Maintenance Grant

irlpic

Has anyone received any word back from their maintenance grant application yet?

curry-muff

A lot of people have and know how much they are getting or if they arent getting one at all, but i myself havent heard a word from them, not even to say theyve recieved my application and i sent it a good month ago

irlpic

Same as that.About 2 months ago and nout back.

I know of quite a few in the same boat.

tatabubbly

The county councils are usually very bad at getting back to people...

Don't be expecting your grant til mid-october thought, their always quite late

Harps

I got mine last week..never heard a word from them until then. I remember last year I didnt get it until well into October so dont be too concerned.

TPD

Haven't heard anything yet, had to send off a couple of extra forms a couple of weeks ago, so it's at least half processed. It's usually in the bank by October 3rdish. Though it will probably be later this year with the amount of new students, seems like its doubled since last year.

nevancito

last year didnt get mine till end of november and registration fee back till end of march

RoyalMarine

student service's sent an e-mail around regarding the grant's. basically, you should put pressure on your local TD's regarding the council's not taking on extra staff to deal with the increased number of application's.

irlpic

LATEST FROM DONEGAL VEC

Notice to Third Level Grant Applicants 2009/2010

Due to the large volume of grant applications received we wish to advise students that the first round of grant payments for eligible students will be made at the end of October 2009.

The Student Support Section is open to the public from 2:00pm to 5:00pm, Monday to Friday.

Applicants shall be contacted in due course with regard to their eligibility for funding for the 2009/2010 academic year. Where necessary we will write to applicants requesting outstanding/further information and documentation. In the meantime, applicants should continue to submit relevant information and documentation to allow us to continue with assessments.

In particular, please ensure that you have returned your Final Acceptance Form, indicating the course of study you intend to pursue.

Staff in the Student Support Section appreciate and ask for your continued co-operation as we process the increased volume of application forms received for Third Level Support this year.

TPD

I was told during the week that it could be up to 8 weeks before they're all out. Sooner rather than later I hope.

paul150

I sent my form into the vec in the first week of september and got word back a week later so i must have been one of the lucky ones

RoyalMarine

paul150 wrote: »

I sent my form into the vec in the first week of september and got word back a week later so i must have been one of the lucky ones

congrats and definatly one of the lucky ones!

TPD

Finally got a letter back asking if I want to accept the grant. Seems a bit silly asking if I want it when I've spent ages applying for it though.

Now to see if the college can possibly stamp a form in a single day :eek:

loca1

Some of you are very lucky. Im a mature student 1st year and had all my forms into them in July heard nothing back went in last week and they werent a bit nice said it could be 4-8 weeks or the way they are going could be 48weeks thats the exact words she said to me im praying its not more than 4 weeks or i will have to drop out and im loving it so far

irlpic

loca1 wrote: »

they werent a bit nice

Yeah, you would think the students were an inconvenience to them..It doesn't hurt to show a bit of understanding when asked "when do you think i can expect a decision" after three months of waiting.A rhymed off statement with a stern looking face in reply is not a way of showing gratitude for the fact that we are helping provide them with a means of employment.

A course in public relations or attitude behavior wouldn't go a miss when all this misfortune is over.

And by the way, as an employee and employer in a past life, this grant (if i ever get it) is only a small return for the countless money paid into the state over the years by myself - it's not nice being made beg for a small fraction of it back.

RoyalMarine

irlpic wrote: »

Yeah, you would think the students were an inconvenience to them..It doesn't hurt to show a bit of understanding when asked "when do you think i can expect a decision" after three months of waiting.A rhymed off statement with a stern looking face in reply is not a way of showing gratitude for the fact that we are helping provide them with a means of employment.

A course in public relations or attitude behavior wouldn't go a miss when all this misfortune is over.

And by the way, as an employee and employer in a past life, this grant (if i ever get it) is only a small return for the countless money paid into the state over the years by myself - it's not nice being made beg for a small fraction of it back.

File a complaint to the county council or to your local TD regarding the attitude of the staff.
it actually does get results! i had abuse thrown at me over a few parking ticket's. I complained about the attitude not being professional, and a few weeks later i recieved a letter from the staff member, appologising to a great extent.

curry-muff

Im as pissed off as the next person but i can understand where the vec staff are coming from they only have 2 people working 2 days a week in a year that college applicants has BOOMED. They are obviously gona be stressed and if anyones to blame its the government itself for not giving extra manpower or even giving the two that are unlucky enough to be working it a few extra hours at it.

So yeah something should be said to the tds but i wouldnt go bashing the vec employees.

