Will I get a grant for a masters next year if I do a Hdip this year?

G-nome

I was accepted into a Masters and a Higher Diploma.

I wish to take the Higher Diploma and do the Masters the following year. I know I will not get a grant for the higher diploma as I am currently living at home with my parents. I have the money saved to do the H. dip. It has been a few years since my undergrad and to go straight into a masters seems daunting to me. I will be moving out for the H. Dip and plan to apply as an independent adult for the grant in order to do the masters.

Is it likely that I will get a grant for the masters in this circumstance?

Zoinks

I think you will be fine, but do contact them and/or use this:

https://susi.ie/eligibility-reckoner/

Do be aware of the ins-and-outs of applying as a mature independent:

As an Independent Student you must be:

23 years of age or over on Jan 1st of the year when you first enter/re-enter further or higher education.

You must have been living independently from your parents/legal guardians from the October in the year prior to your first point of entry/re-entry into further or higher education and will be required to provide evidence of this.

The required documentation accepted as evidence of independent residency must be from both;

the year prior to entry/re-entry to an approved further/higher education course and must be from no later than October of that year, and
the year of entry/re-entry to an approved further/higher education course.
Example 1: First point of entry/re-entry into further/higher education in 2017/2018: Documents from 2016 and dated no later than October 2016 and documents dated from current year 2017 prior to start date of course.

Example 2: First point of entry/re-entry into further/higher education in 2013/2014: Documents from 2012 and dated no later than October 2012 and documents dated from the actual year you entered your course prior to the start date of course (i.e. in this example, the year 2013)



The documentation accepted as evidence of living independently is any of the following;

A letter confirming that this address is registered with the PRTB(Private Residential Tenancies Board)
A Local Authority Lease Agreement, for example, under the Rental Accommodation Scheme. (RAS)
A letter confirming the receipt and period of rent or mortgage supplement
Official documentation posted to you at this address and relating to your residence there, for example, a letter from the Department of Social Protection confirming Rent Allowance. (we do not accept bank statements alone for this purpose).
A utility bill in your own name or if the utility bills in the household are in your spouse’s name, please provide your marriage certificate with the utility bill. Examples of utility bills are;
landline telephone (we do not accept mobile telephone bills),
fixed broadband,
gas,
electricity,
cable/satellite television bill.
As an Independent Student you will be assessed under your own and your spouse, civil partner or co-habitant’s income in determining your eligibility for funding

If you cannot supply any of the above documents to confirm independent residency for both the year prior to your first point of entry/re-entry into further or higher education and the actual year of entry/re-entry into further or higher education then you cannot apply as an Independent Student and must, therefore, apply as a Dependent Student.

Sup08

G-nome wrote: »

I was accepted into a Masters and a Higher Diploma.

I wish to take the Higher Diploma and do the Masters the following year. I know I will not get a grant for the higher diploma as I am currently living at home with my parents. I have the money saved to do the H. dip. It has been a few years since my undergrad and to go straight into a masters seems daunting to me. I will be moving out for the H. Dip and plan to apply as an independent adult for the grant in order to do the masters.

Is it likely that I will get a grant for the masters in this circumstance?

You will not qualify as an Independent Mature Student for the Masters if you are still living with your parents and i9n education for the last 3 years. You must have a break from your studies of 3 years, living independently from the previous October to your point of re-entry to be re-classed when entering Post Graduate studies or a new course while progressing.

Your current point of entry would be your entry into higher education (at degree level) if you have not had a break from your studies from your degree and going straight into the H. dip.

Zoinks

Might their be some interpretive ambiguity here? I mean, the H.Dip will be a separate course from the Masters with at least a gap of a few months between? Technically, entering the Masters after the H. Dip would be another instance of re-entry into education, and G-nome would have presumably by that point been living independently since at least the previous October?

In your position G-nome, I think I would press forward with the Masters. I have taken multiple two year breaks between studies, and while getting back into things can be daunting, you would be surprised by how you can re-establish routine and discipline. Otherwise, best to check the eligibility reckoner and try to get a firm answer from SUSI.

Sup08

Zoinks wrote: »

Might their be some interpretive ambiguity here? I mean, the H.Dip will be a separate course from the Masters with at least a gap of a few months between? Technically, entering the Masters after the H. Dip would be another instance of re-entry into education

No, it's about class of student at the time of entry or re-entry. A break of 3 years from studiy is required with independent residency and age requirements to change class from dependent or mature dependent to mature independent.

G-nome

Sup08 wrote: »

No, it's about class of student at the time of entry or re-entry. A break of 3 years from studiy is required with independent residency and age requirements to change class from dependent or mature dependent to mature independent.

I take from this that I will not be eligible for a grant for the Masters as I am breaking up my three years out of education with the H.Dip, even though I am not applying for a grant for it?

Sup08

G-nome wrote: »

I take from this that I will not be eligible for a grant for the Masters as I am breaking up my three years out of education with the H.Dip, even though I am not applying for a grant for it?

The rule is irrespective of whether you received grant assistance or not. It's a progression rule.