The Student Financial Support and Advice department in UCC is there to assist you with any questions or concerns you might have around your finances during your time at UCC. You can make an appointment with the Student Assistance Fund team or email the team directly.

Budgeting

The below section provides you with necessary information you need in terms of budgeting for college life. In this section you will find information on what is a budget, why is it important to budget and budgeting assistance in UCC.

Budgeting Information
Budgeting Assistance
Budgeting for life in UCC
Student Budgeting Advice Services

What is a budget?

A budget is a simple exercise where you sit down and estimate your income over a period of time, such as the academic year, in comparison to the costs you will incur during this time. Ideally, you want your income to be greater than your costs.

Why is it important to budget?

College can be a very exciting time in your life, from meeting new people, experiencing new things to furthering your education. Your student experience can be as exciting and adventurous as you want it to be. It means more freedom and more responsibility in terms of your studies, and also in terms of managing your money.

College life can be expensive if you allow it to be, with new or increased expenses such as rent, bills, food costs and travel to name just a few, it can become overwhelming pretty fast at first. However, with good and sensible budgeting practices, you can help keep your expenses to a minimum, while saving and even leaving college with more than just a degree.

Finance | Budget

Finance and money management isn’t just exclusive to the students and staff in the Cork University Business School (CUBS), it is a intuit skill that anyone can master over time through practice and real-life scenarios. To help you develop this skill, you can download this budgeting sheet, with all the costs that may be associated with life at UCC. Planning and knowing what your expenses will entail is very helpful to allow you to make wise spending decisions and avoid unnecessary stress or debt. Draw up your budget and play around with it, learn, make mistakes, it is all part of learning!

For more handy tips and further assistance, you can download a spending recorder sheet or you can even download a money planner sheet to get you on your way to wise budgeting decisions. Additional to this, you can make an appointment with the Student Budgeting Advisor or email the Student Budgetary Advisor directly.

Budgeting for life in UCC

Firstly, you need to know exactly what you are budgeting for and in this case, it is your College year. The college year differs from a fiscal year or even what you may be used to in secondary school or PLC. Below is a break down of what a typical college year at UCC might look like:

Your money has to last all year and it is therefore important to consider all the periods of the college year. If you don't know where to start, you can start by downloading this Income & Expenditure spread sheet which you can upload to your Umail google sheets so you can have an accessible budget planner.

Now that you have a basic structure in place, you need to determine what you consider as “essential” expenses versus “luxury” expenses. With an idea of expenses and what you will need to get by every month, you may be finding yourself knowing the importance of planning and to know what sources of funding are available to you as a UCC student. These can provide extra funds to help you in your college career.

Student Budgeting Advice Services

If you are facing complications with SUSI, the Department of Employment Affairs and Social (DEASP), have a complex financial situation or just want someone to talk to about planning your time in UCC, you can make an appointment with the Student Budgeting Advisor.

The Student Budgetary Advisor will be able to assist you in the following areas:

- SUSI, Student Assistance Fund and other state bursaries.
- Social Welfare.
- Laptop Loans.
- Bank/Credit Union Loans.
- Budgeting and financial planning.
- And much much more.

The Cost of Living in Cork

Private Rentals (ranging from €500 to €1,200 per month)

Cork has a vibrant rental market with availability in both private rental and purpose-built student accommodation. Rental costs can vary according to location, quality, and how many people you are willing to work with.

Student Accommodation (ranging from €7,000 to €12,000 per academic year)

The average cost of apartment-style student accommodation is approximately €7,000 per academic year. Prices for apartment-style accommodation may include utility bills and a lease can last from 37 to 42 weeks. Students are expected to pay their rent in two instalments for this type of accommodation. You can view the various student accommodation options on the UCC Student Accommodation.

Utility Bills (approximately €100 per month) *prices estimated are per month per student

Utility bills include expenses such as internet access (approx. €20*), electricity | gas (approx. €35*), and bins (approx. €10*). It is, however, reasonable to assume a bit of leeway here as bills differ in various parts of the city, with different suppliers, usage, number of people sharing the bills as well as the condition and age of the house.

