1000Euro Registration Fees

Jonny Arson

humbert wrote:

I see the old scarcasm detector is on the fritz!

when it comes to the registration fee I would like to know exactly what it is for and as it increases the free fees rhetoric gets harder to swallow. If that's the fee for our education then fair enough, well worth it, but don't tell us we're getting it for free then tell us, oh yea there's just the matter of this 1000 euro "registration fee".

To say fees aren't ''free'' all of a sudden would be yet another major PR disaster for the government before the next summers cull even though anyone with a bit of cop on already knows education isn't free. The rapid increases in the reg fee by the government is the beginning of the transition back to tutition fees and nothing else. We all know if the PDs had their way fees would be back, whether it will be students from families in a specific income bracket paying the fees or all 3rd level students paying fees will the big question.

cinnamon

Umaro wrote:

doesn't mean all other students in recipt of grants should have their fee exemption waived.



A solution that would hugely benefit you by saving you €1700-€1800, whilst making people surviving off grants have to pay fees as well? Sounds good, where can I sign the petition?

I dont think students on grants should pay the 775-1000 reg fee, thats why I suggested a lower fee to pay for all students. When I first went to college I was in receipt of a grant BUT i still had to pay a reg fee. It was only fairly recently that the reg fee was refunded when the student was in receipt of a grant.

And yes it would benefit me and other fee paying students (my ex boyf family was wealthy so therefore had to pay fees but due to family circumstances received no money from his family. He found college very hard economically. And I have came across many more cases like this )

Riamfada

Okay I got this from somone very high up in the UCD SU. Actually as high as they go. Dan Hayden told me that it was decided that the new fee is officially E878.50- that's E800 student services fee and E78.50 Student Centre(s) levy and it was finalised at the start of the week.

Regardos

Grimes

flodis79

Grimes wrote:

Okay I got this from somone very high up in the UCD SU. Actually as high as they go. Dan Hayden told me that it was decided that the new fee is officially E878.50- that's E800 student services fee and E78.50 Student Centre(s) levy and it was finalised at the start of the week.

Regardos

Grimes

Ok I see a trend here... From €750 in 2004, to €775 in 2005 up to €800 now in 2006

Riamfada

it is high. but you people wanted your new student center (or should I say wanted to watch a new stundent center be built)

humbert

i didn't, fickle fools voting for a shiny new sports center that few current students will ever use.

arbeitsscheuer

humbert wrote:

i didn't, fickle fools voting for a shiny new sports center that few current students will ever use.

Likewise...

...

Hang on... If you didn't vote for it, and I didn't vote for it, and Grimes didn't vote for it...:rolleyes:

Umaro

..and I didn't vote at all ... then..

Blush_01

It was Robin.

Yeah, my MA fees went up by €600 since last year. I assume everyone elses did too...

boneless

SebtheBum wrote:

Likewise...

...

Hang on... If you didn't vote for it, and I didn't vote for it, and Grimes didn't vote for it...:rolleyes:

I didn't vote for it either... it must have been all those strange people who use that place with the books.

Anyhow, I think that full fees should be re-introduced. It would stop nasty working class people like me getting an education and becoming uppity...

arbeitsscheuer

Slightly off-topic, but relevant nonetheless...

Did you know, when Public Libraries were first introduced, by the Liberal govt of the United Kingdom in 1849, the Tories protested on the grounds that the tax-paying middle and upper classes would be funding a service mainly used by the grubby working classes...
One Tory MP argued that "the people have too much knowledge already: it was much easier to manage them 20 years ago; the more education people get, the more difficult they are to manage."

This is a truly historic day. boneless and a long dead rightwinger are in agreement. Truly, the apocalypse must be at hand...:D

Chakar

Enrollment starts on the 14th of August so thats next week so the registration fee has to be paid methinks!

BKtje

what about those with repeats. when do we register/pay?

Chakar

B-K-DzR wrote:

what about those with repeats. when do we register/pay?

Yeah thats a different situation the website is here with all the key dates and repeat students register and pay from the 4th September http://www.ucd.ie/students/keydates.htm

Oirthir

Department of Education has announced the reg fee for 06/07 is €800 (plus random UCD charges for Student Center mk2 etc)

Linkage (DOC)

cast_iron

Chakar wrote:

Yeah thats a different situation the website is here with all the key dates and repeat students register and pay from the 4th September

That's assuming they pass....

