A group of Chinese students at a private college in Dublin will next week begin legal action to recover what they claim is an over-payment of tuition fees.
The third-year students want to recoup a substantial increase in fees paid to Griffith College.
Mr Eugene Smartt, a solicitor representing some 20 students, said yesterday he would issue proceedings in the District Court seeking to "recover the over-payments from the college". He said a civil summons would be served on the college for each student, followed by a date for a court hearing in the coming months.
The move follows correspondence between Mr Smartt and the college, which "unequivocally rejects" the allegations.
The students claim they were told before they enrolled for the four-year BSc computing science course that the fee for their third year would be €2,539. They say they were surprised to be informed last year that it would instead be €3,900, an increase of over 50 per cent.
The college has acknowledged that its tuition fee list for international students for 1999/2000 - the year the Chinese students enrolled - included a fee of €2,539 for year three of the BSc computing science course. However, it has pointed out that this list expressly stated the prices were for that academic year only. A note at the end of a document distributed to students also said: "Course fees will increase for each academic year for which the course is provided."