Reintroduction of college fees

connacht100

can anyone tell me what the situation regarding the reintroduction of college fees is ? will batt o'keeffe reintroduce them? do the government plan to reintroduce them? thanks

singingstranger

Right, just on the off-chance you're not a current student and you're thinking about the financial cost of coming to college, the current situation is:

If you're an EU citizen, or have lived for three of the last five years in an EU country, you're entitled to "free fees". This basically means that the HEA pay your tuition fees for you - these can be anything from €3,500 (courses like Commerce) up to €10,000 or more (medical/paramedical/healthcare) per annum.

If you qualify for "free fees", however, you still have to pay what's officially known as the "Student Services Levy" (basically the registration fee, which is set by the Minister for Education on an annual basis, and is currently €900 (If you qualify for a third-level maintenance grant, your local authority pays this fee on your behalf). Further, every student has to pay an annual €150 Student Centre Levy which goes towards the construction of the new Student Centre which should (!) be starting soon.

As regards what's going to happen in the future, officially (if you write to any Government TD on this, this is what they say) third-level fees are not planned for reintroduction - however, with the current financial woes, it's not unlikely for them to show up. Currently, though, it's not on the table. Personally speaking I don't think they ever should be, but the reality of a nine-figure sum coming out of the public finances to pay for college tuition fees is one that the Government may have to look at more critically.

What has happened is that in the last Budget, regulations were made allowing for the Registration Fee next year to be as high as €1500. One can assume that every college will seek to charge as much as they can, so next year you can expect your combined Reg Fee and Student Centre Levy to be €1650 (contrast that to the astronomical five-figure sums that students in the USA can expect, or to Germany where only one provence, Bavaria, charges for tuition, and students go nuts at the idea of having to pay €575 - yup, as in the price of a prepay iPhone - per semester for tuition).

Riamfada

I would love to see an increase in the standard tuition fee if I saw the money go back to the college for the benifit of learning (not for exampling pissing away a hell of alot of cash on a new student center).

Breezer

Grimes wrote: »

I would love to see an increase in the standard tuition fee if I saw the money go back to the college for the benifit of learning (not for exampling pissing away a hell of alot of cash on a new student center).

Or the Gateway project. Or, more likely, keeping a few pointless Junior Ministers in the job :mad:

Anyway, aren't you doing a Masters and therefore it wouldn't apply to you? :pac:

Stepherunie

Just because us masters students pay doesn't mean we don't care

woop

Breezer wrote: »

Or the Gateway project. Or, more likely, keeping a few pointless Junior Ministers in the job :mad:

tbh Im not a big hater of ucd but the gateway project is really not needed and seems to be a dream project thatll never materialise in the way its supposed to

ucd is good because its a bubble sometimes its not as if we are in the middle of the city centre and were inviting the general public in- were in the middle of south dublin housing estates and whatnot

fair enough if trinners wanted to do something like it Id kinda understand it more although it still wouldnt be a good idea

Breezer

woop wrote: »

tbh Im not a big hater of ucd but the gateway project is really not needed

Sorry, that's what I was trying to get across. I didn't express myself very well.

Riamfada

I also dont understand the expectation that some people who grew up in the Celtic Tiger expect free fee education at third level. I know the argument against the reintroduction of fees is something along the lines of "skills got us rich and will again" dont we have a massive surplus of legal types, doctors, primary school teachers ..... archaeologists and continuing the free fee system is going to push more "skills" into an already crowded market. What happened to the days where people did trades. Do people still do that? I hear that 1/3 of the polish workforce is heading home, lucky we have 60k primary school teachers to step into those jobs.

I still think this new student center should be re evaluated by the Students Union. I mean posters along the concourse and a little "Student Center Museum" staffed and manned for high society types to demand changes and all at a cost to the student seems a bit crazy to me. But then again some people have to keep their jobs. It seems crazy to me that the students of UCD can show that they are helping to save a bit of cash by stopping with the posters weekly ect ect while get miltant about the re introduction of fees. Better allocation of funds by the individual, UCD and the Gov!

My Fiddy Cents

bnt

Sure, the Celtic Kitty needs skills, but my question is: what skills? I don't mind admitting that, since (as a mature student) I have no parental support, the free fees scheme has allowed me to study for a degree where I would not have had the opportunity before, but all along I've been looking beyond the degree to what happens afterwards. What does the economy need?

To me, it appears that the free fees scheme has had the side effect of allowing more people to attend university as an extension of school, and thus delaying entry to the workforce. This, in turn, explains the preponderance of Arts students at UCD, studying subjects that are (to put it politely) limited use to Irish industry. What skills does an Arts degree bring to the Celtic Tiger? I mean technical skills, not nebulous concepts such as "critical thinking" (which is not the sole preserve of an Arts degree).

Not all degrees are equally beneficial to the economy, but I don't think you want to put the government in the position of favouring one degree type over another. It would be political suicide for them to admit that they need Science, Engineering or Medical graduates, but that they already have more than sufficient Arts graduates. After all, there are already far more voters with Arts degrees than other types, if the makeup of UCD's student body is any guide to the past. :cool:

rainbow kirby

Grimes wrote: »

. What happened to the days where people did trades. Do people still do that? I hear that 1/3 of the polish workforce is heading home, lucky we have 60k primary school teachers to step into those jobs.

My younger brother (21 years old) is an extremely happy 4th year carpentry apprentice. He was one of the very few from his year in school who wanted an apprenticeship who was able to get one. For someone who wants one and is able to get one, it's a fantastic option to take. He's been earning since he was 18, and loves his job - and in a few months he'll have a qualification he can travel with.

The difficulty there is that it's actually very difficult to get a trade now. Very few employers take on apprentices.

*sets thread back on track*

p1akuw47h5r3it

If fees where brought back in, would everyone have to pay..

What I mean is if you were in 2nd year and fees came in, wud you have to pay them going into 3rd year because if you did would a good few people not drop out??

Stabshauptmann

Anything at this stage would be speculation. But no, I doubt it

Pride Fighter

UCD is sitting on millions of euro from selling some of its land banks during the building boom. That is what they are going to pay their end of the gateway project with. If UCD was to cancel the gateway and pump that money back into the college there would be enough tom last years. That is just UCD, other 3rd level institutions are starved of cash, so it is a possibility.

graduate

UCD is sitting on millions of euro from selling some of its land banks during the building boom.

Au contraire, Brady has run up a big debt. Yes some land was swapped over by Richview but that was used to buy Phillips.