“Almost 60% of Irish expat parents in Asia are not interested in sending their children to attend university in Ireland as they do not feel Irish higher education institutions offer value for money, a new survey has shown. Britain and the US are the top destinations of choice …” (more)
[Clifford Coonan, Irish Times, 14 June]
“Students from the Republic are facing potential massive university fee increases after the UK withdraws from the EU. The head of Queen’s University Belfast said EU undergraduates could be charged pricier international tuition fees post-Brexit …” (more)
[Simon Doyle, Irish News, 29 May]
“Universities are earning millions of euro in exam ‘resit fees’ charged to students who fail to make the grade first time round. As exam season gets under way, new figures reveal third level colleges enjoy a huge annual cash boost from a range of ‘fees’ …” (more)
[Mark O’Regan, Independent, 21 May]
“Sir, – John Thompson (May 16th) proposes a system of financial incentives for students to study third-level courses in areas where there is a skills shortage. Such incentives would encourage students to choose a course based on affordability, instead of their interest in the subject or their aptitude for it …” (more)
[Jonathan Dukes, Irish Times, 17 May]
“Sir, – It always amazes me that when considering third-level fees, no consideration is ever given to the notion of altering fees based on the courses of education studied. We have a huge shortage of qualified applicants for intellectually and financially rewarding careers in information technology (IT), for example, and yet the same fees system is applied to IT courses as to any other area of study …” (more)
[John Thompson, Irish Times, 16 May]
“University heads have sent a strongly worded letter to two senior academics attacking as ‘flawed’ a paper they have written setting out a case against a student loan scheme.The letter from the Irish Universities Association (IUA) questions the ‘methodology and approach’ of Dr Charles Larkin, Trinity College Dublin, and Dr Shaen Corbet, Dublin City University …” (more)
[Katherine Donnelly, Independent, 4 May]
“Students from Northern Ireland who attend universities in the Republic may face fees of tens of thousands of euro following Brexit. There is currently a capped charge of €3,000 (£2,500) at Irish universities for EU students. However, when Northern Ireland leaves the EU along with the rest of the UK …” (more)
[Rebecca Black, Belfast Telegraph, 4 May]
“Northern Irish students should not have to pay more to attend universities in the Republic after Brexit, an Irish opposition politician has argued. There should be a guarantee that students from NI will not have to pay non-EU fees when the UK leaves the EU, said Fianna Fáil’s Thomas Byrne …” (more)
[Robbie Meredith, BBC News, 3 May]
“Recently I read an article by Owen Ross in The Irish Times entitled ‘We should cut college fees for courses linked to skills shortages’. Ross, who is is Head of Department of Business and Management at Athlone Institute of Technology, speaks a lot of sense when he writes that there should be financial ‘incentives for school leavers to undertake designated programmes’…” (more)
[Careful With That Axe, Eugene, 4 April]
“The feasibility of a student loan scheme where funds would be repaid by graduates after they reach a certain income level has been dismissed in research commissioned by the State’s institutes of technology. The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education is examining new proposals to fund the higher education system, which is in crisis following years of funding cuts and rising student numbers …” (more)
[Colin Gleeson, Irish Times, 3 April]
“University tuition fees in England are now the highest in the world, new analysis has found. The average annual cost of £9,188, makes it significantly more than higher education in the US, where the average student pays $9,410 (£7,518) per annum, according to the Student Loan Calculator website …” (more)
[Ben Kentish, Independent, 28 March]
“Ireland can respond to the uncertainty created by the changing international economic environment by pursuing a ‘skills incentivisation strategy’ that develops school leavers into the most highly-skilled graduate workforce on the planet …” (more)
[Owen Ross, Irish Times, 28 March]
“Students in, University College Dublin (UCD) have voted to mandate their students’ union to campaign for significantly reduced third-level fees, with 62.5% of voting students choosing the option over the two others presented …” (more)
[Sinéad Baker, University Times, 9 March]
“Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will oppose an end to the free fees scheme and abolish the student registration charges in view of the recent figures on the number of students in receipt of grants in third level institutions (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter …” (more)
[Dáil written answers, 2 March]
“Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide an update on meetings and discussions he or his officials have had with counterparts in other EU states with regard to the impact of Brexit on third level fees that would be charged to Irish or other EU citizens studying in the UK or Northern Ireland and-or other barriers to access for Irish or EU students to studying in the UK or Northern Ireland …” (more)
[Dáil written answers, 1 March]
“A teenager whose family were forced to leave the county during the recession to find work is now being hit with higher university fees if she wants to study in Ireland …” (more)
[Cathal McMahon, Independent, 23 February]
“Billy Lawless (Independent): … In 1995 the then Government decided to abolish undergraduate fees for Irish and other EU students. The scheme was generally referred to as the free fees initiative. Fees were cut by 50% in 1995 and eliminated thereafter. In announcing the introduction of free fees in Ireland on 9 February 1995 the then Minister, Niamh Bhreathnach, expressed to Dáil Éireann the universality dimension to what was a radical change in third level education in the State …” (more)
[Seanad debates, 21 February]
“Dublin’s Trinity College has been found to be in breach of advertising guidelines over a course listing on its own website. Details on the Trinity College Website for a Masters in Cognitive Psychotherapy provided details of the fees for Years one and two of the course …” (more)
[Brian O’Reilly, Independent, 21 February]
“Trinity’s pharmacy students have called for Provost Patrick Prendergast’s support in lobbying against the double financial blow of increased final-year tuition fees and an unpaid placement in their final year …” (more)
[Brónagh Kennedy, University Times, 1 February]
“NUI Galway today welcomed confirmation from the Department of Education and Skills that eligible students from the UK who enrol for eligible courses for the 2017/18 academic year will be able to avail of the Department’s Free Fee Schemes as in previous years …” (more)
[NUI Galway, 27 January]