Glazun

Yea the VEC employees themselves aren't to blame for the current situation. They're trying to get through the papers as best as they can. They really send some of the staff from other counties to the donegal branch.

chavetychav

government is a bollox for not intervening!

loca1

I dont think there has been enough publicity about the backlog of grants in Donegal a short while back we heard and seen in papers about students in Sligo / Mayo not receiving theres till later i for one havnt seen much in local papers about donegal vec/county council. That other backlog was cleared fairly quick so surely we should get more resources. A lot of us wont see the grant until next year i am so screwed really depended on it towards my childcare for my 2 children i've a huge loan to repay and would need a top up now on that there wont be christmas this year thats for sure. Some people have received letters but majority have heard no word back and it doesnt matter when they got the application as mines was in with them complete in July I know they are under pressure in there but so are we to continue our studies. We havnt seen the worst of the Government yet guys i guess we are in for an awful shock in december

RoyalMarine

chavetychav wrote: »

government is a bollox for not intervening!

the government did intervein! they stopped the county council's hiring new staff to deal with the surge in applications!!

chavetychav

go to page 5 of the derry people this week, theres a half page on students not receiving grants

ToniTuddle

Onto the Grant people again.
I've been told that my application is with the "assessors".
So basically no further. She said it could be days, weeks. No clue.
End of Jan I'd say.
*crosses fingers*

Harps

Got an email today saying the VEC offices are closed all week so they can try and catch up with processing the grants..

ToniTuddle

Yeah we all got that one.
They should have closed down for 2 or 3 weeks long ago and got a good bulk of them done.
BUT saying that can't change the past! Let's hope they can at least get through most of the August applications.

Local-womanizer

Finally got word today! Now to await the next payment?

Anybody know when that is by any chance?

irlpic

Local-womanizer wrote: »

Finally got word today! Now to await the next payment?

Anybody know when that is by any chance?

As far as i know if you get your letter stamped and returned to the VEC before the 19th of Nov you will get your backdated payment at the end of this month.

If you miss this deadline the next payment is scheduled for the 25th of Dec.

I'm not 100% on all of the above but its all posted on one of the notice board in the main corridor.

Just thinking here, we got a college email this week stating that the VEC is closed all week to try and speed up processing.:(

ToniTuddle

irlpic wrote: »

Just thinking here, we got a college email this week stating that the VEC is closed all week to try and speed up processing.:(

They "claim" to be closed. I've heard today that they aren't really. I'm sure the fact people ring them everyday wanting news isn't helping the problem of them getting through the workload.

They haven't taken on new staff but they have taken on some work experience people from the college here. They are well into the August applications now according to these work experience ones. They aren't dealing with the grant applications themselves as they are in administration roles. But have seen what's going on.

See Mister E....it's good to talk to everybody. Ya find out the good info

loca1

Will it be paid next week?? if i dont get it this time im going to cry

Harps

If you've been approved already then you should get your payment automatically at the end of every month..if you havent been approved then nobody knows whats happening...

loca1

Yeah I have been approved for the grant back in October but they only gave me the letter there and then that day because I looked so stressed. Brought the approval letter to the college but I cant think what I was supposed to get signed or stamped by the college. That day I was in the VEC the woman said just sign this to say you want the grant and thats it but I cant think about forms signed.

Got a letter back from the Millenium partnership I hadnt it fully filled out so at least they are giving me a chance to get it in order might not get anything from that saying im entitled to the full grant worth a try though

TPD

Got my grant today, the reception didn't have it last week, so if yours wasn't in then try now.



:D:D

loca1

I went and asked at reception today after seeing the notice but apparently it wont be in the bank accounts until friday. Enjoy a few nights on the beer for me lol

loca1

Finally got my grant I can relax a bit now

Local-womanizer

Iam the same,thank god!

ToniTuddle

:( Still no grant or Back To Education. Not a word from any of them.
Will be ringing on Monday and seeing what is going on with both of them

loca1

Cant believe some of you still have had no word thats unreal how do they expect people to survive i think you need to go down to the VEC in person to get any way forward I had to go down a few times.

I got 3 months payment does that mean i wont get the december payment i notice it is supposed to be paid into the bank on christmas day according to the bank surely that isnt right. I had so much debt my grant this time is more or less gone on bills

ToniTuddle

They say the exact same things to you in person as they do on the phone.

Funny thing is....a lad in my class has only got his grant now and he applied at the start!!!
They are suppose to be into the August pile now but he had his all sorted in June. They must have missed his file.

Otherwise they are lying and not bloody sorting them in order.

I've no idea what kind of a grant I'm even going to get.
I took out an Ulster bank overdraft which has helped....but only helped pay off certain debts. There is plenty more piling up.

