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Not a dependent student anymore - SUSI grant

  • 27-08-2014 11:29am
    #1
    CaoimheCweeva
    Closed Accounts Posts: 241 ✭✭


    Hi there,

    Just wondering if anyone can help me out here. My boyfriend is going into his third and final year in UCC. For the past two years he has been getting the Special Rate of the adjacent maintenance grant of €2,375. As of January this year, he has been independent of both of his parents, as neither of them can afford to provide him with money. His parents are divorced and are both currently unemployed, his dad is going back to college this year to CIT and his mother's fiance works but still can't afford to give him any money. The grant he gets only just about covers his rent and bills. September of last year until May this year we only just about managed.
    He emailed SUSI explaining this, and of course they were pretty unhelpful. All he got was an explanation of who can be classed as a dependent and independent etc.
    My mam told me yesterday that she knows people who were under the age of 23 so weren't mature students, and explained this to SUSI and they therefore got the full maintenance grant of €5,915.
    I think it's completely ridiculous you can only be a mature student to be classed as independent. He was barely a dependent when he started college, his mam became broke after having to pay for his accommodation fees for first year, and he was living off about 20 a week his dad was giving him,and since then hasn't received anything from either of them.

    Anyone been in a similar situation?

    Thanks!


Comments

  • #2
    Annasopra
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 41,158 ✭✭✭✭Annasopra


    He cant be classed as independent.

    1 Hes under 23
    2 He entered as dependent and you cant change from dependent to independent unless there is a three year gap

    It was so much easier to blame it on Them. It was bleakly depressing to think that They were Us. If it was Them, then nothing was anyone's fault. If it was us, what did that make Me? After all, I'm one of Us. I must be. I've certainly never thought of myself as one of Them. No one ever thinks of themselves as one of Them. We're always one of Us. It's Them that do the bad things.

    Terry Pratchet



  • #3
    AlishaD
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2 ✭AlishaD


    Joeytheparrot wrote: »
    He cant be classed as independent.

    1 Hes under 23
    2 He entered as dependent and you cant change from dependent to independent unless there is a three year gap

    3 If you do not have the relevant gap in education then you can be re-classified as an independant student if moving from a course of Further Education (FETAC) to Higher Education (HETAC/Third Level)


  • #4
    Annasopra
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 41,158 ✭✭✭✭Annasopra


    AlishaD wrote: »
    3 If you do not have the relevant gap in education then you can be re-classified as an independant student if moving from a course of Further Education (FETAC) to Higher Education (HETAC/Third Level)

    Have you a link to that?

    It was so much easier to blame it on Them. It was bleakly depressing to think that They were Us. If it was Them, then nothing was anyone's fault. If it was us, what did that make Me? After all, I'm one of Us. I must be. I've certainly never thought of myself as one of Them. No one ever thinks of themselves as one of Them. We're always one of Us. It's Them that do the bad things.

    Terry Pratchet



  • #5
    AlishaD
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2 ✭AlishaD


    Yeah it's on the susi website under the header of what class of student am I - students aged over 23

    It's there in the 1st bullet point :)

    (I'm a new user so boards won't let me post a link :/


  • #6
    CaoimheCweeva
    Closed Accounts Posts: 241 ✭✭CaoimheCweeva


    Ah fair enough, that's what I thought but I just said I'd check anyways in case...
    No ****s are given by SUSI if a student is given a crap grant and is struggling to get by, and everyone wonders why students drop out so much


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  • #7
    Triceratops Ballet
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,894 ✭✭✭Triceratops Ballet


    My sister was in a simillar position last year, and SUSI didn't give a crap, despite the fact that the parent she was dependent on when she started college since died. She was still assessed as a dependent even though she lives with me, pays her own rent etc, (I can only barely support myself so I'm definitely not supporting her financially!) You can appeal, but even the appeal said no to her :mad:


  • #8
    CaoimheCweeva
    Closed Accounts Posts: 241 ✭✭CaoimheCweeva


    dottie_lottie wrote: »
    My sister was in a simillar position last year, and SUSI didn't give a crap, despite the fact that the parent she was dependent on when she started college since died. She was still assessed as a dependent even though she lives with me, pays her own rent etc, (I can only barely support myself so I'm definitely not supporting her financially!) You can appeal, but even the appeal said no to her :mad:

    What?! That's insane! :eek:
    The reason I even asked about this is because my mam's friend knew people who didn't get a grant at all and they told SUSI they were independent and they got the highest grant you can get..except my boyfriend ACTUALLY needs it. He's been looking for a job for over a year now and has been unsuccessful, and the crappy grant he's getting will probably just about cover his rent this year, not even bills. smh. SUSI are the worst.


  • #9
    Sup08
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,689 ✭✭✭Sup08


    The difference between the Special Rate Maintenance of €2,375 and €5,915 is not your particular needs or circumstances as the reckonable household income for both rates is the same (Under €22,703 and in receipt of a qualifying payment).

    The person on a Non-Adjacent Special Rate Grant gets €5,915 as their family home (Ordinary Residence) is more than 45kms away from their college and in some cases they may have to pay rent.
    My sister was in a simillar position last year, and SUSI didn't give a crap, despite the fact that the parent she was dependent on when she started college since died.

    Sorry to hear of her loss, but the dependency of a student under 23 at their point of entry automatically changes to their living parent (if alive) unless the can provide evidence of estrangement.


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