Student deal with Brazil could be worth €136m

A €136m boost to colleges and the economy could result from a deal to send thousands of Brazilian students here over the next four years.

In addition to the 1,500 post-graduate places funded by the Brazilian government announced in June, this initiative will see up to 4,000 more being given a chance to study in Ireland. These will mostly be under-graduate students who will most likely come here for the third of the typical four years of degree courses in the south American country.

Enterprise Ireland, which leads the Government’s Education in Ireland initiative, said the scheme has the potential to deliver €15m in fee income and €19m in additional spending in the economy for each year of the initiative.