SUSI

carrots1

Hi there,

My three children are in college this year, we are over the reckonable income for the susi grant, however, with three in college this year the fees alone are €6000 for two who are in DIT, and the third one is doing a masters in the UK. On top of this there is the accommodation costs which altogether is €1500 per month. We are finding it impossible to keep our own bills paid and to keep on top of the cost of college for three. The reckonable income is based on gross income and is unrealistic for the cost of sending three to college. Has anyone had this experience previously, Im considering appealing their decision but I might be wasting my time. What do you think?

dobbs2210

carrots1 wrote: »

Hi there,

My three children are in college this year, we are over the reckonable income for the susi grant, however, with three in college this year the fees alone are €6000 for two who are in DIT, and the third one is doing a masters in the UK. On top of this there is the accommodation costs which altogether is €1500 per month. We are finding it impossible to keep our own bills paid and to keep on top of the cost of college for three. The reckonable income is based on gross income and is unrealistic for the cost of sending three to college. Has anyone had this experience previously, Im considering appealing their decision but I might be wasting my time. What do you think?

Are ye way over the threshold? If not definitely appeal it for certain. SUSI is a bloody frustrating process and organisation to deal with and the application process is a lengthy jumping through the hoops journey.

The son in college in UK, will that even be factored or taken into consideration by SUSI as it's outside the jurisdiction of Ireland?

carrots1

Hi Dobbs2210

I entered it onto all three's educational details onto the application form. We are over the threshold, this is because it's taken on your gross income, which I cannot really understand because, it's the net amount that you get access to for paying the costs etc. We're trying to keep up with it, but already we're falling behind on household bills because of the costs, especially bearing in mind the cost of renting in Dublin has gone up considerably this year.

dobbs2210

carrots1 wrote: »

Hi Dobbs2210

I entered it onto all three's educational details onto the application form. We are over the threshold, this is because it's taken on your gross income, which I cannot really understand because, it's the net amount that you get access to for paying the costs etc. We're trying to keep up with it, but already we're falling behind on household bills because of the costs, especially bearing in mind the cost of renting in Dublin has gone up considerably this year.

Definitely appeal it, best preparation would be to be prepared to show evidence that using most/high percentage of your income to fund all three son's college education is leading to a short fall in paying your general bills and everyday expenses.

Evidence that you're falling behind or struggling with house expenses, general expenses and bills will be important.

Appeal but be prepared for the appeal and that will be a big advantage. Cannot say exactly what percentage of appeals would be successful but I'm aware of a number of successful appeals to SUSI myself. The general human behaviour and reaction to decisions by official organisations or bodies would be too "just accept it as, that's that" so my advice is to go ahead and appeal and present your case.

Tough hall trying to fund 3 children through college and one is UK based which makes it even more expensive.

PS- do any or all 3 hold part time or even jobs to help fund their education and help ye defray the huge cost of college education?

carrots1

Thank you I will appeal it, I didn't realise just how difficult it could become, paying rent & we borrow the money from the credit union for the fees. Yes they work part-time, which they use for as my friend calls it "walking about" money, for clothes, going out etc, though one of them gets €40 per week for a sat morning job and this doesn't really cover all the leap card is €20, that leaves €20, he's applied for lots of second jobs but hasn't got anything yet.

Sup08

The student that attends the UK is not considered in the grant application as Post-Graduate courses out of the island of Ireland are not qualifying courses and therefore the 2 students that are attending their course in Ireland are only considered as entered a qualifying third level course for the allowance on the threshold.

Also, there are other factors that may have been considered on the application.
What is the dependency of each student on the parents?
How many children are there in the house-hold?
How much earnings did the student on each application earn in the previous year and how much of that was during holidays?

The gross income is considered when making a grant application because it show the full reckonable amount of the household irrespective of their tax reliefs and burdens. Having to consider the net amount available to a household is not possible as many households/workers have deductions from source. Some house holds do also have considerable bills compared to others, these maybe lifestyle choices that cannot be considered in the application.

Some people think the gross income thresholds are not fair, including me but it the most transparent option available to SUSI.

Without knowing the exact details of your application, but if all of the allowances were applied to your threshold and the income was still over such threshold and you agree with the figures, there is no discount other than the allowances.

rosaleen mulligan

hello
I am new to this so forgive my mistakes..

I have applied to SuSi for my daughter I have received only 50% of the grant which is brilliant but previous years she received 100%. but due to her working last year due to a repeat year her income had incereased and this has reduced her SUSI grant.

but on my letter it states my income , her income, with the reduced holiday pay for her which is fine but I receive maintenance from my x husband. he does not pay this every week especially last year as he was un well due to heart attact and was out of work but there is no paper trail to prove he didnt give me maintenance and I cannot prove that he does not give me maintenance every week. can this be over come in any way ? with accommodation the 50% will not cover this not near it.
can you please give any help or advice

concerned mum

SCOOP 64

You should open a new thread as this is a old one ,might get a better response.

Landers11

Can you get a susi grant or something similar if you meet all the criteria except for the progression criteria?