Going back to do a second degree

Morgase

I have an honours degree and have worked (not very happily) in a field related to my degree. I am hoping to change my career and return to college to start a different honours degree next year.

I've checked the studentfinance.ie website and I don't seem to be entitled to a maintenance grant or the BTEA seeing as I already hold a degree.

Does anybody have any advice as to whether there are any other ways of getting financial assistance?

Sad Professor

Not really tbh. Bank or credit union loan maybe. There sadly is not much in the way of support for students beyond the grant. In addition, since you've already completed a degree you will be liable for tuition fees.

leeroybrown

I don't see too many means of financial assistance being available. The whole system is setup around helping a person through a single degree qualification path. Are you 100% sure that there aren't suitable postgraduate conversion opportunities that you could pursue instead of doing another degree?

Morgase

Thanks for the really quick replies!

Sad Professor wrote: »

In addition, since you've already completed a degree you will be liable for tuition fees.

Yeah I have a plan for that, I'm planning on claiming the tax back which is 20% I think. It will take the sting out of it anyway.

leeroybrown wrote: »

I don't see too many means of financial assistance being available. The whole system is setup around helping a person through a single degree qualification path. Are you 100% sure that there aren't suitable postgraduate conversion opportunities that you could pursue instead of doing another degree?

100% sure unfortunately. My current degree is engineering (and we all know how that industry is going for the next few years!) and I am hoping to pursue a career in science - so I really need the science degree before I can go down the road of postgraduate science study.

Sad Professor

Might not be a viable option, but have you considered going to the UK? Fees are generally cheaper over there and you should be able to get a loan for them.

Morgase

Sad Professor wrote: »

Might not be a viable option, but have you considered going to the UK? Fees are generally cheaper over there and you should be able to get a loan for them.

That's a really good idea, unfortunately I'm stuck with a mortgage here. Thanks though.

Corcs001

Morgase wrote: »

I've checked the studentfinance.ie website and I don't seem to be entitled to a maintenance grant or the BTEA seeing as I already hold a degree.

Did you claim BTEA during your last course? Afaik you can claim BTEA for your second degree once you have never claimed it before.

Morgase

Corcs001 wrote: »

Did you claim BTEA during your last course? Afaik you can claim BTEA for your second degree once you have never claimed it before.

I actually didn't because with my first course I did it straight out of school. I might just apply for it but I'll probably get turned down because I'm doing a second degree and not a masters / PhD.

Corcs001

Morgase wrote: »

I actually didn't because with my first course I did it straight out of school. I might just apply for it but I'll probably get turned down because I'm doing a second degree and not a masters / PhD.

I already have an ordinary degree I did straight out of school. I'm planning on going back to do a 3 year honours degree in the UK in September and I was told I'll be eligible for BTEA if I'm unemployed for 12 months. You should qualify once you've never claimed it before. Give your local citizens information office a call and see what they say.

x in the city

you get BTEA for studying in the uk? thats news to me?

are science and engineering not entwined somewhat...?

it must be pretty specific branch of science to branch into, a 4 yr BEng would lead yo do a few science post grads im sure

JenniFurr

x in the city wrote: »

you get BTEA for studying in the uk? thats news to me?

are science and engineering not entwined somewhat...?

it must be pretty specific branch of science to branch into, a 4 yr BEng would lead yo do a few science post grads im sure

You're probably right. I'm doing a physics degree at the moment and there's a lot of engineering in it. I'm sure in some colleges you could be able to skip some classes or even a year. Physics has very broad career prospects too. Also I have known people to get grants for the same years of different courses but I'm not sure how. A girl who was in my course for all of last year got the grant again for media studies or some malarky like that. Maybe it was a mistake made by the county council but she managed it somehow.

Magenta

OP I am in the same boat...I want to get into dental hygiene, and would love to do it in the UK, but there's such competition for places.
I'm not even in the credit union...must join them tomorrow. Anyone know how likely they would be to give a 20K loan to an unemployed person?

Lockstep

Ever thought about Scotland?

There's no fees if you're an Irish citizen. Would help a lot as you're not paying tuition fees on top of living expenses.

--LOS--

Morgase wrote: »

100% sure unfortunately. My current degree is engineering (and we all know how that industry is going for the next few years!) and I am hoping to pursue a career in science - so I really need the science degree before I can go down the road of postgraduate science study.

I dont understand that at all, physics/engineering is pretty much the same, certainly you'll cover the same core maths subjects and core physics topics. It's not like it's a completely different field and thats where a masters programme is enough to bring you up to speed, unless youre interested more in the biology/chemistry side of things.