Advise on college expenses

Riain13

Hi all
Right so I'm a 28 independent mature student first time college "goer" and got accepted into the course I applied for in UCD which is great news.
I have a good amount of savings and I should qualify for a full grant if everything is accurate on studentfinance.ie.
So I just looking for some advise on what I should be excepting to pay in September to make sure nothing catches me out or I just don't plain freak out cause of some unexpected bill or fee, any help and advise would be most welcome thanks in advance.

Muir

I don't think the grant covers the student center levy, which was 158 last year and I think will be 168 this year. If the grant does cover it I'm sure someone will correct me.

Other than that, you'll be fine. You might have to buy books depending on what you're studying, though many are available in the library & also second hand. I know one or two of my lecturers sometimes print off a book of notes and bind them and charge us whatever it cost, maybe 15-20 euro, but I don't think it's overly common for this to happen, most notes are available online. Then if you're going to do printing on campus you basically put credit on your student card & use that.

Most of the things I've mentioned are optional. But other than the €168 levy you shouldn't have any other unexpected fees to pay.

Do be aware though, if you fail an exam in UCD and need to resit, there is a fee of €230 for every module you're resitting. I'm not saying that will happen to you, but I think it's something many people aren't aware of going to UCD so it is worth knowing.

confuseddotcom

Am curious what the 158/168 Fee is? Is that something specific to U.C.D?

Muir

confuseddotcom wrote: »

Am curious what the 158/168 Fee is? Is that something specific to U.C.D?

No, I think many colleges have it. In Galway it's €224. Other colleges may have different names for it, but I think most have some fee around that price which is not covered by the grant. It's €183 in UCD this year. It's a Student Center Levy, it was used to fund the new student center in UCD (with the new gym, pool etc). Basically it's used for the development/upkeep of the student center I think.

[Jackass]

OP, all you have to pay as a mature student with "free" fees and a grant is the levy, which is roughly 160 euro per year. Those are the only tuition expenses. After that you obviously need to budget for accomadation and living expenses.

I don't know if you have employment secured already, but finding the type of work that fits around a full-time day students schedule is extremely difficult, as evening bar / shop / office work / weekend work is very very thin on the ground as it is, but also you're competing with all students, unemployed people and people looking for second jobs as they're pretty low skilled work anyone can do and there's so many people looking for work.

So my advice would be (and I was in the exact same position as you last year, same age too) to really really be careful with your budget. Even if you don't have massive education expenses and you may have cheap or free living situation, you need to be aware that the grant alone is not feasable to live off and jobs are extremely difficult to find, so even if you have a fat wad of cash sitting in the bank, don't be a baller, that might need to support you for a long time.

As I discovered last year, the world is a very different and difficult place when you run out of cash!! :eek:

Best of luck with it all though, and welcome to UCD.