Eligibility under new 2012/13 grant system

fun.bobby1981

I am an independent mature student. I have already studied and completed an undergraduate level 8 degree in 2004. I have returned to education and have just completed my first year (of 4) of another level 8 undergrad degree.

In the run up to starting the course, I exhausted every possibleavenue for funding and was eligible for nothing, soI have been working nights full time in order to save enough for my fees each year.

Recently, I saw a post on the NUIG careers page that went something like the following:

If you are not eligible for payment of fees under the Free Fees initiative, then you may be eligible to have your fees paid under the new grant systemcoming into effect for 2012/13 academic year, subject to income means test.

I immediately tapped them up for mre information, but they said they didnt have any and what they posted on FB was info they received directly from www.studentfinance.ie. I cannot find anything on the website other than saying there will be more info come May.

To save people making the obvious replies and filling up this thread with replies that are of little addition:

Yes, I have been in receipt of a grant previously
Yes, I have already completed a level 8 undergrad
Yes I am FULLY aware of the eligibility requirements under the outgoing scheme
No, I am not eligible for any funding under the outgoing scheme


I am just wondering what is the rationale behind making a statement like the above, unless it did possiby apply to someone in my position.

There is no additional official information available until next month, but I'm just sussing out if anybody might have any information on this at all ...

Thanks

augusta24

To be honest I find it hard to believe. *Maybe* the new grant scheme will be open to people not eligible for free fees where as before it wasn't. But I really doubt this to be true. The new grant scheme is cutting down on people who will be eligible this year, I hardly see it likely that they will increase the amount of people eligible by allowing those not eligible for free fees??

mrmeindl

I really hope you don't become eligible, its a ****ing joke if they start paying for peoples 2nd degrees when some people who need the grant cant get it.

fun.bobby1981

mrmeindl wrote: »

I really hope you don't become eligible, its a ****ing joke if they start paying for peoples 2nd degrees when some people who need the grant cant get it.

No need to be a hater fella. Instead of looking at me, why don't you go and stand outside the social welfare offices on dole day & throw some abuse at the layabouts that are long-term unemployed because they "cant find work" or the welfare tourists sitting on their holes on a permanent holiday here and sending home all of the financial benefits that the government sees fit to give them.

You're damn right I'll take a second grant if I can get it and the only time I'll change my stance on that is when this farce of a country begins taking care of its own before everyone else!

When you have a worthwhile answer to that ... then you can hurl your abuse at me :-)

MauraTheThird

fun.bobby1981 wrote: »

No need to be a hater fella. Instead of looking at me, why don't you go and stand outside the social welfare offices on dole day & throw some abuse at the layabouts that are long-term unemployed because they "cant find work" or the welfare tourists sitting on their holes on a permanent holiday here and sending home all of the financial benefits that the government sees fit to give them.

You're damn right I'll take a second grant if I can get it and the only time I'll change my stance on that is when this farce of a country begins taking care of its own before everyone else!

When you have a worthwhile answer to that ... then you can hurl your abuse at me :-)

Tbh, I'd agree with the poster above. I don't think it would be very fair if those who don't get Free Fees to get financial help over those like me, who might not even get a grant this year due to my Dad owning a small farm.

mrmeindl

fun.bobby1981 wrote: »

No need to be a hater fella. Instead of looking at me, why don't you go and stand outside the social welfare offices on dole day & throw some abuse at the layabouts that are long-term unemployed because they "cant find work" or the welfare tourists sitting on their holes on a permanent holiday here and sending home all of the financial benefits that the government sees fit to give them.

You're damn right I'll take a second grant if I can get it and the only time I'll change my stance on that is when this farce of a country begins taking care of its own before everyone else!

When you have a worthwhile answer to that ... then you can hurl your abuse at me :-)

You only got the government to pay for one presumably worthless degree already and you want to it to pay for you to try again?

Yeah you're so much better than the welfare tourists and long term unemployed.

longhalloween

mrmeindl wrote: »

I really hope you don't become eligible, its a ****ing joke if they start paying for peoples 2nd degrees when some people who need the grant cant get it.

mrmeindl wrote: »

You only got the government to pay for one presumably worthless degree already and you want to it to pay for you to try again?

Yeah you're so much better than the welfare tourists and long term unemployed.

Wow, talk about negativity. It's easy to judge the OP when you've no idea of his/her circumstances.

In fairness I'm in the same position. I got a degree in Archaeology which is now worthless since the construction sector went belly up and I'm now retraining in Electronic Engineering.

OP according to citizensinformation.ie the 2012-2013 updates to the Student Grant Scheme are due to be published in May 2012, so you'd probably have to wait till then to apply. Unfortunately it also says that if you are applying for an undergraduate course and you have already completed an undergraduate course, you are not eligible for either a student grant or free fees.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/education/third_level_education/fees_and_supports_for_third_level_education/grants_and_funds_available_for_mature_students.html

Best of luck!

fun.bobby1981

MauraTheThird wrote: »

Tbh, I'd agree with the poster above. I don't think it would be very fair if those who don't get Free Fees to get financial help over those like me, who might not even get a grant this year due to my Dad owning a small farm.

Maura, I'm not saying it's fair. I never agreed with the regulations around assessment of the self-employed either. I hope you do get your grant but like I said, if there's any way I can get funding for my studies, I'll take it.

