Maintenance grants being abolished!

lornise

Hi im only new to this but feel I needed somewhere to vent my frustrations. I am a mature student who decided (not lightly) to return to education after the birth of my daughter as I struggled to find work. I am still awaiting my maintenance grant and am receiving BTEA. I was appalled to hear that the goverment are abolishing the higher education grants from nxt year..surely logical thinking would be to invest in education and the future revenue of our soceity! I struggle to survive on the 200 a week that is allocated to me as I have creche fees of 650 and the day-to-day costs of college and a child. Am I the only one who can see the disgraceful manner in which students old and young alike are being treated?? How can this country recover if we stick to the policy of robbing from the poor to bail out the rich!

jaffa20

In fairness, the grant and btea is a with fees paid is a bit much to support. I managed to get through college with a small grant alone. The grant is only being abolished for recipients of btea which i agree is fair considering the other cuts that have being made.

I plan on going back to do the hdip and will be happy to get the grant supported hopefully with a part time job. As long as they don't bring in fees. Although, i will have to pay almost 6k of fees if i do not qualify for a grant because free fees doesn't apply to the hdip.:(

Sad Professor

As said above, they are not abolishing the grant, they just removing the automatic entitlement to it for BTEA holders.

In addition, if you are already receiving the BTEA and the grant you will continue to receive them both. This new rule applies to new applicants from next year. But even they will still get their registration fees paid, and given that they are likely to sky rocket soon that is a very good thing.

I think they should have been means-tested but the BTEA is still enough for college. Anyone who is getting the grant as well is very fortunate, especially considering they might also be getting rent allowance. I work part-time and get the regular rate of grant (3,500) and I struggle to balance work and college while trying to pay rent. I envy anyone getting the BTEA. I would gladly give up my job and live on a little less if it meant having more time to devote to college work.

lornise

The Btea is 200 euro a week the exact same rate as the jobseekers allowance, I was made redundant from work after my daughter was born so I did not want to sit at home on the scratcher claiming benefits. So I decided to get a degree..surviving on 200 a week is near impossible, I have to pay creche fees of 650 and my travel is 60 so that leaves me with 90 euro a month to take of myself and a child. My point was not to start a debate on the eligibility of the people on BTEA and receipients of grants but to highlight the downfall of the goverment not ensuring a system is in place to support people who decide to get off their backsides and re-train. I will not be able to return to college next year if I dont get a maintenance grant so my only options are to live off the state and be a great role model to my daughter!

CoolDruid

Please insure you are claiming all your entitlements.

The average Irish industrial wage in 2008 is: €32,000pa; €495 per week after tax.
The Social Welfare Student is entitled to: €25,266pa; €485 per week, no tax, insurance paid.

You can also get a medical card and child benefit €1,800 per year and qualified child allowance of €26 per week; €1,352 per year.


Good luck with your studies.

The Social Welfare Student.
The Back to Education Allowance(BTEA) €197.80 per week, €10483
Rent Support; €130.00 per week €6760
The Maintenance Grant (HEG); €3,420.00 per year €3420
The Special Rate of Maintenance Grant (Top-Up) €3,270.00 per year €3270
Cost of Education Grant €500.00 per year. €500
500 European Social fund (ESF) €500.00 per year €500
500 Student Support Fund, (SSF) (loan) per degree. €1,000.00 €333
per degree 333

Total Per Week (€485) every week, for 3 years, guaranteed. Tot €25,266
Total per year; €25,266 pa
10483+6760+3420+3270+500+500+333= €25,266 per year = €75,798 per 3 year degree.

jaffa20

CoolDruid wrote: »

Please insure you are claiming all your entitlements.

The average Irish industrial wage in 2008 is: €32,000pa; €495 per week after tax.
The Social Welfare Student is entitled to: €25,266pa; €485 per week, no tax, insurance paid.

You can also get a medical card and child benefit €1,800 per year and qualified child allowance of €26 per week; €1,352 per year.


Good luck with your studies.

The Social Welfare Student.
The Back to Education Allowance(BTEA) €197.80 per week, €10483
Rent Support; €130.00 per week €6760
The Maintenance Grant (HEG); €3,420.00 per year €3420
The Special Rate of Maintenance Grant (Top-Up) €3,270.00 per year €3270
Cost of Education Grant €500.00 per year. €500
500 European Social fund (ESF) €500.00 per year €500
500 Student Support Fund, (SSF) (loan) per degree. €1,000.00 €333
per degree 333

Total Per Week (€485) every week, for 3 years, guaranteed. Tot €25,266
Total per year; €25,266 pa
10483+6760+3420+3270+500+500+333= €25,266 per year = €75,798 per 3 year degree.

It's unlikely someone is entitled to all of that. Also, have you read the topic of discussion? You will not be entitled to a maintenance grant if you are claiming btea anymore.

entropi

Just a quick question on this subject if i may:

I've applied for the maintenance grant this year, albeit the PLC version and hopefully i'll be accepted, but if that happens, it wont be able to "roll over" to 3rd level will it, or would i need to apply all over again? I'm hoping to get into DCU come September as a mature student and it'll be nigh on impossible to study there if i cannot get a grant, sure its hard enough scraping by on BTEA right now:(