Pressured parents call for college fee leniency

AS THOUSANDS of students began the search for accommodation after taking up third-level places, parents have called on colleges to allow families breathing space to pay their fees.

The student contribution which must be paid by most undergraduates is going up €500 to €2,000 a year, with all grant recipients having the fee paid and some also eligible for a 50% reduction.

A €200 fee is also being incurred for the first time on students on Post Leaving Certificate (PLC) courses.

The costs will be a significant burden on many of the 45,000-plus starting college courses in the coming weeks. A survey for the Irish League of Credit Unions revealed yesterday that financial worries are greater than problems around exams and employment fears for third level students.

The Central Applications Office (CAO) made offers to almost 49,500 people yesterday, in addition to more than 7,100 who took places in earlier rounds last month.

The National Parents Council-Post Primary (NPC-PP) appealed to all third level and PLC colleges to offer prospective students the facility to pay their fees in instalments.

“While this may already be in place in some colleges, people may not be aware of it and may be too embarrassed to ask for the facility to be put in place,” said NPC-PP spokeswoman Jackie O’Callaghan.

“Given the fact that grants have been cut as a result of the distance rule and the high rate of unemployment among parents, as well as the delay in processing grants and the lack of part-time jobs for students, it would hugely alleviate the pressure on families,” she said.

The CAO reported no problems with its website yesterday and by midday, six hours after the site began offering courses to students, 16,000 places had been accepted. This had risen to almost 21,000 just after 5pm, 1,000 fewer than the same day last year when a malicious attack on the system denied entry.

Anybody who has an offer and wants to accept has until next Monday evening to do so, with a second round of offers likely to benefit around 4,000 people the following Thursday.

For those left disappointed or who are considering making a late application, dozens of courses with places still available are expected to begin listing vacancies on the CAO website from midday today.

There were rises in points for technology, medical and nursing programmes. But falling popularity linked to poor employment prospects has driven down the points for degrees in teaching, architecture, law and engineering courses linked to construction.

* The NPC-PP helpline (1800 265 165) operated by members of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors is open again today from 8am to 7pm.