College fees review to be completed within 6 months

A STUDY on third-level funding options — including fees — is being fast-tracked for the Government.

Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe declared last month that he personally backs the return of college fees in some form.

Principal officer of the Department of Education, Jerome Kelly, told the Joint Committee on Education and Science that the study would be completed within the next six months.

Mr Kelly said the review would look at university funding systems in Australia, Britain and Scandinavia without making any pre-judgment.

He said the question of fees had already attracted a number of comments and the department would welcome submissions from interested parties.

The study is part of a new national strategy for higher education that is expected to take around 18 months to complete.

The minister has questioned why the taxpayer should fund people who could well afford to pay. He has stressed that any proposals would have to be approved by cabinet.

Statistics show that in 1998 just 23% of students from lower income groups entered higher education, increasing to 33% in 2004.

Higher income groups and farmers account for the highest entry rates.

There were 140,000 full-time students in third level education between 2006/07, with overall participation rates increasing from 20% in 1980 to its current level of 55%.

There is already concern about the financial situation of some colleges.

The Higher Education Authority (HEA) said that the sector’s deficit might exceed €35 million, when accumulated deficits at the end of September 2007 and reported deficits for 2008 are taken into account.

HEA chief executive Tom Boland said Ireland needed more graduates but warned that funding would be a problem.

State funding of third-level has increased from €1.5 billion in 2004 to €2bn in 2008 with the grant to universities and institutes of technology increasing from €1.1bn in 2004 to €1.38bn in 2008.