Pay full fees for level 8 course if have Level 7 qualification?

SuperRabbit

If you can help me or tell me who to email for help that would be wonderful.

"You must be a first-time full-time undergraduate. However, students who already hold a Level 6 or a Level 7 qualification and are progressing to a Level 8 qualification on the National Framework of Qualifications without having received an exemption from the normal duration of the course may be deemed eligible for free fees. Also, you may be eligible for Free Fees, if you attend a course but did not complete it and are returning following a break of at least five years to pursue an approved course at the same level."

I feel encouraged by the part in bold but I also do not at all understand it.

My situation is I have a 7 year old Level 7 degree (3 years) in Art and Design and I would like to go back to college and get a level 8 degree in physiotherapy.

Would I have to pay full fees for the whole thing?
Full fees for the first 3 years and free fees for the 4th?
Free fees for all 4 years?

SuperRabbit

I found my answer, the UCD website is very helpful, unlike the "Citizen information" one.


Students who have completed and been awarded a level 7 “Ordinary” degree Where a student has been awarded a level 7 degree and wishes to progress to a level 8 degree they will be entitled to free fees for “add-on” years only i.e. if their level 7 degree was of 3 year’s duration then they will be entitled to free fees for the 4th and subsequent years only. This student will be liable for tuition fees for the first three years.

9,000 a year for 3 years. I cannot afford this - I have a degree in colouring in!


Is there anything I could do? If I got a loan, and I failed, I'd have ruined myself financially, and having that threat hanging over my head would be a problem, not a motivation. I work better with the carrot rather than the stick.

empacher

being out of education a certain amount of time means something.

I did two years of college before dropping out, because ive being out of education for longer then 5 years i can go back to first year on a the normal fees.

Aghoney

I attended a Susi presentation at the Mynooth open house a few months ago, and this specific topic was mentioned by the presenter. My understanding was that if you have a Level 7 degree you are eligible for free fees for all 4 years of your level 8 degree. If the level 8 degree is a continuation of your level 7, you would be eligible for free fees for the additional year required to convert the Level 7 into a Level 8. The Susi web site mentions a maximum of 4 years total for levels 6 and 7 combined, but lists level 8 as separate (Goggle: Susi Maximum Period of Grant Assistance – Undergraduate).

Mazuma

You can move from a level 7 degree to year 1 of a level 8 degree and be eligible for the 4 years of funding with SUSI

SuperRabbit

I didn't know about Susi, I took their eligibility thing and it says I might be eligible. But whatever about a grant, if I don't have to pay €27,000 in fees then I will find a way to go to college!


It would be so wonderful to have a job where I am helping people in a real and measurable and important way.

0byme75341jo28

I always thought you could get free fees providing you were going from a level 7 to a level 8. Maybe you should make an appointment with the college you want to go to op?

Also, I think you're eligible for SUSI funding provided you're going up an NFQ level and it's been 5 years+ since your last time in full time education, not 100% on that though. Obviously you still have to meet the income requirements though, I think that's roughly ~€40000 a year. There's also a special rate of grant if you've earned less than ~€23000 a year, think if you're in this band you get ~€600 a month from SUSI.

ronano

I would suggest talking to paperclip2 for advice. I held a 3 year level 7 ordinary degree in journalism.I went and did 4 year bess level 8 degree, I was able to get my fees entirely covered for the third year of the degree close to 6 grand. The fourth year was covered under free fees.

SuperRabbit

I wish I could go back in time and tell myself to choose a degree that would help me get a job I loved instead of choosing one that would make me happy for the three short years I was doing it.

UCD told me very abruptly that I wasn't entitled to free fees. UCC sent me a much friendlier and more detailed email suggesting that although I'm not entitled to have my fees payed under ffi I may be able to through SUSI

If you already hold a level 7 degree, it is deemed by the government that you already have a degree and therefore they are not obliged to fund you for a 2nd degree. If you then apply to do another degree albeit at a higher level, it is deemed that this is not your first degree and therefore you are not eligible for free tuition fees under the government’s FFI initiative. However, as the UCD website puts it, if you register for a level 8 degree and your first degree was three years long then it you will revert to free tuition fees once you progress to year 4 because you were never funded for year 4 before. You will however, being paying full fees for the first three years.



SUSI have a different system. So long as you meet all the other criteria for the grant (household income etc.,) and you are successful in your application, they will cover the tuition and student composition fees for the first three years and in 4th you will revert to the FFI system.

It is quite confusing because Susi IS the government. Anyway I am waiting to hear back from Susi for the final word.. and that determines whether I start trying to get certificates to prove I can do all the things I've learned to do in the past 8 years since leaving college so I can get accepted to physio.. or whether I just stay in the job I have now for the rest of my life.

Susi won't cover the full 8,500 or so my course would cost a year, but I can work during the summers and make up the difference and try to save a bit for the winter months...


Trying not to get my hopes up still.

ronano

What you quoted there re: higher fees and reverting bk to free fees for fourth. It was my effective situation. All I can say is the fees department in my university, fought me tooth and nail to not allow higher fees to be paid by susi. Susi themselves can be quite inept at times and will probably come back and say no, yes at different times. The time line for fees paid for me was submitting susi application when it opened and fees paid the following march. It appears you are entitled to fees being covered up to certain amount for first three years then free fees. Good luck! If I can help drop me a pm