Going to college? Apply for a student grant
In most instances, the tab for college fees is picked up by the State, apart from a student contribution or registration fee, which is €2,500 for most students.
The student grant scheme effectively covers a maintenance grant and possibly a top-up fee grant.
The maintenance grant is a contribution towards a student’s living costs, whereas the fee grant element is designed to give support towards the student’s contribution and tuition fees.
Since 2011, all grant applications are made through the online www.susi.ie portal, this replaces the old system where applications were made to VECs and other grant awarding authorities.
Maintenance grants are available in respect of certificate, diploma, and degree level approved courses.
To qualify for the grant, three conditions must be satisfied:
* Students must satisfy a nationality test: All Irish and EU nationals satisfy this criterion.
*Students must be resident in Ireland for at least three of the previous five years.
*Students must satisfy a means test.
The means test is based on the student’s own income, together with the parents’ income if the student was habitually resident with parents prior to taking up the college course.
For students applying for the first time for a college grant, the means test is based on the income earned in 2012.
For farmers and the self-employed, the business accounts need to be prepared earlier than normal, given that the closing date for grant applications is Aug 30, but the tax deadline is in October, or in November if using the pay and file online facility.
The table below shows the 2012/13 income limits used in assessing whether the applicant meets the means test for a full maintenance grant and a full fee grant.
Where these limits are exceeded by a relatively small amount, there may an opportunity to avail of a partial fee grant.
The limits are increased where more than one family member is attending college.
Thankfully, it looks like the asset test for farmers has been scrapped, at least for the 2012/2013 academic year.
The other table shows the level of maintenance grants available for 2012/2013.
The non-adjacent rates of grant apply to students whose habitual residence is more than 45 km from the college being attended.
The amount payable under the fee grant depends on the amount of fees payable by the student (most approved courses are covered by the free fees scheme, in any event), and also depends on the amount of student contribution payable, this can vary between different courses and colleges.
Don’t forget that the balance of college fees payable by you may qualify for tax relief.
The rules on tax relief are complicated, but here are the general aspects.
Full-time student: There is no tax relief on the first €2,250 spent on tuition fees (including the student contribution) for the 2012/2013 academic year.
Part-time student: There is no tax relief on the first €1,125 spent on tuition fees (including the student contribution) for the 2012/2013 academic year.
More than one student: If you are claiming for more than one student, you will get full tax relief on tuition fees (including the student contribution) for the second or subsequent students (no threshold applies).
If you are unsure whether you will be attending college for 2012/2013, or whether you will qualify for a grant, the best advice would be to apply to Susi prior to the deadline of Aug 1.
At least, your application will be processed.
It should be possible to amend your application to reflect any course changes.
Finally, I have set out here the general rules of the student grant scheme; however, you should check how your own circumstances fit within the applicable rules, full details are on www.susi.ie
