Ninth Level Ireland

“Last week, University College Cork (UCC) capitulated dramatically and reversed the massive €200 capitation fee increase that it had tried to push through over the summer. In response to the fee increase, members of the University College Cork Students’ Union (UCCSU) initially camped outside the UCC President Patrick O’Shea’s office …” (more)

[University Times, 24 November]

“UCC’s Students’ Union (UCCSU) has successfully reversed an incremental €200 increase in the student capitation fee, reducing the cost to €170 for all incoming students ahead of the 2020/21 academic year. The increase was announced in June 2019, inciting protests from the Students’ Union, who staged a sit-in demonstration in the following days …” (more)

[Samantha Calthrop, University Express, 19 November]

“In a dramatic turn of events, University College Cork (UCC) has reversed huge capitation fee increases implemented earlier this year, as well as agreeing to refund affected students for the first increment of €80 charged in September. The news, which comes after threats of legal action by the college’s students’ union, overturns a decision that would have seen UCC’s capitation fee increase incrementally from €170 to €370 by 2023 …” (more)

[Robert Quinn, University Times, 19 November]

“Modular billing, the system created to allow students to pay to repeat individual modules – abandoned by the College after historic student protests against the supplemental fees meant to pay for its introduction – could be re-introduced by next year, according to a top Trinity official. The system would replace Trinity’s current system of off-books assessment …” (more)

[Emer Moreau, University Times, 5 November]

“To ensure accessibility of education and the well-being of its students, UCD should make its fees proportional to parental income. Not all fees are covered by the free fees initiative and Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI). The most daunting factor of university is accommodation. With the rising cost of living in Dublin, any undue financial burden could keep a student from being able to attend school …” (more)

[University Observer, 12 October]

“Callaghan Commons is the Vice President for Academic Affairs at Dublin City University Students’ Union. Here, he writes about how Budget 2020 should focus on students and access to education …” (more)

[TheJournal.ie, 5 October]

“According to media reports, the Higher Education Authority (HEA) is soon to publish the results of a study on levels of inequality in access to third-level. That students from poorer households are less likely to attend college is not surprising to anyone who has been paying attention in recent decades …” (more)

[Declan Jordan, University Times, 2 October]

“On Thursday, 3rd October the Union of Students in Ireland are hosting the National Demonstration to Break the Barriers to higher education. Currently, some of the barriers to education include: Ireland has the second-highest fees in the EU [will be the highest after Brexit]; …” (more)

[USI, 30 September]

“How come many Irish students are paying €3,000 a year to attend university or college, when we’re supposed to have free third-level education? Maria Flannery and Cillian Sherlock walk you through what led to the introduction of ‘free fees’ in the mid-90s, where today’s €3,000 figure comes from, and what’s happened in the third-level sector which has left many institutions reliant on that money to keep the lecture rooms open …” (video)

[RTÉ Prime Time, 30 September]

“One in three students rely on their parents to pay their college fees, according to new research. A new study from the Bank of Ireland shows that 36% of students rely on their parents to contribute towards college fees, which can reach the maximum of €3,000 per year. While Irish students have an average income of €9.20 a day, or €258 a month, 35% have less than €100 of disposable income per month …” (more)

[Gabija Gataveckaite, Independent, 19 September]

“In January, when news first broke of a mix-up between SUSI and Trinity’s Academic Registry that cost the College €1.7 million in unpaid fees, nobody was very happy with Academic Registry. At the time, it seemed staggering that the College unit with specific responsibility for fees had failed to notice a shortfall worth hundreds of thousands a year …” (more)

[University Times, 8 September]

“Months after the discovery of a mix-up between SUSI and Academic Registry that left the College out of pocket for €1.7 million in unpaid student fees, Trinity is still chasing over €500,000 in unpaid fees, The University Times has learned …” (more)

[Donal MacNamee and Emer Moreau, University Times, 5 September]

“With September looming, the annual news cycle has invariably turned to the perennial problem of student accommodation, or, more correctly, the lack of it. What is increasingly clear is that, with their eye-watering rents, the newly built purpose built student accommodation blocks found on most college campuses have done little to alleviate the issue. In fact, far from providing a solution to the accommodation problem, they are starting to look more like corporate investment vehicles …” (more)

[Donal Horgan, The Burkean, 24 August]

“Warning that Ireland was on the precipice of a full-blown education crisis, Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) today told the Minister for Higher Education that college fees must be reduced by €500 …” (more)

[Cormac Watson and Emer Moreau, University Times, 23 August]

“The SUSI grant was never intended to cover the full cost of college, the Minister of State with Special Responsibility for Higher Education has said. Speaking on RTÉ’s Drivetime, Mary Mitchell O’Connor also ruled out a proposal by the incoming President of the National Parents Council Post Primary that the Government could act as co-guarantor for loans that parents have to take out to cover the cost of their children’s third-level education …” (more)

[RTÉ News, 14 August]

“Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Education, Thomas Byrne, has said the Minister for Education must not be allowed to wait for the next Government to tackle the tumbling ratings of Ireland’s Universities. Deputy Byrne was speaking following comments made by Minister McHugh where he stated that the Government will not act to address the crisis in higher education in this Dáil …” (more)

[Fianna Fáil, 14 August]

“Minister for Higher Education Mary Mitchell O’Connor has advised students to use their grant from the SUSI grant to pay for accommodation increases, amid a funding crisis the government says it can’t tackle until after a general election …” (more)

[Orla Murnaghan, University Times, 14 August]

“Sinn Féin TD for Dublin Fingal Louise O’Reilly has criticised the Fine Gael led government labelling it ‘arrogant and out of touch’, as two Ministers offer tea and sympathy to students and families facing rising third level costs. Deputy O’Reilly said: …” (more)

[Sinn Féin, 14 August]

“Stanley Petlane joined the more than 58,000 Leaving Cert students around the country in nervously opening the envelope containing his exam results on Tuesday morning. He was relieved he had done well and pleasantly surprised by his high score in physics …” (more)

[Sorcha Pollak, Irish Times, 13 August]

“Families who cannot afford to send their children to university should consider more affordable options in regional colleges, Minister for Education Joe McHugh has said. He was speaking after more than 58,000 students received their Leaving Cert results on Tuesday morning …” (more)

[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 14 August]