lost my job, wanting to study..HELP!!

Hey everyone.
Sheesh where do i start?! Ok so have been separated for 5 years, have worked for my ex husband for the last 2 years and i have just met someone else. Up until now we have had a pretty good relationship. The job was perfect, we live rural where there is no child care after school programs etc so to work for him was perfect for flexibility with the kids etc, he would help me out with this and that fire wood and car maintenance etc, i really had it pretty good. people would tell me he was controlling and he has put me in a position where it suited him. Anyway long story short, i met someone else, he fired me and now i am financially struggling to make mortgage repayments, car repayments and to pretty much buy food.
So this is where i need your help...i went into WINZ today to ask about study options in regards to start my teaching degree? I was given absolutely no help what so ever, he told me that i would never get in as the bar had been raised and the intake drop, and winz dont help so if i must study go and knock on study links door?! Is this right? i have just researched study links website and they said the first step was to have an appointment with a case manager???? well, im kinda struggling to know where to from here? i have sent in my enrollment and feel as though i have as good a chance as anyone.
Can anyone give me any advice on where to from here???

StudyLink's the place to go. Unfortunately, there isn't a lot of support out there - although you can borrow some living expenses and might be eligible for an allowance, it can be hard going. But talk to them, they'll give you what help they can.

Check out scholarships, too. It takes a lot of work to find them, there's not just someone who can tell you 'you need to apply for a, b and c', but there really is money out there that might not be enough to get you through by itself but can help all the same. And don't give up if your first application is unsuccessful, keep trying.

Here's some websites which might be helpful (I've included lots which might not be helpful depending on your ethnicity, but since I don't know they *might* help):


TeachNZ (this could be the best site for you - if you happen to meet their criteria you could be home and hosed for money. They are quite specific about subjects etc, but it's worth a shot)
BreakOut*
Universities NZ (these guys mostly do the big ones like the Rhodes, but have a few random ones too, well worth checking out)
MaoriEducation
FOMA (links to iwi and hapû sites)
Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs
Pacific Islands Polynesian Education Foundation

All the Universities will have scholarships pages on their websites, too, check out the one for the Uni you're studying at (if it's Waikato, check out my gorgeous photo while you're at it )

I work in schols (at Waikato as you'll have gathered from the above), and we do a monthly newsletter summarising everything we've heard about (because even though we don't administer a lot of the ones we advertise in it, people do let us know about them). Obviously, we're only going to put awards in it that Waikato students are eligible for - but a lot of the ones we advertise students from anywhere else are eligible too, and we don't mind if you sign up while you're at another Uni . Just email scholarships@waikato.ac.nz if you want to get it sent out.

*ETA that BreakOut is a subscriber site - costs $50 an hour from home, but is free from public libraries or places with a subscription (like Universities). DON'T use it at home!!!

Edited by Hopes

Wow, thank you so much Hopes. I will be checking out all the above options ...so helpful :)

james wrote: Thats about right winz wont help you. If you have some degree or a way to get a job, they wouldnt help me with study as i have my caregiving cert and as the case manger said i should just do that. Sorry to be negtive but the goverment have made it harder to try to get ahead. I am studying again next year and have to take out a student loan try to get a loan and study anyway hun its the only way

Sorry don't mean to be bitchy but I think you'd find that the majority of students have student loans to be able to study. So if you want to study you have to have one, it's just a way of life now. I've done study for on & off over the last 15 years & every step of the way I've had to borrow my tuition fees. Yet I didnt' get anything else to help me study as my parents earnt too much, although though they couldn't afford to pay my fees. I had to stop studying & work for a year so I could then go back with a student allowance.

There is help out there, it's not much but student allowance, accom pmts that you get via your student loan if you can't get them through winz & your books & tuition paid by student loan, will help you get through your study.

i never expected them to pay in a way when you go for a student loan you are borrowing from the tax payer all i wanted was a hand up NOT A hand out i dont mind getting a student loan but if the goverment want us off the benefit(which i will be after i graudate) then they should surport (not just money) us to do so just like Adventres_nz and have better front line case mangners to surport people in to training (or work) not talking down to people there is alot of horrable talk about single mums maybe its just easyer to talk down about people insted of helping them