Parents face huge bills as fees return
Tuition charges could be over €40,000 for some students
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It will come as yet another hammer blow for the middle classes. Students or their parents could be facing average total tuition bills of €28,000 to complete a university degree when the Government reintroduces fees next year.
In the case of more scientific courses, such as medicine and dentistry, the total tuition fee for a degree could be much greater at over €40,000.
The hit will come after an era in which many parents failed to save for the expenses of third level, because of free fees. Many families are unprepared for the charges.
Education Minister Batt O'Keeffe has yet to announce details of how students will pay for third-level education. But he indicated last week that new charges will come into effect next year.
Barring a political revolt, the reintroduction of fees is not in doubt. The only question now is: how much will students have to pay?
If the Government was to go for a straightforward reintroduction of fees, with a possible loan scheme accompanying it, the bills could be huge. While most students do not have to pay fees, those who repeat a year are charged. This fee is based on the charge for EU citizens.
If this is the rate chosen by the Government when it reintroduces fees, students can expect to pay €5,000 a year for arts subjects and €6,500 to €9,000 for more labour intensive technical subjects, such as medicine and dentistry.
"We estimate that the straight reintroduction of fees would mean that average fees in university would be around €7,000 a year,'' says Shane Kelly, president of the Union of Students of Ireland.
Mr Kelly argues that the notion that Ireland has no third- level fees at the moment is false. Irish students already pay significant registration charges and these will be hiked to €1,500 this year.
When it reintroduces fees, the Government may be reluctant to charge the full EU rate, which is currently levied on students who have not lived in Ireland for sufficient time to qualify for free fees.
A hike in charges to over €5,000 a year would not only be politically damaging, but could also cause a brain drain to Britain, where tuition fees are set at a maximum of €3,400. Even Oxford and Cambridge can charge no more than that.
Scotland and Wales may prove to be particularly attractive destinations for Irish students in future. In Scotland, the government pays the tuition fees of students from the EU. And in Wales, the government subsidises most fees. Both countries are already attracting significant numbers of Irish students.
The lower cost of living in Britain and the drop in the value of Sterling against the euro may also encourage an exodus.
As it devises wizard schemes to raise cash for third level, the Government will look to other countries as a model.
The variation in fees and government subsidies for students attending foreign universities is enormous.
In the United States, fees range from €1,500 right up to €29,000.
In continental Europe, it is quite common for universities to be free, but there has been a recent trend towards the reintroduction of charges.
Officials are believed to have presented our own Education Minister Batt O'Keeffe with a series of options for the new student "contributions".
These range from the straightforward reintroduction of tuition fees to a scheme whereby graduates start paying for their study, in the form of a tax, once they reach a certain income level.
A government working group is believed to favour a mixture of both these measures.
Students would be able to pay fees up-front at a discount or pay the cost, with interest, after they graduate and find work.
Students already in college this year will not be affected by the end of free fees. But those starting this autumn will be hit when they go into second year.
- Kim Bielenberg