Really am loving college this time around, but at the moment it's looking like it's not worth it. I'm stubborn though!!! I'll bloody go and find out about student loans now this week and see how that goes.

loca1

They are no way sorting them by order they went in to them i know a few girls in my class had their payment in October and they only had the forms in on the August closing date I had mines in July everything included and just after getting my payment. But it just depends on the mood of them in the office that day i went in she took my form into another girl and she gave me a letter there and then didnt even take long for them to do that ten minutes its obvious the week they had off hasn't helped with the backlog. As for the back to education whats the delay there you still get your payment though?? But you didnt get the 500 book allowance?

ToniTuddle

I probably mention this before can't remember but anyway...

I was told by a Job Facillitator(spelling) that I would not qualify for Back To Education as I was only unemployed for 3 and half months before college started.
Found out a classmate got it and he was only unemployed for 4 and half months. So I wrote a letter, gave in forms with all relevant documentation. That was about 5 weeks ago.

Maybe they didn't like the tone of my letter!! I'll ring them and find out anyway.
My friend had his BTE backdated from the start. So if I do get it, I'm going to make damn sure mine is backdated as well!!

Not sure if he got the €500 book allowance, must ask him tomorrow.
Hmmmm....maybe they did give him the book allowance and only a week or twos payment....

Time to get out the magnifying glass and go investigating :cool:

GismoBaby

ToniTuddle wrote: »

I probably mention this before can't remember but anyway...

I was told by a Job Facillitator(spelling) that I would not qualify for Back To Education as I was only unemployed for 3 and half months before college started.
Found out a classmate got it and he was only unemployed for 4 and half months. So I wrote a letter, gave in forms with all relevant documentation. That was about 5 weeks ago.

Maybe they didn't like the tone of my letter!! I'll ring them and find out anyway.
My friend had his BTE backdated from the start. So if I do get it, I'm going to make damn sure mine is backdated as well!!

Not sure if he got the €500 book allowance, must ask him tomorrow.
Hmmmm....maybe they did give him the book allowance and only a week or twos payment....

Time to get out the magnifying glass and go investigating :cool:

he got the 500 last week or week before toni!

ToniTuddle

GismoBaby wrote: »

he got the 500 last week or week before toni!

Excellent!!

Well only excellent if I get it

Check yer PM in a minute;)

GismoBaby

loca1 wrote: »

I got 3 months payment does that mean i wont get the december payment i notice it is supposed to be paid into the bank on christmas day according to the bank surely that isnt right. I had so much debt my grant this time is more or less gone on bills

why would you not get the december 1? 3 months is sept, oct, nov! course you'll get it in december! my grant has been approved since i registered so the first payment was the 2nd or 3rd oct or something like that. the second one was 28th oct so got 2 that month cos the first one was meant to be for sept and nov was 28th aswell. they must be pushing the pay date back since the college will be closed for xmas. im sure if they say itll be there that it will give or take a day or two! i have faith!!

OzzyNev

Mine has been accepted on the 3rd of december, will i get the first and second installments in december? or will i lose the first payment?
Also, do you get the tuition fees refunded and the grant separate or does the tuition fee come out of your total grant?

Cheers

Local-womanizer

You get the whole lot paid back to you aswell as the registration fee if you have paid it already.

Not sure about the tution fee thing.

RoyalMarine

OzzyNev wrote: »

Mine has been accepted on the 3rd of december, will i get the first and second installments in december? or will i lose the first payment?
Also, do you get the tuition fees refunded and the grant separate or does the tuition fee come out of your total grant?

Cheers

you need to contact the college regarding the tuition fee/registation fee being refunded.
they will give you the best advice on getting this back asap.

which your more than entitled to.

ToniTuddle

No Back To Education for me.
VEC will be closed all this week. So I can't go in and put more pressure on them especially now.
Just got letter from college saying they will disable my computer account,use of library etc etc if I don't pay the 1,500.

Had everything in the VEC for the 30th August apart from the college acceptance letter, which I didn't give in(because I didn't get it) until the 2nd September.

I'd say they have classed me as a September person as a result of this. They won't be processing any of September until well after Xmas. That's according to the Donegal News(Derry people to those of you that still call it that!). Says there is few hundred...or else 250 September applications.

Knowing my luck mine is the one at the bottom of that pile!!

GismoBaby

didnt get back to ed either toni so! but theya ctaully wrote me a kinda nice letter! thought that was wild odd!! it wasnt yer run of the mill photocopied yoke!

ToniTuddle

Nope I won't be getting a letter from them that's for sure. With his attitude.
Going to the banks tomorrow with the Mother to see what story is with student loans.
Think I'll try and get enough money to cover all debts and then have my main debt in only one big lump.
Instead of bit here and bit there to pay off etc

GismoBaby

do an eddie hobbs on it!!! good woman

ToniTuddle

Just got the letter today (feicing postman was severely late ggggrrr)

Woooooo!

Such a relief. I'd say more letters will be sent out next week.
I was late with mine the very last day of the deadline so hopefully others like me will be getting word.
:D:D:D