I've seen the fees rise from £350 to the current level of €800.
Since the government pays our fees for us, the €800 odd euro shouldn't give rise to too many complaints really.
In any case, isn't it much less if one can recieve the grant?

cast_iron

cast_iron wrote:

That's assuming they pass....

I've seen the fees rise from £350 to the current level of €800.
Since the government pays our fees for us, the €800 odd euro shouldn't give rise to too many complaints really.
In any case, isn't it much less if one can recieve the grant?

If you receive the grant, the reg fee (now set at €800 as Oirthir has revealed) is completely paid for.

AngelofFire

I do understand that there are students who have difficulty paying fees and they have to work during term time to pay their way through college. I guess its something you just have to overcome if you want the benefits of a college degree.

Hi Umaro

Unfortunatley a lot of young people are finding it difficult to cover the cost of going to college, the reality is that it is not something that they can overcome and that is reflective in the low rate of participation in 3rd level by the sons and daughters of semi-skilled and unskilled manuel workers. I believe that the fairest way to fund education is public funding payed for by general taxation. If necessary, higher earners should pay more income tax

Umaro

I see what you're saying and I mostly agree.

cast_iron

Umaro wrote:

I see what you're saying and I mostly agree.

Well i don't.
Those who do end up with a 3rd level qualification are statistically going to have higher salaries than those who don't.

Yes, it's not exactly easy for some families to come up with the cash to put the child through 3rd level.
But there are grants to help, and more to the point, LOANS.
A 10 or 20 grand loan isn't really that much when you become a professional after you qualify.

Rather than tax the parents, i say let them pay it themselves! Very few banks refuse student loans, so i don't see the big problem.

Jonny Arson

cast_iron wrote:

Well i don't.
Those who do end up with a 3rd level qualification are statistically going to have higher salaries than those who don't.

On the flip side the government will recieve higher tax returns as a result of students going to 3rd level education. The governments investment in that students 3rd level education will more than likely pay itself off in higher tax returns in 10 years time and will gain in multiples throughout that students working life. We have seen this over the past 10 years and still to today. Investment in education pays dividends for everyone.

cast_iron wrote:

But there are grants to help, and more to the point, LOANS.
A 10 or 20 grand loan isn't really that much when you become a professional after you qualify.

You're lucky if your grant pays for your bus fares during the college year! For a student from a poorer background, the amount of grant they recieve is not far off inadequate. Loans? You end up paying over the odds in interest so loans only cost the poorer student even more money in the end.

cast_iron wrote:

Rather than tax the parents, i say let them pay it themselves! Very few banks refuse student loans, so i don't see the big problem.

Again back to my original point education pays for itself, the government should be going out of their way to encourage students from poorer backgrounds to attend 3rd level and that they are not doing, taking out loans is not a magical solution to this problem.

Also with the storm slowly brewing over our economic climte for the next few years and mortgages spiraling beyond obscene prices which is pricing many degree holders out of the property market, having a big loans hanging over your head when you leave college is not something you will want to have, especially if tutition fees return which probably will happen come 2009 if FF/PDs return to power.

cast_iron

Zane from MTV2 wrote:

On the flip side the government will recieve higher tax returns as a result of students going to 3rd level education. The governments investment in that students 3rd level education will more than likely pay itself off in higher tax returns in 10 years time and will gain in multiples throughout that students working life. We have seen this over the past 10 years and still to today. Investment in education pays dividends for everyone.

There is a fundamental flaw in this arguement. Yes, the Govt will get higher tax revenue off those with 3rd level qualifications. But, it's the "free fees" bill versus the number of extra students the free fees entices to college. So what you are sating is if, say, 10,000 extra students per year go to 3rd level because of free fees, the extra tax revenue from these 10,000 will off set the cost of the "free fees" bill for the entire student population (don't forget the bill for the extra 10,000 also). Also, in comparing, you can only take the extra tax revenue from a given year versus the "free fees" bill for that year - the Govt books have to balance for a given year.

Zane from MTV2 wrote:

Loans? You end up paying over the odds in interest so loans only cost the poorer student even more money in the end.

Well that's life! The poorer student will always be struggling if you ask me.

Zane from MTV2 wrote:

taking out loans is not a magical solution to this problem.

