Image Copyright: Brenda Claassen
Here is an synopsis of some info regarding University funding and mature students going to university for the first time or more.
(Note from Admin this applies to Irish, British, EU spouses or their registered non-eu spouses, and may only be at reduced prices after 3 years of residence)
The Mature Student route in Ireland to gain university qualifications is open to a number of categories of aspiring students:
There are two important aspects to this; how to qualify and how to gain funding to study.
How to Qualify
1. The applicant must be above 23 years of age.
2. The applicant must be prepared to show sufficient reason for the chosen
courses ( It is suggested to apply for 3 course options to increase the chance
of being selected for one.)
3. The applicant should show evidence of recent learning ( for example any
other formal or informal course/s which show they can follow through and
succeed. These do not need to be college level courses.
4. Applicants have to submit documents to the CEO and their chosen
universities. (It is a lot of legwork, quite daunting!)
5. Applicants need to submit a motivation statement for each chosen course.
6. Applicants might need to attend an interview with the relevant department.
For financial support for Mature Students and School Leavers, the applicant must have resided within the European Union for a minimum of 3 to 5 years and made some tax contributions ( not sure if how many depends on age of applicant or working history.)
Thirdly, the applicant has to fulfil certain citizenship or visa requirements,
for example; Irish citizen, European Citizen, British Citizen as well as those who have indefinite leave to remain for example; Asylum Seekers.
A work permit is not a way to go this route, certain stamps will prohibit studying unless you have a study visa.
Funding can be granted if you are increasing your qualifications, for example, there is no funding for a Master's in Business Admin, if you already possess a Master's in Business Management.
The applicant who qualifies for funding has to come from a household that does not earn over certain amounts, the lower the household income, the greater the amount of finance is available and the opposite. It is a tiered system of grant funding and the ceiling income to qualify for a small amount of support is somewhere around 80 000 per year per household. It seems the rationale here is that families on top incomes would not need to or necessarily want to avail of grants such as these, some earning far above 80k per year.
There are also ancillary grants such as maintenance grant, travel grant and mandatory excursions grants for those on very low incomes.
For funding to continue throughout the course of study, the applicant needs to pass all their courses year by year. If a year is failed, funding ends.
There are also some college level financial supports, but these depend on which college one is at. A living allowance is available through state support for people who were already in receipt of state support ( for example Job Seekers Benefit who lost their job through no fault of their own OR for single parents.) This is the BTEA allowance. One can still work part time and receive the BTEA if one qualifies. BTEA rounds off to around 800 per month.
Colleges accept people from all educational backgrounds, there is no need to have a (Matric/ Leaving Cert) though the proviso here is that if one wanted to study certain courses like Pharmacy, Medicine, Dentistry, then one could try to apply through the TAP program to take Maths and Science. One student currently going into 4th year went into medical school this way at age 38.
The take home is that SAFFAS looking to return from emigration or immigrate, should know that there are proactive supports available for tertiary education and that leaving SA does not necessarily mean that one's children might not get a tertiary education due to the non-subsidised fees of around 8000 per year. The only barrier to accessing any college level course in Ireland, would be one's own determination. Of course there is competition for medical school and dental school spots, but this is no different in SA.
Also, with the pandemic, I believe the government is encouraging people to upskill or gain new skills because many industries and jobs might not exist going forward.
This is the basic information I have gathered over my year at college and it was gained through my own entry pathway as well as through talking to others who are Mature Students with varying sets ups at home.
Every college has a dedicated Mature Student Office with dedicated officers who encourage students in the process.
The rules and regulations may change from year to year, and of course we have no idea how things may look going forward, but this information is based on my experiences and fact finding from 2019, 2020 and 2021.
I hope this information can be used to bring some light.
Important links:
#MapMyMove- Our coaching Services - Confused or lost and need some direction, book a session with us to help untangle the confusion and work out your route of immigration
Third-level Education (Tertiary) - 3rd Level Education for children or adults
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