Several financial support services are available for NCI students in need of assistance.
NCI students studying together on campus
Full- and part-time students who are experiencing financial difficulties may be eligible to apply to the Student Assistance Fund (SAF) for financial support. The SAF is co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Social Fund as part of the ESF Programme for Employability, Inclusion and Learning 2014-2020.
Grants
All full-time undergraduate courses are grant-aided under the Higher Education Grants' Scheme and the Vocational Education Committee's (VEC) Scholarship Scheme. Mature Students qualify in their own right. However, while applicants to these programmes may apply for both a VEC Scholarship and a Higher Education Grant, only one or other of these may be held by any individual. Full details and application forms are available from your Local Authority or VEC. The College's programmes do not attract European Social Fund (ESF) funding.
For information on Higher Education Grants from SUSI visit studentfinance.ie.
Student Assistance Fund
The purpose of the Student Assistance Fund (SAF) is to provide financial support to disadvantaged students who would be unable to fully benefit from third level education without external support.
The SAF is best described as a relief fund as opposed to a survival package. Students are encouraged to source additional supports outside the fund, as typically the fund will ease a financial burden rather than totally alleviating the situation.
Eligibility
The SAF is available to full- and part-time students who are participating on a course of no less than one year in duration, which leads to an undergraduate or postgraduate qualification.
The categories below serve as an example of some of the instances in which a student may be approved for funding. Please note that a student is not automatically approved for funding if he/she falls into one of the categories listed below. Each application is reviewed on an individual basis with direction from the guidelines below.
- Student must be experiencing considerable financial difficulty
- Student has no access to financial assistance from other sources
- Student is unable to meet daily living expenses
- Financial difficulties are negatively impacting on education
- Student has sudden or unseen expenses that he/she is unable to meet
- Student is in financial difficulty due to bereavement in the family
- Student is in financial difficulty to family breakdown
- Student who is part-time and who falls in to one of the categories of target groups as specified by the HEA’s National Access Plan
Further information can be found on the Student Assistance Fund page.
Useful sites