Are all third level students in Ireland covered by the Free Tuition Fees scheme?

Q Are all third level students in Ireland; covered by the Free Tuition Fees scheme?

A The Department of Education and Science; automatically pays the tuition fees to approved colleges on behalf of all first time undergraduate students who hold EU; or Official Refugee status, and who have been ordinarily resident in an EU member state for at least three of the five years before entering the course.

Students who are repeating a year at the same level are not generally eligible under the free fees initiative for fees for the repeat year. The scheme covers approved full-time courses of a minimum of two years duration in publicly funded colleges and a number of non-publicly funded religious colleges. That represents the vast majority of courses and colleges, but there are some exceptions. Private independent third-level colleges are not covered by the scheme.

Q Does the CAO Handbook; indicate which colleges charge fees?

A No. It is the applicant’s responsibility to establish which colleges charge fees, or indeed, as very occasionally happens, if fees must be charged for a course within a publicly funded college. The Dublin Institute of Technology; (DIT), for example, offers a couple of one-year foundation certificate courses, Music Foundation and Preliminary Engineering, neither of which is covered by the free tuition fees scheme.

Successful applicants will have to pay a tuition fee of about €2,000 on either course. The aim of the programmes is to prepare students for entry to relevant honours degree programmes, where they would be covered by free tuition fees.

Q Who is entitled to a maintenance grant?

A While tuition fees are paid regardless of family income, maintenance grants are awarded, subject to certain conditions relating to family income: the number of dependent children in a family, and the distance of the family home from the college the student will be attending. The reckonable family income limits may be extended slightly if two or more children (or if the candidate’s parents) are attending college.

Q What are the different grant schemes for higher education?

A There are three different grant schemes for higher education: (1) Higher Education Grants (HEG); (2) Vocational Education; Committee; (VEC) scholarships; and (3) the TLT (third level maintenance grants for trainees) grants scheme.

A fourth scheme, the PLC ESF-aided maintenance grant scheme covers eligible students attending PLC or Further Education courses in approved PLC centres.

Higher Education Grants are administered by local authorities, for example, county or city councils. VEC scholarship grants, TLT grants and PLC ESF-aided grants are administered by vocational education committees. The Department of Education and Science’s website is a good source of information on financial support schemes.