Going to College: Internet resources

Wednesday January 23 2008

Access to a computer and the internet is an essential requirement for college applicants. Once you have this, the amount of information that can be accessed is almost limitless.

Last weekend, Minister for Education and Science, Mary Hanafin, launched an extremely useful and user-friendly website, www.studentfinance.ie for intending college applicants, their families and their advisors.

The whole area of student finance, eligibility for free tuition fees, where to apply for maintenance grants, what are the different grant-aiding authorities, can be a bit of a minefield. So it is a great benefit to have a clear guide to the whole area.

Whether your question is about grants for students with disabilities, scholarships, back to education allowances (BETA), student assistance funds, or more, you should find the answer on this website, which is the initiative of the National Access Office of the Higher Education Authority (HEA).

The HEA is the statutory planning and development body for higher education and research in Ireland and one of its aims is to promote the attainment of equality of opportunity in higher education. Lack of information is a barrier to accessing education, so an initiative such as this is of real benefit. Information is the key to informed decision making.

Applicants often ask: "Which course is better: A or B?" The answer often is that it depends on what the student wants -- it's frequently a question of "horses for courses". One course is not necessarily better than another -- what is important is which suits an applicant best.

Take as an example, a recent query about music technology courses. "Would it be better to study NUI Maynooth's Music Technology degree, or Ballyfermot College of Further Education's Music Technology course?"
Both courses are excellent. NUI Maynooth's course (www.nuim.ie) is a level 8 honours degree programme. Ballyfermot's course leads to a British award (BTEC Higher National Diploma), and that qualification is not directly comparable with the levels of our National Framework of Qualifications of the NQAI.

Graduates of the course may also progress to a Level 8 honours degree in Media Production and Management in Ballyfermot itself which is validated by DCU. Others may progress to honours degree programmes in Britain.