Ninth Level Ireland

“Fianna Fáil has pledged an extra €100 million a year in core funding for higher education, but refused to commit to any of the three options outlined in the 2016 Cassells report. The party is also promising a 20% increase in undergraduate state grants, a restoration of postgraduate grants and the maintenance of fees at their current level, Fianna Fáil education spokesperson Thomas Byrne said at a press briefing this morning …” (more)

[Donal MacNamee, University Times, 23 January]

“Fianna Fáil will spend an additional €100 million per year and freeze higher education fees at their current levels should it be elected, while reducing primary teacher-student ratios to 20:1, the party said. At its education policy launch at party HQ in Dublin …” (more)

[Cianan Brennan, Irish Examiner, 23 January]

“IFUT calls on all parties forming the next government to adopt the following as part of the Programme for Government: 1. Phase out student fees and revise the grant system to address the excessive costs for so many in, or contemplating entering, Higher Education …” (more)

[IFUT, 20 January]

“Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill has said raising tuition fees in Northern Ireland is ‘not the way to go’ to plug any shortfall in funding from the UK Government. Her comments come just days after First Minister Arlene Foster stated there will have to be a ‘positive debate’ on the issue. Currently, students pay up to £4,275 a year to study in Northern Ireland, compared to up to £9,250 in England …” (more)

[Andrew Madden, Belfast Telegraph, 19 January]

“Speaking tonight on the issue of student fees Sinn Féin economy spokesperson Caoimhe Archibald MLA said: ‘In the south we have costed budget proposals to begin the process of removing student contribution charges, however here in the north we are constrained by the block grant and more challenging budgetary conditions and a lack of fiscal powers …'” (more)

[Sinn Féin, 17 January]

“Sir, – As a working parent, I have come to the conclusion that you have to be very rich or very poor to qualify for grants or scholarships. Those of us in the middle-income class who do not meet the threshold of being under a certain reckonable income do not qualify and must pay the full amount of fees and accommodation if our children wish to progress in these third-level institutions …” (more)

[Christy Galligan, Irish Times, 17 January]

“The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) has called on Ireland’s next government to remove the student contribution charge – at €3,000, the second-highest college fee in the EU – and advocated for free public transport for students, in its general election manifesto released this evening …” (more)

[Donal MacNamee and Cormac Watson, University Times, 15 January]

“The Minister for Education and Skills Joe McHugh TD and Minister of State for Higher Education Mary Mitchell O’Connor TD today announced that current fee regimes and grant supports are being maintained for Irish students going to higher education institutions in the UK from September 2020. The Ministers also confirmed the current system will apply for students from Britain and Northern Ireland who are applying to attend colleges in Ireland …” (more)

[Department of Education and Skills, 10 January]

“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]