Does Back to Education allowance or SUSI cover your college fees?

ianol12

Hi, I am on BTEA this year for a plc course. The allowance did cover for a small portion of the course. I have no idea whether or not it will cover the fees for an undergraduate degree in UCC Cork.

BTEA allowance page says that it covers the maintenance fees. These fees do not exist.
There are two fees in this college im looking at. A student contribution charge for 2800 and a smaller charge for tuition around 200 euro.
In your experience has this allowance covered the costs for you. Recent experience, I think the allowance has chaned a lot in the last 5 years.

I know SUSI may cover these fees. I have no experience with SUSI. Will SUSI give you a grant for 3 years while you finish your degree.

JoeR91

When your on BTEA you can't get the maintenance part of the grant but you can still be eligible for the fees grant if you meet their criteria. SUSI will pay for the college fees or student contribution charge as it's known for the 3 years of your course if they accept you. Hope that helps

ianol12 wrote: »

Hi, I am on BTEA this year for a plc course. The allowance did cover for a small portion of the course. I have no idea whether or not it will cover the fees for an undergraduate degree in UCC Cork.

BTEA allowance page says that it covers the maintenance fees. These fees do not exist.
There are two fees in this college im looking at. A student contribution charge for 2800 and a smaller charge for tuition around 200 euro.
In your experience has this allowance covered the costs for you. Recent experience, I think the allowance has chaned a lot in the last 5 years.

I know SUSI may cover these fees. I have no experience with SUSI. Will SUSI give you a grant for 3 years while you finish your degree.

ianol12

JoeR91 wrote: »

When your on BTEA you can't get the maintenance part of the grant but you can still be eligible for the fees grant if you meet their criteria. SUSI will pay for the college fees or student contribution charge as it's known for the 3 years of your course if they accept you. Hope that helps

THanks for the reply.

So, does that mean. BTEA might cover the 2800 fees for maintenance if I meet the criteria.
I've spent hours looking for any clear cut information on this for BTEA. Wasn't successful.


That's great that SUSI would cover me for those 3 years.

Ultimately if Back to Education covered fees, it would be better because at least I have a back up plan with the SUSI grant.

paperclip2

Hi OP
Just to clarify BTEA does not cover any fees for third level.

Generally the three sets of fees you face going to college are:

Tuition fees: These are covered by the free fee initiative for anyone who is an Irish or EU citizen, has lived in Ireland or the EU for 3 out of the last 5 years and who hasn't been to third level before (FETAC and PLC courses are not third level). You don't have to apply for this initiative. the college will ask you at registration if you meet the criteria and if you do they will claim these fees from the Dept of Ed on your behalf. (Tuition fees may be covered from other sources if Free Fees doesn't apply)

Student Contribution: This is rising to €3000 in September. The only state support available for this is the SUSI Fee grant. To get this you apply online to SUSI, applications open round mid May though it can be earlier. The criteria for eligibility are that you are an Irish or EU national and have lived in Ireland for 3 out of the last 5 years and that you have a total gross income in 2014 of not more than €49,840. (This threshold is increased if there are 2 or more family members in college). If you live with a partner and/or parents their income is also counted in the assessment.

Student Services: This can vary from college to college but is usually no more that about €250. It can cover stuff like student union membership, onsite gym membership etc. There is no formal support available for this charge.

Some courses may have other costs attached to them for materials or resources that are required. Some colleges may have internal support available for these.

Day to day living money comes from one of two sources, the BTEA from DSP or the Maintenance grant from SUSI. You cant get both of these payments at the same time.

All colleges have access to a Student Assistance fund to help students who are struggling financially. Depending on circumstances this fund can assist students who may be in temporary or ongoing financial distress.

Hope this helps OP.

JoeR91

ianol12 wrote: »

THanks for the reply.

So, does that mean. BTEA might cover the 2800 fees for maintenance if I meet the criteria.
I've spent hours looking for any clear cut information on this for BTEA. Wasn't successful.


That's great that SUSI would cover me for those 3 years.

Ultimately if Back to Education covered fees, it would be better because at least I have a back up plan with the SUSI grant.

Yes if you meet there criteria for the fees component of the grant susi will pay the student contribution charge on your behalf which as said before is €3000 for 2015/2016. So you can get your BTEA and have student contribution charged covered by SUSI. If you have any other questions just pm me

Mandzhalas

paperclip2 wrote: »

Hi OP
Just to clarify BTEA does not cover any fees for third level.

Generally the three sets of fees you face going to college are:

Tuition fees: These are covered by the free fee initiative for anyone who is an Irish or EU citizen, has lived in Ireland or the EU for 3 out of the last 5 years and who hasn't been to third level before (FETAC and PLC courses are not third level). You don't have to apply for this initiative. the college will ask you at registration if you meet the criteria and if you do they will claim these fees from the Dept of Ed on your behalf. (Tuition fees may be covered from other sources if Free Fees doesn't apply)

.

Will HETAC 6 (3 month course in Carlow IT) award disqualify me from this?

paperclip2

Mandzhalas wrote: »

Will HETAC 6 (3 month course in Carlow IT) award disqualify me from this?

You would have to check with any new college you are applying to however chances are you should be ok. Three months is not usually enough time to get a HETAC level 6 major award as these usually take 1 to 2 years to complete. It sounds to me as if you have a minor, component or special purpose award.

Usually its only full awards that can cause problems in accessing fee support but I would double check with the college you are applying to as to whether or not you qualify for free fees and with SUSI regarding the student contribution. For both you will need to know if your level 6 award is a full award or not before they can give you an answer.

It could be a case that you might only get fees for some of the first year of a new course.