Going back to College? Check here for Mature/Disabled/Access/Grant & Fees information

Ditmature and Larianne, thank you both so much for all the information across the boards! Very much appreciated!

Well like most of you the financial situation is the limiting factor for me. I have been told that I qualify for the Back to Education Allowance so thats a plus! However, I started a degree in 05 (General Nursing DCU) but due to illness had to drop out in January/February 07 and this leaves me with very few options.
I've been told that I will more than likely have to pay registration and tuition fees for the 3 years of my new course. Basically this means that I probably won't be taking the place offered (Law-Carlow) as I won't be able to afford 15,000+...my only option now appears to try even harder to get a job (if that's possible to someone who is "underqualified") and wait for 2 more years to reapply...

Just wondering if anyone is/has been in this position? It all seems to complicated! :eek:

hi there . i was just wondering if someone could help me with this question regarding the grant application form. when they say you need to provide proof of living independantly, ie bill or bank statement dating back to october 2009, is this all your actual bank statments from oct 2009 up until now, or just one statment from october 2009. i went into the bank today to ask could they backdate my statements to then,he said he could but it would cost 2.50 euro a sheet,so i know that is going to add up to a lot.
just not sure if it is necassary or not. he gave me a certificate of interest statement dating from oct 2009 up until now,but not sure if that will be enough or not. sorry if this makes no sense, i rang the vec earlier and they were so unhelpful,i felt like i couldnt ask them all the things i needed to.
thanks amy

GalwayGirl23 wrote: »

As far as I am aware a bank statement is not sufficiemt they want a utility bill such as esb or gas or social welfare letter, also your p21 etc should be of the same address,

are you serious? i definelty wont be able to get a utility bill anyways. im living in my boyfriends apt and all the bills are in his name. never been on social welfare. i have ordered my p21 anyways and its coming to the same address. what really annoys me is i rang up the vec to ask them all these questions and she was so unhelpful and rude,just wanted to get me off the phone as quick as she could. so im none the wiser as to what is sufficient and whats not. it really would put you off applying for it,its more hassle than its worth!

Hey, DIT mature. I've got an offer for DIT for september. I'm unemployed/fas course for the last year(checked the FAS course and it doesnt prevent me from getting this) so I'm entitled to the BTEA. I'm def. going to accept the offer. The only problem is I started a lvl 6 degree in sept 2005 but dropped out before jan 06. Unfortunetley when I did drop out I just stopped going and didn't let admin know. I'm going to find out this wk if they struck me from the list at that time. Just wondering since I've being to college before how this will effect me, I think I'm still entitled to the BTEA, but for everything else? Will there be big fees for me now? I'm sure your sick of these questions and I hate to be annoying you but it's hard to get answers.. thanks for all your help. Daithi

Hi all,

Just to clear up the proof of Independence and residency for 3 of the last 5 years...

The following is taken directly from the 2010 Grant Application Form Accompanying Notes:

Documentary evidence for an independent mature candidate:

Documentary evidence is required of your home/ordinary address from the 1st October of the year preceding your entry or re-entry to an approved course. For example, if you are entering an approved course for the first time or re-entering in the academic year 2010/11, you will need to provide evidence of where you were living from 1 October 2009. Generally this would include:

- utility bills, such as telephone, gas or electricity;
- registration with the Private Residential Tenancies Board;
- documentation received, for example, bank statement or correspondence from a government department.


If you have been resident in Ireland, the EU, EEA or Switzerland for at least 3 of the 5 years immediately before the date on which you start a year of study in your course, you must send us evidence of your residency.

This may be one or more of the following:

- evidence that you sat the Junior Certificate and Leaving Certificate exams in Ireland, or equivalent school exams in the EU, EEA or Switzerland;
- a letter from a school principal in Ireland, the EU, EEA or Switzerland confirming your attendance at a school;
- social welfare statements or equivalents from the EU, EEA or Switzerland;
- utility bills;
- registration with the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB), or equivalent from the EU, EEA or Switzerland;
- if you are a non-EEA national, a letter from the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform confirming the period of your lawful presence in Ireland. We cannot consider periods of unlawful presence.

baddler wrote: »

hi all, another query about grants and the likes.

