Plan to halve the number of third-level colleges
Draft proposals from the Higher Education Authority would see a mix of smaller colleges coming under university control, some institutes of technology merging to become technological universities, and a series of “regional clusters” to improve co-ordination of course provision, shared research, and resources.
The 39 higher education colleges that receive €1bn a year in public funding would be reduced to 15, although the futures of nine smaller ones need further discussion.
The plan would not see any campuses close or any cuts to student numbers. Instead, the aim is to have fewer but larger colleges and to allow different colleges or groups of them to focus on teaching and research in specialist fields.
The reshaping of the sector has been under discussion since a 20-year government higher education strategy was published two years ago.
Under the HEA plan, in the south, for example, University College Cork would take over art teacher education currently offered at Cork Institute of Technology’s Crawford College.
The merging of teacher training colleges with universities in the same regions is also supported.
These would include the integration of St Angela’s College in Sligo into NUI Galway, and St Patrick’s College Drumcondra and the Mater Dei Institute of Education with Dublin City University.
The HEA also supports planned applications for technological university (TU) status, subject to them meeting the criteria, from two groupings: Dublin Institute of Technology, IT Tallaght, and IT Blanchardstown; and Waterford IT and IT Carlow.
It has not received an alternative submission from Cork IT and IT Tralee since Limerick IT last month withdrew from a planned joint TU application. The HEA supports the two merging.
A HEA spokesperson said the plans are a draft of their final proposals, which they intend to send Mr Quinn in March after final consultation with colleges.
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