Indeed it's not, but it is a help. A viable one at that.

Zane from MTV2 wrote:

especially if tutition fees return which probably will happen come 2009 if FF/PDs return to power.

Well i'll enjoy the free fees while i can, but think they should never have been abolished in the first place.

thesweeney

QUB fees are have been bumped from £1150 to £3000, talk about inflation. Thank god Im not a first year student starting out.
On the grant front...to get one of them its all about who you know I reckon. Max student loans you can get is 2 grand. Sure that wont pay your rent for the year.

Pythia

Zane from MTV2 wrote:

especially if tutition fees return which probably will happen come 2009 if FF/PDs return to power.

The election will be next year. ie 2007.

Max student loans you can get is 2 grand. Sure that wont pay your rent for the year.

Absolutely not true. With your parents as guarantors, the sky's the limit.

And what about getting a job? You can easily earn 10k over a year working part time and full time in the summer.
I earned 15k last year in a part time job.

singingstranger

Pythia, I think this has been brought up before - your €15k part-time job is a rare, rare occurance for the Irish student. I think it probably came up in the LAST thread on this subject...

dajaffa

Yeah, most students would do well to get a minimum wage job that'll fit around their college scedule. And also there's plenty of courses where it's really not a goer to have a part-time job, aka eng, sci etc. And yeah you can get a job over the summer but often ppl have to stay in Dublin + pay rent so they don't save aas much and some courses (like mine) have placements taking up a big chunk of the summer break which means you can't work for as long and mightn't be able to get a job in the short holidays you have.

Pythia

singingstranger wrote:

Pythia, I think this has been brought up before - your €15k part-time job is a rare, rare occurance for the Irish student. I think it probably came up in the LAST thread on this subject...

And I said you could make 10k easily enough also. Which is realistic.
:rolleyes:

Stepherunie

I agree with dajaffa, i spent 10 and a half months in college this year - I basically had to work a part time job as part of my college course - two days a week in hospitals and 9 to 5 pretty much in college the other 3 days. So a part time job during college term really wasn't a goer for me.

Out of the 40 odd in my class only 5 or 6 had part time jobs and a good few of those were in family businesses as far as I know which meant there hours were more flexible.

I'm still of the opinion that there needs to be a serious rethink of grants for students who do have a lot of placement within there courses. Grants should be extended for those who qualify for them to further support them when they have extended summer placement. Whilst many could argue the monetary benefits post qualification outweigh the cost at the time of studying, the huge cost involved does discourage people from taking up these types of courses. Some courses have paid placement so why don't others?

In England in an effort to recognise the work students do those who do health related courses (i'm using this as an example because it's what I know) get free fees and travel and living expenses, maybe the payment of registration fees by the government should be considered for those with large amounts of placement as a way of offsetting the large cost of college.

rainbow kirby

Pythia wrote:

And what about getting a job? You can easily earn 10k over a year working part time and full time in the summer.
I earned 15k last year in a part time job.

This year, I'll earn roughly 15k, from working part-time the entire year, and from working 2 jobs over the summer (roughly 50-55 hours a week, and it's pretty much made me sick). I have to pay €6200 fees this year. I live at home, but I get no money at all from my parents.
Working during the college year is tough, there's been plenty of times I've come home from working a long shift at the weekend and then had to start into 3-4 hours of college work. Also given that I work both days of the weekend I would often go 2-3 months without a proper day off. It's not pleasant, but it has to be done, because if I don't pay for college for myself nobody else will.

panda100

rainbow kirby wrote:

Also given that I work both days of the weekend I would often go 2-3 months without a proper day off. It's not pleasant, but it has to be done, because if I don't pay for college for myself nobody else will.

Jeez poor rainbow kirby. Thats tough,would you be able to apply for a grant? Im lucky enough that my parents garuntee my loans but if they knew how much I actually have got out (bout 10 grand at this stage:eek: ) they would hit the roof and thats just for holidays,clothes,makeup,nite outs,general living expenses etc. Saying that Im not to bothered about my loan as all my sisters got out bout 20,000 when they were in uni in England and they seem to have paid it back fine.
One thing that did annoy me in first year was seeing well off people in my class getting a substantial amount every month just for sitting their Leaving cert in Irish. I wonder if that is is still going on?