Getting back to my original question. I'm not looking for opinions, I'm looking for actual information. I welcome responses from anybody that has information. Meindl-esque biggots need not reply. On that subject, is there any way of blocking a user from replying to threads?

fun.bobby1981

longhalloween wrote: »

In fairness I'm in the same position. I got a degree in Archaeology which is now worthless since the construction sector went belly up and I'm now retraining in Electronic Engineering.

OP according to citizensinformation.ie the 2012-2013 updates to the Student Grant Scheme are due to be published in May 2012, so you'd probably have to wait till then to apply. Unfortunately it also says that if you are applying for an undergraduate course and you have already completed an undergraduate course, you are not eligible for either a student grant or free fees.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/education/third_level_education/fees_and_supports_for_third_level_education/grants_and_funds_available_for_mature_students.html

Best of luck!

Thanks longhalloween,

Yeah I knew all of that already, the only reason I was checking it out was because of the specific statement made by the NUIG careers centre.
I'll wait for the new info next month & I'll let you know if there's hope anyway!

Cheers

Aoibheann

Guys, watch the inflammatory posts on this thread, I'll be keeping an eye and infractions/bans will be issued where necessary.

fun.bobby1981 wrote: »

On that subject, is there any way of blocking a user from replying to threads?

You cannot prevent someone from replying to a thread, but if you click on the user's name, one of the options that drops down should be "Add *username* to Ignore List" and you will no longer see their replies.

barby_

I am going to follow this thread as I am in a similar situation as the OP is and planning to apply to another undergraduate, full-time course. I never received any grants though, as I didn't study here in Ireland - if it makes any difference...

If I won't be able to go down that route, I might decide to apply to a student loan instead.

Cliona99

I'm also in a similar situation. I'm ineligible for a grant because I already have a degree, even though I've never got a grant before. Hoping they change the rules before September.

achmairt

The rules are: You cannot get a grant or fees for a second Degree irrespective of whether you previously got a grant or not. End of story. The person who does one degree will not get a grant again unless he/she applies for a level higher than a level 8 e.g. Hdip or Masters. Don't waste your time searching. As well as that, the grant itself is no longer avail for masters (just fees only).
Good luck.

fun.bobby1981

achmairt wrote: »

The rules are: You cannot get a grant or fees for a second Degree irrespective of whether you previously got a grant or not. End of story. The person who does one degree will not get a grant again unless he/she applies for a level higher than a level 8 e.g. Hdip or Masters. Don't waste your time searching. As well as that, the grant itself is no longer avail for masters (just fees only).
Good luck.

Thanks Achmairt,

I'm aware of the current rules for the outgoing system, as I said originally.
what I'm wondering about is the statement that was apparently made on www.studentfinance.ie and why such a statement would be made unless there was something behind it. If you read my original post, you'll see what I'm talking about. Anyway, at this stage it seems unlikely that anyone can shed any light on it so I'll wait until the guidelines are published next month.

I'll post an update if there's anything to get excited about, once I read up on it for those that are in the same boat as me.

Until then I guess just keep your fingers crossed! :-)

achmairt

I don't think that sentence means much in the scheme of things. Anyway the grant Scheme is not out yet. I can't see them giving funding now if it was never given prior to this. Good luck

Annasopra

fun.bobby1981 wrote: »

what I'm wondering about is the statement that was apparently made on www.studentfinance.ie and why such a statement would be made unless there was something behind it.

There's no proof this statement ever existed though!

fun.bobby1981

Just as a follow up to this, I was looking at the website again and I actually found the text that has started this debate. It reads verbatim as follows:

Tuition fee element
If you are pursuing an approved undergraduate course in the State and your fees are not being met under the Free Fees Schemes or if you are pursuing an approved postgraduate course in the State or Northern Ireland you may be eligible for the tuition fee element of the fee grant. The rate payable (if any) is dependent on the level of your reckonable income and is subject to maximum fee limits.

The only reason that tuition fees would not be met by the Free Fees Scheme is if the student had already been in receipt of a grant previously. So perhaps they are looking at the current economic conditions, realising that more people are returning to college for a second time and using their previous means to determine whether they should be entitled to get a grant for their tuition fee. There's hope yet!!

i also called the helpline yesterday and they say that guidelines and the online application system should be available from 28th of May, which is next Monday.

ronano

god if that turned out to be true be such a weight off! either way thannks for info regarding 28th may good luck

fun.bobby1981

Lodged my application on the day the scheme opened, 12th June.
No word back yet and they cant advise as to the estimated turnaround time due to the number of applications (or so they say). Just a waiting game at the moment :-(

newmum96

hi all i was just wondering am i eligible for grant? im going to do a level 5 course and i have recieved the grant for one month when i was previously at college for a different level 5 course but had to stop because of pregnancy.. can anyone help thanks.!

fun.bobby1981

newmum96 wrote: »

hi all i was just wondering am i eligible for grant? im going to do a level 5 course and i have recieved the grant for one month when i was previously at college for a different level 5 course but had to stop because of pregnancy.. can anyone help thanks.!

If you got the grant but didn't finish your course, there are provisions to allow for second chance students.

To find out if you're eligible, you should find all the info you need on www.studentfinance.ie. After that, all you can do is submit an application & see what happens

newmum96

thank you..

Jwacqui

fun.bobby1981 wrote: »

Lodged my application on the day the scheme opened, 12th June.
No word back yet and they cant advise as to the estimated turnaround time due to the number of applications (or so they say). Just a waiting game at the moment :-(

Same here, getting worried as I really need a grant!