Students from rural areas more dependant on State for fees and financial support

Regional differences in how many college students qualify for grants highlight the need to widen the third-level funding debate, the president of Union of Students in Ireland (USI) has said.

Higher Education Authority (HEA) figures reveal that close to two thirds of first-year students from many border and other rural counties depend on the State to pay their fees and for financial support.

However, in Dublin, Cork, and commuter belt counties Meath, Wicklow, and Kildare the proportion is less than the average 46% across all counties.

The figures may reflect income disparity between regions, family income being the main factor used by Student Universal Support Ireland (Susi) to decide who qualifies for grants.

However, the USI president Kevin Donoghue said the fact that far more students of institutes of technology qualify than those at universities is significant.

While 56% of those at one of the 14 institutes got either a grant, or have their fees paid by Susi (€3,000 for third-level students), or both, only 36% of those who began a university degree in 2013/’14 did so.

“The demographic from rural areas and those in institutes of technology are not discussed in the bigger conversation on higher education funding, because the debate is dominated by the universities which have a much different demographic,” Mr Donoghue said.

Just 24% of new entrants to Trinity College Dublin in 2013 got a grant, and 28% at University College Dublin. But nearly half at NUI Galway, Maynooth University and University of Limerick were supported, as were 71% at Letterkenny Institute of Technology.

HEA chief executive Tom Boland said it remained a concern that participation in higher education in some urban areas, especially Dublin, are too low and the trend is reflected in the grant figures.

“Disadvantaged rural families and communities seem to place a greater value on higher education and, even though incomes are often lower, there is an emphasis on continued participation in education,” he said.