Grant Refused

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy

Anyone know how this will work out?

Cousin has begun a level 7 undergrad. He did year 1 of a level 7 back in 06, but stopped attending after failing his christmas exams. Last September he did a level 5 fetac and has now started his degree. He applied for a grant to cover just the fees, because he's being allowed keep his dole, however he was refused because he's already studied for a degree before.

His mam is very worried, because they can't afford the fees, and they're planning an appeal seeing as you're supposed to get a second chance at these things.

Would he even qualify for a grant next year for year 2? I could help out with the fees for this year, but there's no point unless he's going to go the distance.

Cheers

paperclip2

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy wrote: »

Anyone know how this will work out?

Cousin has begun a level 7 undergrad. He did year 1 of a level 7 back in 06, but stopped attending after failing his christmas exams. Last September he did a level 5 fetac and has now started his degree. He applied for a grant to cover just the fees, because he's being allowed keep his dole, however he was refused because he's already studied for a degree before.

His mam is very worried, because they can't afford the fees, and they're planning an appeal seeing as you're supposed to get a second chance at these things.

Would he even qualify for a grant next year for year 2? I could help out with the fees for this year, but there's no point unless he's going to go the distance.

Cheers

I don't think he'll get SUSI support with the fees or a grant for the full duration of his course, not because of the degree but because of the QQI level 5 course. SUSI's second chance rule doesn't allow any full-time study in the 5 years immediately preceding a return to higher education. Or at least that was what they told me when I last checked with them.

The Free Fee Initiative will cover the tuition fees for him but he could likely be liable for the registration fee of €3000 each year.

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy

Registration fees, they're the one's he's being billed for. That's worrying, what you've just said. He was under the impression that he won't qualify for year 1, because he's sat year 1 of a degree already, but year 2 shouldn't be a problem because he's not done that before.

How does that compare to your situation? €9000 over three years is a lot of money. They really don't make it easy for people!

paperclip2

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy wrote: »

Registration fees, they're the one's he's being billed for. That's worrying, what you've just said. He was under the impression that he won't qualify for year 1, because he's sat year 1 of a degree already, but year 2 shouldn't be a problem because he's not done that before.

How does that compare to your situation? €9000 over three years is a lot of money. They really don't make it easy for people!

No they don't.

I just gave SUSI a ring there to double check and they told me that the 5 year rule does cover FETAC courses so in essence your cousin would have to wait 5 years from the completion date of his FETAC course before being eligible under 2nd chance.

Maybe give them a call yourself to make fully sure but they were quite categoric about it.

SUSI Tel: 0761 08 7874

greensausage

Im in a similar situation to your cousin, i attended college in 2003 for 5 months then went and did a level 6 course which i completed in 2010/2011, i don't have official confirmation but i talked to a supervisor with SUSI and they told me that most likely i don't count as a 2nd chance student and that I would have to complete a the same study time I did in 2003(5 months) before i would be eligible for a grant.
So basically it means I may receive 4/9 of the maintenance grant and 4/9 of the fees would be covered and next year(assuming i make it to 2nd year!) I may be entitled to the full grant. Hope this helps.

Sup08

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy wrote: »

Cousin has begun a level 7 undergrad. He did year 1 of a level 7 back in 06, but stopped attending after failing his christmas exams. Last September he did a level 5 fetac and has now started his degree. He applied for a grant to cover just the fees, because he's being allowed keep his dole, however he was refused because he's already studied for a degree before.

He would not be eligible for the period of study he completed in 2006 (year 1 of any undergraduate course). This is because he attended a course (Fetac Level 5) between both undergraduate courses (2006/present), this disqualified him from being a second chance student. But once his period of study has been completed (year 1 of an undergraduate course), he would be eligible for all further assistance once he meets the other criteria surrounding the grant application.

Would he even qualify for a grant next year for year 2? I could help out with the fees for this year, but there's no point unless he's going to go the distance.

Yes, he would be eligible but still may not qualify if they don't meet the other criteria with their application.