Postgrad Query

JayC5

Hi,

Wondering if anyone can help me out here, I'm currently doing a BA degree with a view to going further on completion (living independently and grant eligible). However, in light of finances I'm not sure if I can stick another year full time so I'm considering doing a post-grad part time over a 2 year period whilst working.

So, my question is this: if it doesn't go to plan and I'm unable to secure employment am I still able to apply for social welfare whilst studying part time? (also, does the same rule apply to private colleges for e.g. DBS?)

What if I were to study a full time course but in a fee-paying private college? Would that disqualify me from social welfare also if things got that bad?

Thanks in advance peops!

kthnxbai

Well first of all, you know that if you do part time, you'll lose your grant completely?

Not sure how much you get for your grant, but considering it would pay the fees too, seems like it would make more financial sense to stick with a non-private post-grad, considering some courses cost about 6,500 in fees alone... Will you really earn more than 6,500 + Reg fee + whatever your grant actually is working part time?

And as far as I know, unless you're available for work, you can't get the welfare. So, if you were to go do a full time course in a private college, you'd get diddley squat from the government... No grant, no welfare

I'm not entirely sure if you'd get the welfare on a part time course, but I would say that you wouldn't. I'm not entirely up to date on all the social welfares policies, as they seem to change SO much...

I had a look through the welfare site and couldn't find much that was useful tbh... It'd be worth your while sending off an email.

Sugarfree

JayC5 wrote: »

Hi,

Wondering if anyone can help me out here, I'm currently doing a BA degree with a view to going further on completion (living independently and grant eligible). However, in light of finances I'm not sure if I can stick another year full time so I'm considering doing a post-grad part time over a 2 year period whilst working.

So, my question is this: if it doesn't go to plan and I'm unable to secure employment am I still able to apply for social welfare whilst studying part time? (also, does the same rule apply to private colleges for e.g. DBS?)

What if I were to study a full time course but in a fee-paying private college? Would that disqualify me from social welfare also if things got that bad?

Thanks in advance peops!

A bit of advice for you. Work for a few years in your field whether that be in Ireland, UK elsewhere. There are a few benefits to this. The first one is you'll have a bit of life/work experience. You'll do better in Masters and pick the one that is suited to you. Plus you'll have the finance to do it comfortably.

kthnxbai

Sugarfree wrote: »

A bit of advice for you. Work for a few years in your field whether that be in Ireland, UK elsewhere. There are a few benefits to this. The first one is you'll have a bit of life/work experience. You'll do better in Masters and pick the one that is suited to you. Plus you'll have the finance to do it comfortably.

That's all well and good if you can even get work... I'd still say stick with the grant... it pays your fees... which is actually a LOT of money... Assuming you're getting 1300 or so for the grant + what you save in fees, you end up with 8-9 grand...

Unless of course, the masters that you really want is in a private college, then you're best taking sugarfree's advice...

Sugarfree

kthnxbai wrote: »

That's all well and good if you can even get work... I'd still say stick with the grant... it pays your fees... which is actually a LOT of money... Assuming you're getting 1300 or so for the grant + what you save in fees, you end up with 8-9 grand...

Unless of course, the masters that you really want is in a private college, then you're best taking sugarfree's advice...

How does a person straight out of an undergrad degree know what type of Masters they want to do? A masters is wasted on an undergrad imo.

kthnxbai

Sugarfree wrote: »

How does a person straight out of an undergrad degree know what type of Masters they want to do? A masters is wasted on an undergrad imo.

I suppose it does depend what you've done for your undergrad. Mine is very technical and there's a specific area that I'm interested in if I were to do a masters. I've done computer engineering... so I'll do a computer engineering masters...

I hadn't really considered that tbh, I suppose that it is good to get some experience so that you know you definitely want to work in a certain area... but then again, OP was just asking about finances... And financially, it makes a lot of sense to go straight into a masters if you're getting the grant...

achmairt

You won't get a grant for a part-time course or private College. You won't get back to education allowance from Social Welfare for a Masters.
You can get a grant for a full time Masters and your college will be paid for you also up to a limit of €6270 provided your income is under the income limits.

JayC5

Hey folks,

Thanks for all the info!


@kthnxbai -

yes I know I'll lose the grant if I go part-time, as I'm a mature student though it looks like it could be reduced this year as Mature students will no longer be automatically eligible for the non-adjacent rate of grant, this means the grant will be f**k all in other words and would barely cover three months rent...!


"That's all well and good if you can even get work... I'd still say stick with the grant" -

this is what concerns me, the grant is a measly 1300 or so, and yes it's great to have fees covered but how can I live on 1300 for almost a year? especially as you have also pointed out, it could be quite hard to secure employment... I'm in second year of a BA degree and I'm guessing that by the time I get to the post-grad stage my funds will have dropped significantly, I'm also assuming that because of the current economic climate the banks are not as student-friendly in terms of giving loans out these days?



@Sugarfree -

as I'm a mature student in my early 30s I already have more than a decade of work experience to date, I'm also certain of the post-grad path I want to pursue


So, because of all the above I'm just wondering is it a good idea to do a part-time masters over two years, as far as I can see this frees me up for work and also leaves the option of claiming social welfare if I can't find any. As for being willing and free to work I'm certainly able to handle a 9 to 5 whilst attending two evenings of classes per week? - by this rationale I'm assuming that makes me eligible for social welfare if it came to it as I will be searching for work and would prefer to work instead of relying on the state...

Thanks agains folks


J

AmyRacecar

I've been exploring my options and I am considering doing the same thing. I'm also a mature student but in my final undergrad year.
I came across this today http://www.welfare.ie/EN/OperationalGuidelines/pages/bte_pteo.aspx which suggests it is up to the local office to determine if you are available for full time work and therefore eligible for welfare while doing a part-time post-grad course.
I was trying to find out about the grant without much success, but you guys seem pretty certain I won't get it?