Michael Creed
Question:295 Mr. Creed asked the Minister for Education and Science the types of funding and financial assistance available to mature and second chance education students returning to or entering third level education. [10434/01]
Written Answers. - Higher Education Grants.
My Department funds four maintenance grant schemes for third level and further education students which are administered by the local authorities and the vocational education committees. Under the free fees initiative, my Department meets the tuition fees of eligible students attending full-time undergraduate courses, which must generally be of at least two years duration.
Generally speaking, students who are entering approved courses at undergraduate or postgraduate level for the first time are eligible for maintenance grants 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 Acts make special provision for the assessment of means in the case of mature students. Under the terms of the higher education grants scheme, 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 student who was not ordinarily resident at home with his or her parents from the October preceding their entry to an approved course. Independent mature students are deemed to be self-supporting and are assessed without reference to either their parents' income or address. The statutory definition of a mature student is a person of not less than 23 years of age who has reached that age on 1 January in the year of entry to an approved course.
The other schemes of student support for third level students have similar provisions.
Maintenance grants are payable at either adjacent or non-adjacent rates. The adjacent rate of grant is payable where the grantholder's normal residence is 15 miles or less from the college being attended. The non-adjacent rate of grant is payable in all other cases. The full rate of adjacent and non-adjacent grant for the current academic year is £710 and £1,775, respectively.
From 1999-00, as part of a funding initiative at third level, the higher non-adjacent rate of maintenance grant is paid to all eligible mature students irrespective of distance from college.
Students who are repeating a year of study at the same level are generally not eligible for funding. However, since 1994 the higher education grants scheme and vocational education committees scholarship scheme have included a concession for "second chance" students returning to college after a break of at least five years having previously pursued, but not completed, a third level course. This concession allows such students to be funded again for periods of study at the same level. Prior to 1994, a student did not receive financial assistance until they had completed the equivalent amount of time spent on their original course, irrespective of the length of time which had elapsed between the two periods of college attendance. There are similar arrangements applying for second chance students under the free fees initiative.
Apart from the maintenance grants schemes and the free fees initiative, financial support is also available to students through the student assistance-access fund. The objectives of the fund are to assist students, in a sensitive and compassionate manner, who might otherwise, due to their financial circumstances, be unable to continue their third level studies. The fund is administered by the third level institutions and provides direct financial support to disadvantaged students to assist them to remain in college to complete their studies. I increased significantly the provision for this fund from £1.296 million in 1999 to £1.964 million in 2000.
I announced late last year that I was setting up a special project team to carry out a comprehensive review of every aspect of the maintenance grants, and other student supports, to ensure their relevance to the needs of present day third level students. This review includes the level of grants, the methods by which they are paid, eligibility and income limits, accommodation needs, student support services, the most suitable paying agency, the provision of an appeals system, student loans and taxation measures. Issues relating to the implementation of the team's recommendations will be addressed when its report has been completed.
Michael Creed
Question:296 Mr. Creed asked the Minister for Education and Science the rationale behind the current income threshold limits for third level top-up grants with reference to the full grant, part grant, adjacent and non-adjacent rates. [10435/01]
Last September I appointed an action group on access to third level education to advise me on the development of a co-ordinated framework to promote access by students from disadvantaged backgrounds, mature students and students with disabilities to third level education. The group's terms of reference required that it advise me, inter alia, on the development of targeted interventions and actions and the identification and tracking of the target groups.
I have recently received the report of the action group. The report contains recommendations relating to the operational details of the special rates of maintenance grants for disadvantaged students which I announced last September. I am at present considering the recommendations and would hope to be in a position to make an initial response in the near future.