Experts warn of college funding crisis

COLLEGE fees will have to be reintroduced unless the Government significantly increases funding for third-level education, academic experts have warned.

A Royal Irish Academy (RIA) report supports last year’s OECD recommendation that college fees for undergraduates, which were abolished in the mid-1990s, should be reintroduced. However, it says this should only be done within a means-tested system of grants and loans to ensure better access for disadvantaged students.

Since reintroducing fees has been ruled out by the Government, the RIA stresses that public funding must be increased.