College Fees

I am going back to College next September to a full time IT course and im trying to find out what the deal is with Fees. I originally went to college after secondary school but dropped out in second year. I was never eligible to get a grant but i of course didnt have to pay fees.

I've called citizens advice and they've told me that as far as they're aware if i dont want to pay fees i will have to wait 5years after leaving the old course before i qualify again. Is this true? This would mean waiting another three years before getting started.

I dont turn 23 until next Feb and i need to be 23 by Jan 1st to qualify as a mature sudent. I'll be away travelling for a few months until July/Aug so the money for fees will be hard to scrape together and i will probably need to top up my Credit Union loan to cover the cost of fees and accomodation.

Is there anyway that i could qualify for free fees? Or if i start as planned next September and pay fees for two years, when the 5th year since leaving my last course arrives would i be able to stop paying fees as its a four year course?

Can anyone give me any advice?

You get one free shot at each year of college, so you would have to pay for two years max, if you dropped out in second year. If you withdrew formally before the second semester, you may only have to pay for half of your second year this time round. Year 3 onwards will be free again.

Im not sure cross references are done between colleges. My brother started a degree in DCU a few years back. Did the first year and then failed it.
Instead of repeating there he applied to do a similar course in the DIT through the CAO. Starting first year again, he only had to pay the normal registration fee, whereas if they had checked and seen that he had already had a free year, then he would have had to pay the full fees, which were about 2k in DIT at the time.

I dont think there are systems are in place to check if a person has attended another college previously. Obviously if you are going back to the same college, then it might be flagged on their systems.

Another idea is to go to the head of your course or faculty. The heads can give a letter of recommendation to waive your fees.

Hope this helps

Thats Great thanks! im applying thru the CAO so ill wait and see if they look for fees or not because its a different college! if they do tho at least its a weight off not having to pay for the full four years!!

Thanks a Million for the replies!