Mature Students and college fees.

dusterd

Hi all, I am a bit confused about the college fees. I hope to go to college in the autumn as a mature student. I will be seeking the BTEA from the social welfare, which if it doesn't drop further, I will barely get by on it. My question here is will they also cover the €1500 registration fee in whole or in part. There is no way i could afford this fee. I have been on jobseekers now for almost 3 years and I'm thinking that in order to get the BTEA i will have to remain on Jobseekers allowence until it is time. This would in turn mean that i could not get some work. This is a bit like a catch 22 situation. Does anyone have any information on this or been in a similar situation.

snubbleste

You apply to the local authority for fees and the registration fee.
Read up on it on the free accessible public information portal studentfinance.ie

dusterd

Thanks so much for your help with this. The site states -
You are not required to pay tuition fees for these courses if you meet the following eligibility criteria:
you hold E.U. nationality.

I'm Irish so I think I fit into this category. But down at the bottom of the page it also states: Students enrolling in ordinary bachelor degree courses will be charged a Student Services fee for each year of the course($1500).

This is getting more confusing by the minute.

RoyalMarine

thats correct.

you need to apply to the local vec / county council office to the grant scheme which will cover your student service fee €1500.

as a side note, the BTEA is still going to be €188 per week.
you can also apply for a medical card.
you can also apply for rent allowance (you must have been renting for 6 months prior to your application, not living at home)
you also get €500 book allowance when you start college (usually paid within 8 weeks of starting)
you can also find part time work during college, and it does not affect your claim.
you can also sign on JSA during the summer next year, or take a job. this will not affect your claim to BTEA in september next year.

dusterd

Thanks for all of that. I have been looking some more on the student services site and found there were changes made in the last budget.

SUMMARY OF CHANGES TO STUDENT GRANT AS A RESULT OF BUDGET 2011

Three measures were announced in Budget 2011 relating to the student grant schemes



C: Automatic entitlement of mature students to non-adjacent rate of grant.

• The automatic entitlement of mature students to the higher non-adjacent rate of payment has been removed.
• The implementation date is the start of the 2011-2012 academic year.

This is the only change that relates to me. What exactly does this mean? sorry for being a pain.

RoyalMarine

if your going for BTEA, then it means nothing.

if you were only going for the grant, then it would mean you would be means tested like everyone else.