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MORE THAN 65,000 applications have been made to the new student grant system introduced over the summer – but decisions have been taken on just 12,000 applications so far, according to new figures.
More than one month after most third level institutions will have resumed classes after the summer, 52,430 applications from new students are still to be processed by the system.
The figures were released by Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn in response to a parliamentary question from Pearse Doherty of Sinn Fein.
As expected, Dublin received by far the most applications to SUSI – the new online grant processing system – with a total of 13,114. A decision has been made on 2,754 of these applications while 12,258 students are still waiting for a decision.
Cork had 6,461 applications from students with 5,047 still waiting, while Galway has just 747 decisions made on 4,177 applications.
Sinn Féin education spokesperson Jonathan O’Brien said he knew of at least two students whose place at third-level has been jeopardised as a result of the delays.
“The new SUSI on-line system was supposed to make the process of applying for a grant a good deal easier but regrettably, there have been serious flaws which have resulted in delayed payments, poor communication and inadequate responses to applications and document submissions,” O’Brien said.
A spokesperson for SUSI was not available for comment.
Before the introduction of Student Universal Support Ireland students had to apply to their local authority or VEC for a grant. SUSI is centralised and online and has been accepting all new grant applications since June.
An estimated 40 per cent of all third-level students receive grants.
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these guys started collage in Sept without their grant being paid some might not be able to hang in there much longer.
Yeah, imagine that, they may actually have to raise the money themselves like the rest of us did !
@Jim – I saved for college and worked constantly throughout but no amount of saving would have got me through college without the grant to help – accommodation costs in the region of 4,000-5,000 a year then there’s living and travel costs. Part-time job does help – not only financially but also teaches you alot of lessons for life – more kids should be encouraged to contribute to there degrees financially, maybe then they’l actually appreciate them – unlike half the kids I was in college with who were only there cause they thought it was one big piss up! The reality is cuts to grants and delays affect the kids who were more likely to be damn greatfull for the chance to get to college in the first place. I will agree that there are exceptions to this though!
Completely agree @Tom, especially if you’re living away from home – you need a family member to borrow money off to even make it to college in the first place and bank loans aren’t an option if you’re from a low income family- college is so expensive, working part-time or not – what’s more – if you’re parents are on a low income and are being topped up by FIS – they loose all money for that child until they can prove the student is attending college, but that can’t be done until the child has registered with the college and that can’t be done until the grant is approved – meaning the parents loose out on back to school allowance money and additional FIS money that tops there weekly income up to a level that actually makes it possible for them to be very slightly better off than they would be if unemployed – but hey looks like this government like to make getting back to work difficult – and push you further into the debt cycle.
some extremely ignorant people out there, there’s little or no part time work, the majority of students eligible for the grant really need it for the pragmatics of living.
Well said Maverick!!
agreed….
I’m in college after been laid off and after 10 months unable to find a suitable job…
The only reason I can afford this upskilling is the grant… otherwise I live on ?20 a week!
so all these people with negative comments come try live this life for a while… it ain’t as easy as you think… and do it all on ?20…
No Maverick, I received no money from anyone in college. I managed because I wanted it badly enough – involving weekend jobs, summer jobs loans/overdrafts. I couldn’t afford to head on the sauce like some of my grant junky buddies in University. Now now to highlight the injustice; my taxes are being used to pay for these people.
i am waiting on mine… i am studying general nursing in dcu cost of travel(?100 a week at least) is killing me i also have my daughters creche to pay another massive amount a week and i work at weekends… that just covers my travel ..living off an over draft… my grant if i get it won’t be spent on drink..if i don’t get it ill have to give up the course a lot of other students in my course in this position.
At least?100 a week on travel? Seems like an awful lot!
Fair play to you for working so hard at gaining your education. Grant approval after the course started, and no guarantee that I’d get it even though I couldn’t have done it without it, contributed to me turning down a course a couple of years back. Best of luck!
i travel from north louth between petrol and tolls parking its 100 sometimes more… can’t get bus because i need to get back quick certain days in time to get my daughter from creche to avoid a late fee. bus is still 60 a week anyway
well that’s what it is…i travel from north louth between petrol and tolls + parking its 100 sometimes more… can’t get bus because i need to get back quick certain days in time to get my daughter from creche to avoid a late fee. bus is still 60 a week… would still have to drive five ten mins to bus stop n pay parking
@Ali
Why did you chose to have a child ?
What part does your partner play in supporting you ?
is there a point ur trying to prove or do u just make a habit of asking personal questions ??
if i can’t get my fees paid i can’t carry on i wouldn’t be able to pay back a loan … you seem to have a major chip on ur shoulder about people getting help to improve their lives through education. im sure you have better things to put your energy into… i work too, i worked my way through a full time course last yr to get to uni i went months without a day off and am still working all my days/evenings off college as a waitress n study once my daughter goes to bed. so keep ur judgments for someone else buddy.
@ali
Well it was you who introduced the personal stuff in your original comment.
You cited it as a factor in your current difficulties.
Sometimes we make decisions which have implications beyond what we expected at the time we made the decision.
Your personal circumstances are not the Governments concern when you are looking for that type of grant
and what type of grant is it im looking for??? i obviously didn’t need to give any personal information you seem to know so much already …
For a lot of students its the difference between staying in college or having to drop out!
hurry up will ye we need our beer money..and getting sick of eating cornflakes…
Thats what the grant payment did to our college…we all went out on the piss…
Yea go in the piss like all other non grant students. I don’t see nothin wrong with being equal
“A spokesperson for SUSI was not available for comment”.
