Back to full time Study?

Hi there,

I am seriously thinking of a career change that would require 2 year full-time post-grad course, but the key reality factor is whether I can afford it.

I did some number crunching and with my savings and with weekend and holiday work, I would be well able to support myself. The hard part is the college fees, which are about 3,800 PA which would make this an impossibility.

I contacted my local CoCo to try and understand if I would be eligible for a fees grant, but they said they would need to see my details before they could give a definate answer which is fair enough. Having a p45 included in my application would help they said, but I explained that I cannot throw in my job on a wing and a prayer that I would get this grant, as I simply can't afford fees and maintenance.

Has anyone been through the same process or can shed any light on this?

Brief snapshot : finished under-grad course in 1996 and have been in fulltime employment since 1998. Will be 30 on date of application. Am single and fully self supporting.

I saw something on the revenue.ie site about tax incentives for approved courses (which this is) Is this applicable for me?

Thanks

grants

If you have not yet completed an undergraduate degree then the local county council will afaik cover the tuition fees but not capitation. If you do already have a degree then you will need to cover the cost of this yourself. This was the situation last year anyway. If it is something which is relevant to your job/career is it possible that you might be able to get corporate sponsorship?

If you have any idea what college you might like to attend ring them and ask to talk to a mature student officer who should be able to help you to find out exactly what you are entitled to and what you will need to fund yourself. UCD are very helpful and have an Adult Education office who will help refer you to the relevant people. They will also be able to give you information on back to school type courses which might be a good first step if you've been out of college for a few years. Gets you back into the habit of studying etc.

Good luck!

post grad fees

having finished a post grad course last year, my finding was that colleges feel your employment and pay prospects improve with the extra qualification and so you can just take out a loan. Your fees seem very low to me! I think they're looking for more than 7K per year now for the course i did.