Bring back college fees, report urges

A RETURN to the payment of fees by college students is recommended by the OECD’s economic survey of Ireland but it says that part-time students should not be charged if the suggestion is not acted on.

In a repeat of the organisation’s proposal in a 2004 review of higher education here, it proposes a loan-type fee for students - including part-time students - which would be repaid from subsequent earnings.

This is recommended to give third level colleges the means to increase resources, given public investment in the sector which the authors described as fairly low by OECD standards. Accordingly, they also say that fee income should not be offset against public funding.