how do people going back to college from scratch afford it?

juanveron45

If someone in there early 30's wanted to go back to college to do something completely different to what they originally did are they entitled to a grant or payments of any kind?

I think I read something before that suggest you cant get financel help if you have already been to college so my question how does one afford it, if the course is 4 years long apart from year 1 because you would have been working i dont see how you could pay for years 2 ,3 and 4 without working parttime?

Saint_Mel

If your over 25 (I think) you can qualify for a mature students grant.
Cant remember how much it is cos its a few years since I went back.
If your currently working and pack it in to go back you'll also get a bit
of a tax rebate.

I already had a cert and diploma and had been working before deciding
to go back top college full time to do a 1 year add course to get a degree,
so I dont know of theres any restriction on starting a 4 year course.

PeakOutput

afaik you need to be "furthering" yourself to be entitled to a grant so if you already have a degree you need to do a masters to get one.

if you have already done a degree and want to do another one then remember you are going to have college fees(5K??) on top of everything else

but to answer your question most would work part time

leeroybrown

The typical answer is exactly as you pointed out above - save a load of money first the work part time. That's probably a little simplistic a suggestion if there is a partner/kids involved especially if the course has long tuition hours. The other answer is to pick what banks view as a good professional qualification then you'll be able to debt-capitalise yourself too.

If you have already completed an undergrad course of some kind then the back-to-education style grants won't be a runner. I know of a case where someone had dropped out of a course years ago, were moving to a completely different area of study, and they were extremely lucky to qualify for it.

AARRRGH

You go to college part-time.

I'm doing a part-time MSc. There's also part-time degree courses. And there's the Open University.

You don't need to stop working...

dellas1979

Depending on what you were doing, if you went from a L6 (cert) to a L7 (Diploma) and then stopped and wanted to do the L8 (Degree) year, then there would be no fees.

If you have already done a L8 course, you will have to pay fees (and registration fees) per year. The cost of the course per year for a L8 changes from year to year and from college to college. It would roughly cost you about 4-5K for 1 year tuition and registration fees.

You would be considered a mature student at 23. Again, there are benefits, but nothing like what you may be expecting i.e you will not get reductions on your fees (unless a grant authority pays part-fees).

Another option is, if you have been at 3rd level before, you could apply for a grant. You can enquire about this at your local VEC/Co. Council. If you havent been on a grant before, you may well get this.