So my backstory may (or may not!) be a bit of an odd one.
I've been given redundancy from my company which involves a payoff, was told of this in April so decided to apply last minute for the general science course in DCU on the mature student late application deadline in May - now i didn't think too much about it since as I was really just chancing my arm by applying late but it looks like i've been accepted today so the reality of the situation is now dawning on me!

I am now wondering whether i am eligible for any kind of grant given that I have a undergraduate degree already, I have been in employment for the last 4 years and I was given a payoff by the job.

Now I know that I am in a lot better situation than most going back to college these days and I have earmarked the payoff to cover most of the college fees but I am wondering now whether I would be eligible for some kind of maintenance grant over the 4 years? I have had a quick look through the student finance website but couldn't really find anything that is relevant to my particular situation so if anyone could give any sort of advice on this one that would be much appreciated.

Obviously, as i say, given my history I am not expecting to be eligible for much but every little helps!

Did you get a grant already? - I would say the best things is apply for the grant anyway - also even if you don't get it you can get 20% refund from the revenue commissioners on tuition fees

baddler wrote: »

nope haven't received any grant. as I say I haven't done a huge amount of research into it yet as I wasn't expecting to get accepted plus the fact i'm being given a payoff. Also I'm not sure if the fact that I've been in full time employment for the past 4 years (finishing in September this year) will count for or against me.

I've downloaded the form for the grant though and it seems straightforward enough so i'll throw that in!

also this 20% refund from revenue is a new one to me, where could i find more about that?

Thanks

http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/it/reliefs/tuition-fees.html

Just a little note for anyone that was working /made redundant this year

you can claim tax back for this year , as long as you are on social welfare
may not be much depends on how much you worked

. you need your p45 and fill up a yellow form in your local tax/REVENUE office ((not the motor tax ))

they did it for me and was very quick .. was left go in march and got a lump sum back , very happy as will help to pay sum registation fee anyway

this might help some maturies going back in september

Capricorn1 wrote: »

Hi, I am hoping some of you might have some advice for me. I have been refused the grant because I have not been resident in the country for more than 3 years out of the previous 5 years (this new rule only came into effect in June 2010 so I'm sure alot of people are not aware of this).

I would understand if I were a foreigner having to be resident in the country for a number of years before applying, but I am Irish, I decided to go backpacking through Asia and Australia a few years back, i'm only home 2 years and 9 months, but becuase I'm not home 3 years or more i'm not entitled to anything, not even to have my fee's covered, nothing. Does anyone know of any other organisations that cover fee's.

Any advice would be helpful

Thanks

Was it definitely just Australia and Asia? Anywhere in the EU?

threein99 wrote: »

Hi Iv applied for a PLC course as a mature student, Im not sure about grants etc is this the right form I fill out for the grant ? http://www.studentfinance.ie/downloads/1273247091/DES_Student_Grant_Application_Form_final_for_web_06May10.pdf

Thats the one? Did you apply for BTEA

threein99 wrote: »

I was just looking at that there now, its says on the citizens information site that From September 2010, you will not get the Back to Education Allowance and student maintenance grant, if you:
Have been getting BTEA and are moving or progressing to a new course
Are a new BTEA applicant.

I presume thats cut backs so you cant claim both.

The Btea is probably worth more, but the grant form must also be completed in order to gain registration fees. You have to be on a social welfare payment for a minimum of 9 months in order to meet the qualifying conditions for BTEA.

threein99 wrote: »

I was just reading that bit about BTEA, I have been on social welfare for longer than 9 months, does that mean I should go for BTEA ? its pretty confusing

I think you need to be over 23 also, and not to have a similar or higher qualification already, the course must be full time.
It seems you should apply, you can download the BTEA from from the social welfare site, complete it and return it to your local social welfare office, together with a copy of your college offer.
The grant application form and all the required documents must be returned to your local VEC. I think time is running out so ASAP.

threein99 wrote: »

So your saying I should apply for both BTEA and the maintainence grant ? The maintainance grant deadline is the 31st of August, I only had my interview today for my course and I wont know whether iv gotten in or not for 7-10 days

Apply anyway for both. this may help


http://www.welfare.ie/EN/Publications/SW70/Pages/ABacktoEducationAllowanceBTEA.aspx

threein99 wrote: »

Yea I think I will apply for both, cheers for clearing it up to some extent anyway :P

Which course are you hoping to get?