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A NEW REPORT to be delivered to the Minister for Education this week is expected to outline the need for the government either to put an end to the ‘free fees’ scheme, or to enforce a strict cap on the capacity of Ireland’s colleges.
An interim sustainability, being prepared by the Higher Education Authority and to be delivered to the minister this week, will essentially consolidate the various funding options for the education sector.
TheJournal.ie understands that the report will argue that without the reintroduction of full undergraduate tuition fees, or an alternative payment model like a graduate tax or income-contingent loan fees, it will be necessary to enforce a strict cap on the number of places in colleges.
That cap – which would see a considerable reduction on the number of places available in the majority of courses – would fuel a further increase in the CAO points necessary for each college course.
Demand for places in Irish college courses, which is already oversubscribed in the vast majority of cases, is expected to be increased by the recent decision of the British government to increase tuition fees there – in some cases to £9,000 a year.
The average undergraduate college course costs around €10,000 to deliver each year, with students currently contributing €2,000 of this each year.
Gary Redmond of the Union of Students in Ireland this morning said the country’s financial situation meant the prospect of a graduate tax, or some kind of deferred loan system, would probably not be feasible.
“The country would have to borrow a huge amount of money to keep the system going for 15 to 20 years, until a loan system began to pay off,” he said. “The chances are it would be vetoed by the Troika anyway because it’s an even bigger borrowing”.
Redmond said the capping of places in Medicine and related courses – which already carry the highest CAO points requirements because of the demand for places – would see points rise even further.
“Education should always be based on someone’s academic ability… capping numbers is only going to increase the stress on students,” he said.
Those courses are the most likely to be hit by a new lower capacity, given that they are the most expensive to run – with some medicinal courses costing up to €35,000 a year to run, with student contributions only covering €2,000 of that amount.
Redmond also called on Quinn to honour his pre-election pledge not to increase tuition fees or student contributions.
“Since then, the minister has come out and said things were worse than he thought,” Redmond said. “That’s absolute nonsense. Michael Noonan and Joan Burton said their manifestos were fully costed – both had access to the Department of Finance in the run-up to the election.
“Any U-turn on the part of the minister would be a cynical play to students and families to garner their votes.”
The government is expected to give some indication of its plans on third-level fees in the Budget in four weeks’ time, though the HEA’s full sustainability report on the third-level sector is not expected to be finished until the new year.
Over 60 per cent of people between the ages of 18 and 25 are currently enrolled in higher education, while even more are in further education courses. The government has set a target of 72 per cent participation in higher education courses.
College and university heads have consistently called for the return of undergraduate tuition fees, pointing to the fall of Irish colleges in world university rankings as proof that the quality of teaching is falling as a result of financial limitations.
Ridiculous – what kind if economics is that, limiting education to manage costs – shortsighted at best.
If it means that colleges won’t waste resources on courses where there is a very high dropout rate, where people are just attending because the points were low and it passed the time, then it might be a good idea.
Because of the Croke Park deal the numbers of lecturers will be run down, so somethings got to give.
I live near a college. If this move means less delinquents and student yobs destroying my property and neighbourhood every week…great!!!!
It depends on how Quinn decides to enforce a cap. I’m of the view that there are certain people out there who just shouldn’t be in college. So many people end up going in and dropping out or just sitting there for a few years, wasting both their time and taxpayers money.
Any type of cap needs to separate those who genuinely want to be there vs those who are least suited for college. This may coincide with a complete overhaul of the points system to one that allows the colleges to select based on suitability.
Totally agree with you. When I was registering this year I couldn’t believe the amount of people that repeated about four or five tests. I’m not trying to make out that I’m smarter than them but if you put in the effort there is no way your going to fail that amount of tests unless you shouldn’t be in that course in the first place. Last year coming up to the summer tests I heard a lot of people in the corridors saying “sure I’m not going to bother studying for that test, I’ll just take the repeat in September”.
It won’t be good for people from the marginal end of society if this happens because I think Vincent Brown said perfectly that they will be the first to be denied opportunity and the real ones to suffer from this.
what if “suitability” ends up meaning “if your parents make a donation”
This is might free up some money in the short term, but in the future with less educated people there will be less tax coming in. This will just create another deficit further down the line.
Wow, does this mean that everybody might not be entitled to everything, for free, surely not??
Can you tell me who ‘deserves’ it?
I hear you – something for nothing is too easy – but take it away from the masses and you end up with a bigger problem on your hands. Education should be a right, not a luxury.
The most equitable and cost efficient method is to have an uncapped system that requires graduates pay the full cost after they graduate, through an income tax levy, when they reach a certain earning capacity. After all it’s a bit unfair to have taxpayers pay for someones law degree so that the taxpayer can then be charged 400 euro per hour for that graduates services in a law practice. This users pays system is in place to fund third level education elsewhere, but it wouldn’t work in Ireland because graduates are emigrating. Which makes cost recovery impossible, so I’m guessing capping the current system of government funding is the only option.
Surely, if you emigrated you would still be liable for the fee under your idea?
Sounds surprisingly good.
Yes you’re correct, you would still be liable, the issue is around enforcing that liability when someone is on the otherside of the world, and when the debt is not a commercial one like doing a runner on utility bills. That’s why countries like Australia, who have a user pays system for third level education, don’t bother. They just wait and hope the person returns at some point so they can recover thedebt plus interest. Lets be honest, most people who are leaving Ireland now, despite what they’re saying, will never return for anything other than a holiday.
Capping Third Level Places = Smart Economy (?)
Very important that people aren’t educated because then they might know what is going on!!!
I think that those who are interested genuinely in getting a place will have to work very hard but what will this do to others who are less academic? Are they not better in college than on the dole doing nothing.
As opposed to a present electorate that are supposedly educated voting yes for European treaties and believing government spin?
I would gladly pay a graduate tax in order to maintain our “free” education system, provided the system for application to college was totally revised and shifted from a points-race, stress riddled two years into something of a mix between the UCAS (application, interview, portfolio) and what we have now where academic achievements are relevant (but not all that matters).
If this was changed when I was about to start college, I wouldn’t have been able to go, and the idea of that devastates me. How many people’s futures will this destroy?
The young educated people of this country, are the hope for our future. Taking away access to education is tantamount to a crime.
the learning objectives need to be clearly identified for each course and published on the college website the student needs to know what they are getting themselves in for and not just for the first year what do u need to know B4 u start and what do u need to know when u finish
Beginning to think neill is enda kenny in disguise never goes against a givt decision.. Capping the amount of people who can get an education ya thatl help produce skilled workers and help business grow
Too many going into further education with little prospect of employment in the private sector. Something has to change. What I don’t understand is the third level institutions have lots of highly educated people locked in cushy public sector jobs, yet the government tells every SME that this is the way forward towards recovery. I don’t understand it myself. Sounds almost like a religious prayer. The gap between salaries and pensions everyone sees. But would it not be better, since these educated elites have so much to offer, that their colleges be turned into private sector corporations and that many of them be exited to bestow their valuable skills and know-how on the real economy?
test
It’d only work if you scrapped the points system as well, it’s a very poor indicator of how well someone will perform at higher level.
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