Students could afford €10k fees, says UL study

Most students could repay a €10,000 college fees loan within 15 years of graduation if the Government decided to introduce such a scheme, according to University of Limerick research.

Although the study assumes a debt at graduation of €10,000, compared with figures of up to €30,000 that were being considered in the Department of Education, it still gives a picture of how an income-contingent loan scheme might impact on student and public finances.

It was one option proposed to then education minister Batt O’Keeffe over two years ago, and would have involved students repaying some of their college tuition costs once they started earning above a pre-determined income.