The closing date for grant applications for third-level students is August 29th, 2008, writes Brian Mooney.
Depending on the course a student is pursuing, he or she may be eligible for a grant under one of the following schemes:
(1) The higher education grants scheme, which generally applies to university degree courses.
(2) Third-level maintenance grants scheme for trainees, which applies to level 6 or level 7 in the institutes of technology.
(3) The vocational education committee scholarship scheme, which generally applies to level 8 where students have already pursued a level 7 course. It also applies to certain courses in Northern Ireland.
(4) The maintenance grants scheme for students attending Post Leaving Certificate (PLC) courses.
How does the means test work?
When you apply for a grant, the income that is assessed must be at or below a certain amount (the "reckonable income"). For the 2008/2009 academic year, the reckonable income limit will be based on gross income for the tax year 2007.
The income limits for 2008/2009 are not available until May 2008, but the amounts applicable for 2007/08 are as follows: if your family has fewer than four dependent children and parental income is less than €38,675 a year, you would have qualified for a full maintenance grant.
There were different thresholds for larger families, ranging from €42,490 for those with four to seven children, to €46,140 for those with eight or more dependent children.
Higher income limits apply in respect of lower rates of maintenance grants. The full student service charge is paid where families have (a) fewer than four dependent children and incomes of under €48,335; (b) between four and seven dependent children and incomes of under €53,120; or (c) eight or more dependent children and incomes under €57,665.
Who can apply for support?
Students attending full-time third-level education; those taking a recognised PLC course, student nurse training or student Garda training; students in a Fáilte Ireland course of at least one year's duration; those attending a full-time Teagasc course and those at a recognised full-time further education course of at least one year, in Northern Ireland.
What is the rate of grant?
Grants are paid at two rates: the non-adjacent rate, where the grant holder's residence is more than 24km from the college; and the adjacent rate, where the grant holder's residence is 24km or less from the college.
For 2007/08, the highest non-adjacent rate of grant was €3,420. The highest adjacent rate of grant is €1,370. Lower rates of grant are payable, depending on the reckonable income.
Grant holders who satisfy certain conditions may be eligible for a special rate of maintenance grant, an amount additional to the ordinary rate of grant.
Further details
You can get details of the grant schemes outlined above from the local authorities, the vocational education committees. Check out the Department of Education's website www.education.ie and the excellent new Higher Education Authority site www.studentfinance.ie.
The Millennium Partnership Fund
This fund supports students from disadvantaged areas attending further or higher education courses. Partnership companies and community groups manage the fund locally.
Information on partnership/community groups can be obtained at Pobal, 01-2400700; website: www.pobal.ie
The Student Assistance Fund
This assists students who, having begun a third-level course, experience financial hardship and therefore may be unable to continue their third-level studies. Applications for funding should be made by the individual student to the access officer in their institution.
Students with disabilities
The first person a student with a disability should contact is the disability or access officer in the college, or in the case of PLC students, the principal of the PLC centre. Each university and institute of technology now has a disability or access officer. Further general information on accessing third-level education is available from Ahead (website: www.ahead.ie).
Every weekday, until the deadline at the end of the month, careers expert Brian Mooney will guide you through the CAO process and outline the best possible options.
ADVICE PODCAST: Listen or download the podcast for advice on how to complete the application form, and for an overview of the current CAO process at: www.ireland.com/education/
Series concluded.
Brian Mooney's Question and Answer series appears in the education pages on Tuesdays