Financing in College

jenniferrb

Hello,

I'm from Kilkenny and I'm planning to study midwifery at Trinity. I was certain before the coronavirus that I would be able to finance my life moving out of home. But now, one of my parents has lost their job and I'm doubtful of how easy it will be to get a job for myself considering how desperate everyone is for one. I'm not very knowledgeable on financing in college. Will the SUSI grant help, or does it cover much? What other ways can I finance my life away from home? I'm stressed now as the deadline for the CAO is today and I'm scared I made a mistake.

DeeAvery

All this depends on so many variables and on your personal circumstances and eligibility etc. The SUSI website has info on eligibility, residency requirements, thresholds etc. but the SUSI staff are also really helpful on the phone in my experience.

In general layman’s terms, if you're living at home with your parents their income is taken into account, as it is a means-tested support. It is done on the previous year’s income, however, if you've had major changes in circumstances, such as job loss, it does allow you to explain that, and takes that into account. Either way you need to talk to your parents about this, a they’ll have to provide documentation of their finances. Also apply for SUSI ASAP as there may be delays with the higher than normal demand this year. I’m sure your parents have thought about the fact you’re about to start college too and how this job loss could effect things, so if even just to help with the stress of it all it, it would be good to talk things through with them, support each other and figure out exactly what you can and can’t afford. It may be a case you have to defer or have a very penny pinching first year until a job comes your way, so you'll need to discuss everything and all you're options.

SUSI has two aspects to it; The Maintenance grant, and the student contribution (or tuition fees if the student/course is not eligible for free tuition fees). You can apply for all or one depending on your eligibility/needs. The grants work on an incremental basis, as in if you earn below a certain threshold, you'll get 25%, and if you earn below an even lower threshold, you'll get 50% and so on. So even if you're not entitled to 100% you may get something. You also get a higher maintenance grant rate if you live over 45 km from your institution. The different grant amounts, thresholds etc. are listed on the website. If you have siblings in college it will rise the threshold for your parents too.

The maintenance grant is paid into your bank account to help with living costs. The student contribution grant goes straight to the college, you just inform them you're in receipt of the grant when registering (in TCD's case via the MyTCD portal). The 100% Non-Adjacent Maintenance Grant however is only €3,025 (if you live over 45km, earn less then €39,875, have less then 4 children and have no other dependants in college). So that in my opinion it would be difficult to live off solely and pay rent out of for the year. It is also paid in monthly instalments. It's more for day to day spending, like pocket money. There is a special rate which is higher, but your income needs to be less than €24,500 and your parents need to be in receipt of qualifying social welfare payments.

Trinity also have a Student Hardship fund. You have to apply for it via the Senior Tutor's office. It is means tested so you have to give proof of finances, social welfare payments etc. I got around €600 a term. Doesn't sound like a lot but it helped me so much. There is also Student Levies & Charges in TCD which is €191.75. Which you can get refunded also via the Seniors tutor’s office (you have to pay this to register even if you get SUSI), which is also means tested. The Student’s Union also does emergency loans. Like small amounts of money. TCD also provides sports scholarships.

Ignoring Jobs, bank or credit union loans, other than SUSI there isn't much financial support out there. There is the odd bursary if you qualify. They are very specific and few and far between. For example, if you graduated from a particular school, have a disability, or in my home county there is a special GAA sponsored scholarship for example. So maybe google is there anything like that for you. Also the TCD website and the student finance section of the HEA website has a list of scholarships and funding.
There is the 1916 Bursary (for groups that are underrepresented in 3rd level and economically disadvantaged). It very competitive though and you need to meet the qualifying criteria.

St. Vincent De Paul also can provide help with college finances.

Within TCD the SU, S2S, SCS, the Academic Registry, your assigned tutor (which you'll get when after start), your department and many other aspects of the college are there to provide support and info if you're struggling with finances and all the stress that goes with it so I would contact them if you need help. Trinity or its support services can't help if they don't know you're in trouble. I couldn’t afford the €191 last year so it meant I couldn’t register but I was able to get help via the SU with that.