charge is €2500 and you either pay it yourself or look for a grant. Most of the time when you hear of SUSI paying fees, what they actually mean is the contribution charge. This charge applies to all students. BTEA won't pay for this, but you can apply to SUSI for it. The only rule is that if you are on BTEA you CANNOT get the MAINTENANCE grant from SUSI, but you can get the charge paid.

The only other thing is the Student Levy, which is different depending on what uni you go to. This can range from €150 - 250, but again, it depends.

grasshopper1

Maldesu wrote: »

You'd be applying for the 2013-2014 as your first year so you should be ok for the fees if it was 07-08 you did the IT course. You will still have to pay the BTEA does not cover you for any of the fees. It is a weekly payment that is granted to support you during the term. Doesn't cover anything else

Maldesu is correct on all counts. BETA is just another word for the dole. Once you've been offered a place, let the dole office know immediately. Your money will be paid into your bank account every week. During summer holiday you go back to signing on every month. Get all your documents ready now. There were a lot of problems with SUSE this year, I'd suggest you register them, so if they turn around and say 'they never arrived' you have proof of postage. Good luck grasshopper

Annasopra

s08t wrote: »

What does SUSI stand for? and what is the difference in getting a grant from a VEC and SUSI. As a mature student should I be with SUSI?

Help in answering these would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

The VEC grants don't exist anymore -

Info on SUSI here

http://www.studentfinance.ie/
http://www.cdvec.ie/Student-Supports/Grants.aspx

Annasopra

Long Term Louth wrote: »

Are free fees available for a H Dip?

No

It's a postgraduate course - you can apply for a grant towards the fees

FatherFrost

Tks for info lads, gona get the CEO and the direct apps to the colleges sorted this weekend.

Cant see any reason I wont be eligible for BTEA, and delays aside the €2.5k should be sorted for me. Its never nice to be so needy for grants/pay but something like that would put me over the edge.
Be nice to get back into education and be able to feed myself at the same time

s08t

Hi. Does anyone know if you can be on the dole or signing on in the summertime after you finish college? Im a mature student and been out of work since I started college fulltime in Sept 2011 although I did and still am sending out cv's but as yet to no avail. Thanks.

grasshopper1

Absolutely yes, Go down the same day the term finishes and sign on. Usually there is no problem. They might ask/expect you to look for work during the holidays, but just do as you are doing.

grasshopper1

Annasopra

s08t wrote: »

Hi. Does anyone know if you can be on the dole or signing on in the summertime after you finish college? Im a mature student and been out of work since I started college fulltime in Sept 2011 although I did and still am sending out cv's but as yet to no avail. Thanks.

Yes. Once you finish up in May or June get a letter from the college stating you are finished and bring it to the dole office

FatherFrost

Sorry folks another Q,
but Ive been reading up and I fear I may be liable for the EU 3k~ fee for first year If I do go back to college. As I done a 1st year years ago in an IT(didn't complete, was a youngster with a lot of family Issues etc) So I think I have to pay for another 1st year as the govt. wont pay.
I should get grant for the 2.5k student fee and the BTEA, but I don't think there is anyway to get away from the 3k is there.

Tks..

Annasopra

FatherFrost wrote: »

Sorry folks another Q,
but Ive been reading up and I fear I may be liable for the EU 3k~ fee for first year If I do go back to college. As I done a 1st year years ago in an IT(didn't complete, was a youngster with a lot of family Issues etc) So I think I have to pay for another 1st year as the govt. wont pay.
I should get grant for the 2.5k student fee and the BTEA, but I don't think there is anyway to get away from the 3k is there.

Tks..

My understanding is that you would be deemed a second chance student.

If you have a look at these three links they explain about second chance students

http://fees.nuim.ie/freefees.shtml

http://www.ucd.ie/registry/adminservices/fees/free_tuition.htm

http://www.tcd.ie/Treasurers_Office/fees/fees_freefees.php

grasshopper1

This might help:

<http://www.studentfinance.ie/dl.php?dl=/downloads/1339418623/Student_Grant_Scheme_2012.pdf>

grasshopper1

paperclip2

FatherFrost wrote: »

Sorry folks another Q,
but Ive been reading up and I fear I may be liable for the EU 3k~ fee for first year If I do go back to college. As I done a 1st year years ago in an IT(didn't complete, was a youngster with a lot of family Issues etc) So I think I have to pay for another 1st year as the govt. wont pay.
I should get grant for the 2.5k student fee and the BTEA, but I don't think there is anyway to get away from the 3k is there.

Tks..

You might get the tuition fees if you are under the reckonable income limits for these. Last year this was €47,205 but this year has been reduced by 3% to approximately €45,790.

In this case SUSI would pay them for you.
Taken from the student regulations: http://www.studentfinance.ie/downloads/1339418623/Student_Grant_Scheme_2012.pdf

(2) Subject to article 8(2) and (3), a student or a tuition student, may be
assessed for the tuition fee element where they are—
(a) pursuing an approved undergraduate course to which the Free Fees
Schemes applies but where the student, or tuition student, is ineligible
for free tuition fees under those schemes;

Long Term Louth

Can anyone assist with the following, are free fees available for a H Dip?

Thanks in advance

FatherFrost

Ah thanks, Think i asked the same question about 3 times lol, sorry bout that. Just bit paranoid over the EU fee(the rest I'm sure will be fine/sorted)

But yeah if the second chance thing is as it seems then I should be ok, It was defiantly no later then 06/07 School year I was last in 3rd Level Education.

Now I just have to wait for the colleges to get back to me for interviews/Assessments in March to see what I got, if any

Betty Swallocks 83

I'm a little lost on all this. Can someone tell me when you can actually apply for the grant? Sorry, I know it probably sounds like a silly question.
I did a PLC course before and it says on the SUSI that I should not apply for SUSI??