Independent non-mature grant question

Faith

Howdy folks,

I'm hopefully starting a 2 year postgraduate course in UCC in October. I've been living away from my parents for 4 years now, but don't turn 23 until 6 weeks after the deadline for "mature students". I noticed in the sticky that they're thinking of introducing a Independent non-mature grant this coming year, has there been any more info on that?

Is it possible that I could be considered for an independent mature grant because my birthday is so close to the deadline?

Cheers.

Hey Faith,

At the moment under the present grant scheme - no. There was someone on here before who was outside it by around 3 or 4 days and there was still no flexibility given if I remember correctly. You're correct about the plan to introduce the indep. non-mature grant (was mentioned 3 years independent from parents - and being able to prove this with bills and whatnot - would be needed), but I've seen nothing concrete on this. The new regulations for the grant scheme usually come out in June but chances are if the changes are occurring this year you'd hear about it in the papers and around.

If you're not eligible for the grant, you should still look into tax relief for the fees which'd be 20% back.

Sorry that I couldn't help more.

D.

Faith

Thanks Dónal. Was hoping to finance things myself through a grant, but I guess I'll just have to ask my parents for a hand!

JenniFurr

Hi Faith!
I'm in a similar situation as you. I'm going into second year in September and I've found myself broke and with no financial help from my parents. I've lived away from them unofficially since I was 16ish and I can't get the grant for the same reason. I've been doing a lot of research and there could be one thing that may help both of us out. But it depends from college to college. There's something called the Student Assistance Fund. It's not a guarantee but they can help with rent, bills, travel expenses etc. sometimes

Here's a link to the student finance website. Have a look around and see what you're entitled to

http://www.studentfinance.ie/mp7235/student-assistance-fund/index.html

I had a look at the UCC website and they seem a bit tough with the fund but you never know.

http://www.ucc.ie/en/SIN/welfare/finance/UCCSpecificApplications/UCCStudentAssistanceFund/

labradoodlelady

Hi guys. Am with Donal on the funding issue. The Dept. are INCREDIBLY tight on the mature candidate rule.

That said, I did manage to be assessed as an independent candidate even though I didn't turn 23 until June. However, my situation was extremely complex and I had to provide evidence of pretty much everything that EVER happened in my life. Basically if you're an EXTREME EXTREME case, I think that you might have a slight chance but be prepared for an uphill battle!

Student Assistance Fund is really not much benefit. I think that it will be getting a major major hit in most colleges next year so funds will be lower. I think they also have a pre-condition that you need to be eligible for a grant as well.

EDIT: Oh, the Student Assistance Fund is if you're in dire financial need. Max that they'll award is usually around the €1,000 mark and you'll need to show a hell of a lot to qualify for this much. I think over the past few years people were expecting it and blatantly using the system as a means of support rather than an "emergency" fund as such.

The only advice I can give is to save like crazy now for your course. Try applying for any scholarship/bursary programmes your course offers and look at the BOI Millenium Scholars and the Millenium Partnership Fund as other options. You also get the tax credit. If you haven't paid enough tax check out the situ with your parents claiming. I'm not 100% but I think parents can claim. Basically, they pay the fees and you pay them back and you're still saving the 20%.