Ten thousand euro student fees , why ?

dementedpaddy

Hi, my stepdaughter has been asked to pay ten thousand euro fees for college. I am Irish and have lived and worked here (PAYE) all my life. My wife and stepdaughters are non eu citizens who have been here well over five years. My stepdaughter worked hard throughout her six years in an Irish secondary school (especially as English was not her spoken language) and achieved her first choice CAO course. I in my part have paid 3,500 euro for lodgings and am prepared to pay what I thought would be 2,500 euro fees.We have been refused a grant.
She has moved into her room and started her course but now I find she has to pay 10,000 euro fees which will force me to remove her from her course. This is because she has a Stamp 2 from Immigration.
I do not understand why her classmates from last year can pay quarter of what she is expected to pay for a seat in the same class this year. What " extras " can she expect to explain this exorbitant amount. Can anyone help me as I am not familiar with the Immigration / College registration systems ?

Thank you.

Rasmus

dementedpaddy wrote: »

Hi, my stepdaughter has been asked to pay ten thousand euro fees for college. I am Irish and have lived and worked here (PAYE) all my life. My wife and stepdaughters are non eu citizens who have been here well over five years. My stepdaughter worked hard throughout her six years in an Irish secondary school (especially as English was not her spoken language) and achieved her first choice CAO course. I in my part have paid 3,500 euro for lodgings and am prepared to pay what I thought would be 2,500 euro fees.We have been refused a grant.
She has moved into her room and started her course but now I find she has to pay 10,000 euro fees which will force me to remove her from her course. This is because she has a Stamp 2 from Immigration.
I do not understand why her classmates from last year can pay quarter of what she is expected to pay for a seat in the same class this year. What " extras " can she expect to explain this exorbitant amount. Can anyone help me as I am not familiar with the Immigration / College registration systems ?

Thank you.

Her classmates are EU citizens, she is not. I would be looking at getting that rectified after over 6 years here, and possibly appealing the fees on these grounds.

From citizens advice:

Entitlement to free fees for non-EEA nationals who acquire EEA citizenship during the course of their third level studies and issues surrounding fee status of non-EEA nationals.
With effect from the next academic year, 2013/14, a ‘Change of Nationality’ clause will form part of the Free Fees Schemes. As is currently the case students, who do not meet the nationality criteria of the schemes, will continue to be ineligible for free fees, however if such students subsequently acquire EEA citizenship during their third level studies they may be entitled to free tuition fees for the remainder of their course of study as follows:

Students who acquire EEA citizenship up to 31st December in an academic year may be entitled to free tuition fees from the second half of the academic year.
Students who acquire EEA citizenship from 1st January may be entitled to free tuition fees from the commencement of the next academic year.

If your stepdaughter has/had refugee status this is also a way to circumvent fees.

http://www.studentfinance.ie/mp9377/course-fees/index.html

MagicMarker

Why are you only realizing this now?

dementedpaddy

Thank you for the information Rasmus , I will follow up on the link you sent also.

MagicMarker: had I known earlier I would have acted on it, I was told once she was attending a school here for more than five years standard fees would apply.
Yes maybe I deserve the critical question but I have never had anyone go through college entrance before , not to mind someone from another country. I probably err on the side of hoping things could be simple and straightforward. Maybe I forgot where I live. Thank you.


Is there anything I can do for this year ?

Rasmus

dementedpaddy wrote: »

Is there anything I can do for this year ?

if she gets citizenship by the end of the year the fees for semester 2 could be waived.

If you have trouble paying the fees, talk to the college student finance officer. They will know about secondary grants or even payment plans.

dementedpaddy

Rasmus wrote: »

if she gets citizenship by the end of the year the fees for semester 2 could be waived.

If you have trouble paying the fees, talk to the college student finance officer. They will know about secondary grants or even payment plans.

We have just started that process ( citizenship ) , we would have done it sooner but immigration advised that until her mother had been granted naturalisation she would be unable to in her own rite as I was not her birth father( which I now believe to be incorrect as she is over 18 ). My wife has just been granted a certificate of naturalisation but these processes take so long and involve going through so many hoops.
I will try the finance officer and thanks again for your help.

Annasopra

MRCI have been doing work on this - contact them for advice

http://www.mrci.ie/our-work/young-people-education/http://www.mrci.ie/our-work/young-people-education/

Rasmus

mango salsa wrote: »

MRCI have been doing work on this - contact them for advice

http://www.mrci.ie/our-work/young-people-education/http://www.mrci.ie/our-work/young-people-education/

Wasn't what they did make it possible for students to get free fees if they became naturalised during the course of their studies?

dementedpaddy

I'm not sure if these are the same but any of these resources are educating me to what has been going on most of which I have been oblivious to until it arrived at my door. I appreciate any information on this as it will all help . I might contact MRCI for advice too. Thanks.

Annasopra

Rasmus wrote: »

Wasn't what they did make it possible for students to get free fees if they became naturalised during the course of their studies?

Yes they Lobbied Ruairi Quinn and he changed the laws

Annasopra

dementedpaddy wrote: »

I'm not sure if these are the same but any of these resources are educating me to what has been going on most of which I have been oblivious to until it arrived at my door. I appreciate any information on this as it will all help . I might contact MRCI for advice too. Thanks.

They may be able to help with giving advice on speeding up the naturalisation process

paperclip2

Is she being charged EU or Non-EU fees? If its non-EU it might be possible to have them reduced to EU fee levels on the strength of her having been resident in Ireland for so long. Talk to the admissions/ fees office in college.

dementedpaddy

mango salsa wrote: »

They may be able to help with giving advice on speeding up the naturalisation process

Was thinking the same at work today. I will drop them a line. Thanks again.

dementedpaddy

paperclip2 wrote: »

Is she being charged EU or Non-EU fees? If its non-EU it might be possible to have them reduced to EU fee levels on the strength of her having been resident in Ireland for so long. Talk to the admissions/ fees office in college.

Non-EU unfortunately , that is what I am being told but I have not given up yet so hopefully something will go right for us. I will be talking to them this week and I will try . Thank you.