Colleges ‘face financial ruin’ without bailout

The fear is that without clarity over exam dates, thousands of Leaving Cert students may opt to defer enrolment, thus putting further financial strain on third-level institutions.

Lecturers are calling for an emergency plan for universities, which they believe could be facing financial ruin due to a likely collapse in the number of foreign students enrolling in the next academic year due to the Covid-19 crisis.