Undergrad Funding

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Undergrad Funding

Undergraduate Funding

Details: Category: Academic Life; Published on Tuesday, 12 August 2008 12:32

The following will give you a brief outline of the grants scheme.

For more information you should contact:The Grants Office, MIC, on 061-204909 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

There is a grants office in Mary Immaculate College, click here for details.

Intro

How Does The Means Test Work?

Ordinary Maintenance Grant Rates for '10/'11

Top Up Grants

How To Apply

Other Contacts

Intro

You can apply for the Higher Education Grants Scheme if you are a student undertaking an approved full-time undergraduate course of at least 2 years in duration or a full-time postgraduate course. You must meet a number of criteria to qualify for the grant including an age limit, residency, nationality, academic attainment and a means test.

The Higher Education Grant (H.E.G.) consists of a maintenance grant and the payment of tuition fees. The Maintenance Grant is the main source of financial assistance and anyone who is thinking of embarking on further study should investigate whether they are eligible, and, if so, submit an application.

If you think you are eligible for the maintenance grant, you should apply for it as soon as possible. The initial closing date for receipt of completed applications by the grant-awarding agencies for the 20010-11 academic year is 31 August 2010, however grant-awarding agencies may at their own discretion accept applications for a period after this date. Only when your application has been completed in full and submitted to the grant-awarding authority can your eligibility be determined.

Studentfinance.ie can help you to assess whether you are eligible and guide you in starting the process. In all cases, the official decision on eligibility is of course made by the grant-awarding bodies.

The Higher Education Grants Scheme applies to you if you:

- Are starting an approved course for the first time in the academic year in question.

- Are a mature student, who in the academic year in question is either entering in order to complete an approved course at undergraduate level for the first time or re-entering in order to pursue or complete an approved course at postgraduate level for the first time or already hold a postgraduate qualification and are re-entering to progress to a further postgraduate course which represents progression. (In order to be considered a mature student, you need to be at least 23 years of age on January 1 of the year you enter your chosen course).

- Have attended but not successfully completed an approved course and are returning following a break of at least 5 years in order to pursue an approved course at the same level in the academic year in question. In this instance, you will be considered a Second Chance Student

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’).The reckonable income is gross income (income before tax deduction).

The family income limits for eligibility for a maintenance grant (for the period 1 January to 31 December 2009) are set out below. You can find out what is reckonable income for maintenance grants on studentfinance.ie.

Number of Dependent Children	Full Maintenance	Part Maintenance (75%)	Part Maintenance (50%)	Part Maintenance (25%)	*Exempt from student service (or registration) charge**
Less than 4	€41,110	€42,235	€44,720	€47,205	€51,380
4 to 7	€45,165	€46,415	€49,145	€51,880	€56,460
8 or more	€49,045	€50,400	€53,360	€56,320	€61,29

* Full student service charge is paid where income is at or below this level.

Where there are 2 or more children (or the candidate's parent) in college the reckonable income limits may be increased for Full Maintenance by €4,980, for 75%, 50% or 25% by €4,815.

Ordinary maintenance grant rates for 2010/11

Rates	Non-Adjacent Rate	Adjacent Rate
Full Maintenance	€3,250	€1,300
Part maintenance (75%)	€2,435	€980
Part maintenance (50%)	€1,625	€650
Part maintenance (25%)	€810	€330

Non-Adjacent Rate is paid to all mature candidates and to those residing more than 24km from Mary I. Adjacent rate is paid where the student lives 24 kilometres or less from the college.

Top-up grants

A Top-Up Grant is a special rate of grant made payable to those whose income does not exceed €22,703. The candidate’s/candidates parent’s reckonable income must include one of the social welfare payments. A full list of eligible payments is available on www.studentfinance.ie.

How to Apply:

There is an official application form for each of the grant schemes. The form is available from your local VEC or your local authority (depending on the grant you are applying for) and also on www.studentfinance.ie.