Food and Groceries (€250-€350 per month)

Everyone needs to eat, and as a student, you need to include food into your budget. You should put aside at least €50 per week for a weekly grocery shop (alcohol excluded). Make sure to eat plenty of brain food (such as green veggies, berries, and fatty fish) to supercharge your brainpower during your studies!

Social Life and Entertainment (€200-€300 per month)

Depending on how active your social life is, this can easily become a high expense on your budget. Apart from going out, streaming sites such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+ can also be expensive and you could pay up to €40 per month for such services. If you consider expenses like Deliveroo (1 x €12.50 per week), online shopping (€30 per month), phone credit (€20 per month), Spotify (€5 per month) and perhaps one coffee per week at €3, you could easily have expenses of up to €157 per month.

Transport (can be as low as €0-€85 per month)

If you live in Cork city, your daily commuting costs to college will be very low. With UCC being within 1km walking distance to most accommodation complexes and to the city, UCC’s location allows you to walk, run or cycle to campus with ease. Zero cost, zero carbon commuting. A win-win situation all around!

As well as that there is an excellent public transport service in Cork. Being a student in UCC allows you to get a student leap card. This can be used for all public transport services in Ireland. Click this link to find out more.

For further information on cost of living in Cork, please see the helpful information provided by UCC International Office located at this link here.

Tips - How to manage your money

Below are a few quick tips that could go a long way in helping you manage your money properly:

tips for saving

Tuition Fees

If you are a first year Home/EU undergraduate student beginning your studies in UCC in September, you can download the Criteria for Determining Eligibility for Free Tuition Fees pdf at this link to find out whether you qualify for 'free fees.' This means that the state will cover the Tuition component of your study fees. Further eligibility criteria to consider include:

Tuition fees will be paid in respect only of students attending full-time undergraduate courses.
The courses must, other than exceptionally, be of a minimum of two years in duration.

The courses must be followed in one of the eligible institutions.

NOTE: Tuition fees will NOT be paid in respect of:

Students pursuing a second undergraduate course.
Students who already hold a postgraduate qualification.

Student Contribution Charge and Capitation Fee

The Student Contribution Charge refers to an annual fee (subject to change) which must be paid by all students. Students in receipt of a grant will have this paid by SUSI. You can visit the Admissions Office webpage at this link to find out what the current fee is.

The Capitation Fee covers membership of the Union of Students of Ireland (USI) and of the Mardyke Sports Arena. This fee is not covered by the Higher Education Grant Scheme which means that all students must pay this fee. You can visit the Admissions Office webpage at this link to find out what the current fee is.

Student Assistance Fund

The Student Assistance Fund (SAF) provides financial assistance for full-time higher education students who are experiencing financial difficulties while attending college. The SAF is partly supported by the Irish Government and the European Social Fund as part of the ESF Programme for Employability, Inclusion and Learning 2014-2020. The SAF provides a further source of funding for higher education students in addition to the Student Grant.

The following students are eligible to apply for SAF:

All full-time registered students (subject to EU status), undergraduate and postgraduate, for the academic year.
PhD students from years one to four.

For more information on the dates and steps for online application, you can visit the for the SAF webpage or make an appointment.

*Please note that if you are studying a second degree or second masters or a degree on the same level on the National Framework of Qualifications you are not eligible.

SUSI and Grants

Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) is Ireland's national awarding authority for all further and higher education grants. SUSI offers funding to eligible students, from school leavers to mature students returning to education, in approved full-time third level courses. There are two main elements to the student grant, maintenance grants and fee grants.

A maintenance grant is a contribution towards your living costs. If you have qualified for a maintenance grant, you will generally qualify for a fee grant.

A fee grant can cover:

All or part of your tuition fees.
All or part of the student contribution.
Costs of essential field trips.

You can apply for the SUSI award on the SUSI website. If you are confused about whether or not you are eligible, SUSI provides a eligibility reckoner that asks you a series of questions to determine if you may be eligible for an award. You can access the reckoner online. If you are confused about your award, unhappy with your award or you are having issues due to complexities, you can email the Student Budgeting Advisor to assist you.

Know Your Finances