Either it’s too early in the morning….06:30, or they are too busy with processing the applications.
My grant, I was told, was simply a roll-over issue, as I was now firmly in the County Council system. While doing my MA I had to move number of times. At one stage I had to move into a hospice to help my dad on his last journey. I then moved back to Dublin after his death to finish my MA. To get work as a PhD student, I had to borrow 3,000 from friends so I could register with half fees. Enter SUSI. They want a paper trail that I can barely supply. Utility bills? What student has utility bills in his name? Tennant registration number!!!! My landlords did not register me. It is a nightmare. I will have to walk away from my Phd with nothing to show and ?3, 000 in debts. I can’t find work here, so I’ll have to leave just to enable me to pay my friends, whose backs are up against the wall financially too. Just one story amongst many.
this is some months on – dont panic about documents. these are optional choices . rent receipts will suffice , letters addressed to you at your address – from council, doctor , hospital,. You can ask to have letters issued to you and pay for them – ie medical cert on headed paper from GP with address . NTL bill. Letters from your college also count if addressed to you. SUSI basically want proof of residency in 3 of 5 previous years. They want education trail – letter from institution and qualifying cert. They want proof of income – unemployment , part time job , child dependent – receipts of payments , letter from social welfare. Training certs. Results. PPS No.. Volunteer work if you have letters or certs. Everything you can include re your income and experience. Take time , make lists , then list all phone numbers you need to call re schools colleges welfare medical family. Make list of years and dates. You need to provide birth cert .
who spends there grant on drink? these days it doesn’t even cover the cheapest student accommodation
I had the pleasure of dealing with Susi the last fortnight after it emerged that the VEC couldn’t process my grant even after they told me they could. That website is the most buggy site I’ve ever seen !! Took me ages to sort it out with it constantly throwing up errors !
You’d think that they could at least have a decent working website before they bring in changes like this.
some amount of fools commenting on this thread. some people just get a grant for fees to be paid. how about you know-alls point out the jobs and i’m sure people would be happy to take them. just because you scraped enough together to get through college years ago when the econony was totally different doesn’t mean its as easy now. cop on
I currently have 6 jobs available at minimum wage….
Get in touch
tell us the details then!
Agree with Ali 100pc . The likes of that jim ah jim s comment and the fact he doesn’t show his face says it all about him. A troll !!
I was made redundant last year after 15 years in the workplace . I’m still waiting ( in expectation) for my grant
. Sure I was one of the first to apply when the online process opened around the start or end of May this year. It’s like the FIS, the carers allowance for new applicants . ( that harrowing story on rte news last night ).
Yet I’m sure these spineless f…s of tds and ministers expenses claims are met immediately. They can claim for pencils
Stephen,
It is a handy label of dismissal to call someone a troll.
Sorry to disappoint though.
I went through 4 years of college, and paid every penny. I borrowed and paid back. I worked at the weekends, and did work for friends in return for text books etc.
While working 10 years ago, i went back and did a post grad. My 2 children were very young , so after playing and doing homework etc, I would sit down at 9 pm and work through til midnight. I used my holidays for study and revision too.
Don’t lecture please about how hard life is without your grant. Its the cotton wool upbringing the last 2 generations have had has left us worse off with the ‘I’m entitled to’ mentality suffocating any sense of enterprise and initiative
Most SUSI grants are to pay for the Student Contribution, they’re not grants to fund the student with spending money to afford education beyond charges. Those kind of grants are now very rare.
The goverment is effectively delaying the pay out of some 2,250 per undergrad for a Government tax on education that is the “Registration fee” (Student Contribution).
There is also delays with processing the information even after the grant has been awarded. Password mistakes and the like… Absoloute farce.
The cynic in me says they’re waiting to make some big press release about “how great the government is with money for students”. Meanwhile, while they see how they can make political gain, I await the news of whether or not I’ll be able to continue this year.
Spoke to SUSI help? line this morning. They want more documentation, stuff they didn’t list on the ‘checklist’. When I questioned the delay, I was told that it was a result of all the fraudulent claims in the past. The implication was that the previously efficient VEC’s were not as vigilant as SUSI. So, like everything else in this country, the majority are punished by the few. As a family, we can only keep our son in college for another 2 months. How very unfair it is to let them start, and then possibly pull the rug from under them when the finally deign to give us a decision. It is typical of all new initiatives in Ireland – rolled out before it’s ready. I’m not hopeful to be honest, and I imagine my son will be ‘signing’ on after Christmas. How much more expensive will that be for Ireland. No education, therefore a lifetime on the dole. Consequences people!!
Department of Social Protection wrote to those receiving Back to Education Allowance saying they will be cut off if proof of registration in university is not submitted by the 6th of November. Students waiting on the contribution fee from SUSI can’t get proof of registration until contribution is paid. They are forcing people out of education , who are training/ retraining to find employment and back onto the dole!
apparently applications aren’t being processed because they’ve yet to scan documents received weeks ago in support of peoples application onto the system…
Susi is a joke I applied for the grant during the summer I’m a second year mature student got everything sent in in time then last week found out they want more information which was not mentioned before I for one should not b expected to pay fees when I got a letter saying I am entitled to it (the grant) now the college want me to pay I can’t afford it I think it’s a joke that students are once again been treated like second class citizens
struggling is not the word… 5 weeks in college and heard nothing of them.. rang them up and they said i should have got an email to say they needed acceptance of course form hello never got the email only ireland could come up with a new grant system that has more flaws than our government :( they suld of just left it at VEC at least they had the payments in by October latest
Protest outside Raoire Quinns house and it might help. Protesting at government buildings won’t change anything.
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