Students call for €3,000 college fee to be scrapped

Union of Students in Ireland president Lorna Fitzpatrick led today's demonstration outside Leinster House calling for the abolition of the €3,000 student contribution charge. Picture:  Conor McCabe

The €3,000 student contribution charge expected from college students each year should be abolished, and Ireland should move to a fully publicly-funded model of third-level education.

That’s according to the Union of Students Ireland (USI), which staged a socially distanced protest outside of Leinster House today to highlight the high fees required here for an undergraduate degree.

The protest comes ahead of an expected update next month on the Cassells report, which identified the need for an extra €600m a year for the sector by 2021 whether from public funds, student fees, or a mix of both.

'Highest fees in the EU'

“Having the highest fees in the EU is not something that we should be proud of,” said Craig McHugh, USI vice president for campaigns.

In many EU countries such as Germany, Poland, and Denmark, higher education is free for students, he added. 

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“We need to be breaking down the barriers to higher education, not increasing them. We’re hopeful that there will be some update in the early summer around the funding of higher education.” 

We want to emphasise that any future funding model needs to be around publicly funded higher education, and that needs to be an end of fees. 

Ireland needs to urgently introduce a sustainable funding model that doesn't rely on students’ ability to pay or an institution’s ability to make cutbacks, according to Mr McHugh. The funding of third-level could also be looked at through an employer model, he added: 

We all benefit from investing in education. For every euro that goes into investing in higher education, €4 circulates back into the wider economy. 

Rent and unemployment

Many students have lost jobs during the pandemic, and are uncertain about their fees in September, he added. "On top of that, if you look at all the student accommodation that has been built in recent years, it's up to €240 a week." 

There's a lot of anxiety and uncertainty there for students around rent and fees.  

Meanwhile, the Irish Council for International Students (ICOS) has appealed to the Department of Justice to show solidarity with international student graduates by extending their visas by a further 12 months. 

International students who graduated from Irish universities and colleges in 2019 and 2020 have seen their opportunities of finding work in their area of study severely curtailed, according to ICOS.  Instead, many have spent their graduate visa working in frontline employment providing vital services during several prolonged lockdown periods. 

'Solidarity with international graduates'

Laura Harmon, ICOS executive director, said: "Given the contribution that graduates have made during these difficult times and the lack of suitable employment opportunities as a result of the pandemic, ICOS is calling on the Department of Justice to show solidarity with graduates on the scheme, as they have with current international students, by granting them a 12-month visa extension."