Of the 58,000 students who sat the leaving cert in June, the 46,000 who applied for college places will know on Monday if they have been offered their first choice course or indeed any course in the main round of CAO offers. After the excitement of getting an offer there won’t be long to celebrate before the reality of going to college sets in and the practicalities have to be addressed.
Fees, accommodation, transport, books and equipment, day to day living expenses and of course a social life all have to be budgeted for.About half of students nowadays receive grants or part grants but with spiraling rents and living costs most students will need additional finance. Hardest hit will be PAYE workers just above the grants threshold, and for these families sending a child to college is a real struggle.
Fees
University fees were abolished in 1996 and this did at the time improve access to 3rd level for many. However, 20 years later college is far from free. Initially a nominal fee, less than €200 at the start was introduced to cover registration and administration. This student contribution has now risen to €3,000, a sizeable fee for parents and students.
Despite this not being considered real fees, in effect Irish 3rd level students pay the second highest fees for undergraduates in Europe, after the UK (excluding Scotland). And with the limited information available from the rest of the world, we seem to be about the eighth highest in the world for fees in public universities.
Last year Ireland’s top 28 3rd level institutions took in €396m in registration fees, double that of 6 years ago, showing a dramatically increased burden on students and their parents.
However this is an important source of income for the colleges, and they and other experts claim the 3rd level sector is grossly underfunded in the first place, as indeed are our primary and secondary levels.
The Department of Education recently issued a report outlining 3 options for the funding of 3rd level education,
- Maintain the current system,
- Introduce a student loan system
- Switch to a genuine ‘free fees’ system.
Free fees would necessitate major funding from government at a time when there are so many needs to be met at primary and post primary levels, and a loan system could leave people still paying back student loans while trying to juggle mortgages and raise families, so maybe the current system, flawed though it is, is the best of a bad lot.
Accommodation
Rent costs can vary throughout the country, and given the lack of supply, students can pay anything from €348 per month for a shared room, €563 for a single room or €1,000 plus for a one bedroom unit in Dublin, according to the Daft.ie rental report. Rents are not as high elsewhere but nonetheless have risen everywhere on last years’ rates.
Purpose built student accommodation, although usually at the more expensive end of the spectrum is very popular and is usually booked out months in advance.
A new student block in Dublin has already sold out at over twice the average rent, and the company is planning more blocks for next year.
This however is a mere drop in the ocean as the Higher Education Authority has estimated that about 25,000 extra beds for students are needed nationally.
Lack of supply means that not only is there the worry of paying for accommodation but also the worry of trying to find somewhere suitable in the first place.
Also there have been many instances of scammers scamming people out of hard-come-by deposits, leaving them with neither accommodation nor their money.
Reports of dire conditions, overcrowding and even homelessness among students abound. There are students making very long commutes each day, and students couch surfing on friends couches. Many students’ arrangements are not conducive to study and take their toll on their physical and mental health.
The USI operates a digs based website which encourages homeowners to rent spare rooms to students and reminding them that they can make up to €12,000 tax free per annum. The USI hopes to find paces for 1,000 students through this initiative.
As part of the government’s housing plan, a student housing project manager will join the USI for the next nine months, in order to help coordinate government efforts to improve the situation and building projects in the private sector.
Travel
Travel expenses have increased year-on-year and now transport for students is estimated to be approximately €1,215 annually. Of course this varies immensely from student to student depending on circumstances. Wexford is lucky to be very well served by frequent daily bus services to Dublin and Waterford offering monthly special offers to students, and private companies offering weekly services to other colleges at reasonable rates.
Books etc
According to the DIT Campus Life Student Cost of Living Guide 2016, the cost of books and class materials has also increased to over €600 a year, while mobile phone costs are around €288. And of course most students need laptops.
Living expenses and social life
These are to some extent discretionary but students have to eat and drink and can spend as much as is available on both. Raiding parents fridges at weekends helps, as does shopping at discount supermarkets
Financing College
The vast majority of parents support their children in college to some extent, from topping up grants or part time earnings to completely funding them through college. The average amount parents give their child each month has been estimated at €447.
Research from the Irish League of Credit Unions shows that many are struggling to keep up despite saving for several years and at least 54% of parents will have to borrow to fund their children through college. 37% will take out a credit union loan, 6% will borrow from a bank, 7% will use a credit card and 4% will go to a money lender.
63% of students work during the college term. They work an average of 17 hours a week with 23% of them missing lectures to do so, leading of course to increased stress and fear of failing exams.
Every year there are some who simply cannot afford to go to college or have to drop out because they cannot keep up paying rent etc.
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