Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 8 Feb 2000

Vol. 513 No. 6

Written Answers. - Higher Education Grants.

John Perry

Question:

430 Mr. Perry asked the Minister for Education and Science the financial assistance, if any, available to a person who wishes to return to college as a mature student to study a masters in e-commerce in DCU in view of the fact that the course fees are approximately £4,000 and he will be no longer employed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3233/00]

Minister for Education and Science (Dr. Woods)

Financial assistance is available to mature students in respect of postgraduate studies under the higher education grants scheme which is administered by the local authorities.

In general, students who are entering or re-entering approved postgraduate courses for the first time are eligible for grant assistance towards maintenance and fees, up to a maximum fee limit, which in the current academic year is £2,891, where a full or part maintenance grant is being paid, where they satisfy the relevant conditions as to age, residence, means, and nationality.

The higher education grant schemes operate under the Local Authorities (Higher Education Grants) Acts, 1968 to 1992. The current scheme defines a mature student as a candidate who is at least 23 years of age on 1 January of the year of entry or re-entry to an approved course. The Acts further provide, inter alia, for the making of grants to mature students whose means and those of their parents, where the mature students are dependent on their parents, and the means of their spouses, if any, do not exceed prescribed limits.

Under the terms of the higher education grants schemes, mature students are categorised as either independent mature students or mature students dependent on parents. An independent mature student is defined to mean a mature candidate who was not ordinarily resident with his/her parents from 1 October of the year preceding their entry to an approved course. Inde pendent mature students are deemed to be self-supporting and are assessed without reference to either their parents' income or address. Under a concession effective from the current academic year, all eligible mature students will qualify for the higher non-adjacent rate of maintenance grant which in the current academic year is £1,690. A prospective mature student should contact his/her local authority in order to have his/her eligibility for grant assistance assessed under the terms of the scheme.