btea or maintenance grant?

angeldaisy

ok, well i've read all the info on these grants and tbh am not really any the wiser. I'm a mature student and have applied to college this year, i've been receiving illness benefit for 3 years so i know that i am eligible for the btea and i know that i can't get the two grants together.
so my question is which would be the most beneficial?
I'm married and my husband works and we have a young son in school, i can't work out which would work out to be the best one to apply for.

Any ideas/advice would be appreciated.

RoyalMarine

btea = €196 per week.
(Possibly eligable for rent allowance if your renting a property)

the following figures are BEFORE the 5% reduction is taken off.

The grant has 2 level's of payment.
Non Adjacent Rate €3,420
Special rate €3,270
total €6,690

works out for a 35 week course to €191 weekly

Adjacent Rate €1,370
Special Rate €1,310
Total €2,680
works out for a 35 week course to €76 weekly

So, if your entitled to the Non-adjacent Rate for the grant, then its very similiar rate of pay to the BTEA.
However, the BTEA has a few benefits if your entitled to the extra's, such as medical card, rent allowance etc.
There is also a €500 book allowance which is paid in the first 1 - 2 months of starting college.
It does require you to send a letter from the college registrar's office, to the BTEA office to confirm your attendance.

The BTEA is also paid weekly, and you should be entitled to sign on for job seekers allowance during the summer months from college.

The Grant payments are made monthly, and can often be delayed several months before you recieve any money.
If your a student on the grant scheme, then you would not be entitled to job seekers allowance during the summer months.
The grant does however, cover your registration fee's.
As of yet, i am unaware of any scheme from the government to help those who will be on BTEA, but NOT the grant on the matter of the fee's.

hopefully someone can shed some light on that.

snubbleste

Except those grant levels were cut by 5% at the start of the year
and btea is actually €196 per week

You're better off with the Btea as the maintenace grant is rigourously means-tested and your total household income for 2009 will be assessed which matters as your husband is working. Plus you will cuurently get €500 towards the cost of books.

RoyalMarine

thanks for the updated figures, ive edited my post to correspond with the correct rates.

angeldaisy

thanks for all the advice guys. going to apply for the btea grant, i need to have a regular income.
any ideas on what the fees are this year?

Gael23

RoyalMarineComm wrote: »

As of yet, i am unaware of any scheme from the government to help those who will be on BTEA, but NOT the grant on the matter of the fee's.

hopefully someone can shed some light on that.

Does anyone have any info on this? Im on DA and have no idea what Im entitled to for college.

tonybhoy72

you can get your reg fees paid by applying to the grant office for fees only
just announced during the last week or so.:)

MonicaBing

Thanks for asking that question OP, and if i may ask a similar q? Im going back to college in Sept going up a level to fetac 6, i was lucky enough to get the BTEA and the grant for my level 5 this year, so, i know i wont get the 2 of them again, im already getting OPFA, and when i received the BTEA it only went up by €20, so again my question would be similar to the OP's, am i better off applying for the grant?

shantad

hi everyone, very new to this, i'm in exactly the same boat as Monicabing and am wondering what i should do. i got a letter from the SWO saying they would continue my BTEA throughout the summer but like monica it is only an extra 20 on top of my OPF payment so i am wondering if i sign off the BTEA will this affect my chances of getting the maintance grant as i am going back to college for two years on a different course after completing a year already and getting both BTEA and the grant.

Hope that made sense if anyone could help figure it out i wud be grateful.
Thanks

B1977

MonicaBing wrote: »

Thanks for asking that question OP, and if i may ask a similar q? Im going back to college in Sept going up a level to fetac 6, i was lucky enough to get the BTEA and the grant for my level 5 this year, so, i know i wont get the 2 of them again, im already getting OPFA, and when i received the BTEA it only went up by €20, so again my question would be similar to the OP's, am i better off applying for the grant?[/

I think that anyone who was getting the grant and the BTEA last term will be allowed to keep both for college next Sept, but anyone who is only starting college next september for the first time can only choose one

noaddedsugar

I could be wrong in this but if you get just the grant your income for the month would be around the 700mark. So if whatever payment you are on now is less than that then yeah you would be better off. But if for instance you get rent allowance if you opt for just the grant I'm not sure you'd continue to receive it. My partner is in the same boat in that he got both for his level 5 course but won't get the grant this year for his level 6. He is contacting local TDs etc and trying to highlight the effect that not getting the grant will have on his ability to cotinue his studies through to uni.
Did you know that by stopping the grant for those on btea the government are saving 4million. That's .1% of what they gave to Anglo Irish bank. I wish more people would try and fight this cutback that will stop many people from furthering their education and getting out of the social welfare system once and for all. But from what I've seen no one seems to care:(
(Oh and sorry for any typos I'm trying to write one handed while feeding the baby.)

shantad

I think that anyone who was getting the grant and the BTEA last term will be allowed to keep both for college next Sept, but anyone who is only starting college next september for the first time can only choose one[/QUOTE]

hi i think this is only if it is the same course like a 2 year for example but if you did a one year course and are changing next year you cant get both unfortunatly.

macgrub

tonybhoy72 wrote: »

you can get your reg fees paid by applying to the grant office for fees only
just announced during the last week or so.:)

I am applying for the BTEA.
Do I fill in the Maintenance Grant form as normal ( as if I am getting the full grant ), and just put a note saying that I am only applying for the Fee's ?

tonybhoy72

macgrub wrote: »

I am applying for the BTEA.
Do I fill in the Maintenance Grant form as normal ( as if I am getting the full grant ), and just put a note saying that I am only applying for the Fee's ?

yes apply as fror full grant and they will deal with it when you tell them you only require fees

macgrub

tonybhoy72 wrote: »

yes apply as fror full grant and they will deal with it when you tell them you only require fees

cheers man