Since 2007 and the onset of the financial crisis, the economics of Irish higher education have greatly altered. State funding of universities and other third-level institutions has fallen from 76 per cent of their income to 53 per cent this year. This reduction in the level of State grant support has meant huge increases in the student registration charge – fees by another name – to offset income loss of third level institutions. With the charge set to rise to €3,000, it represents a 252 per cent increase in seven years. As Prof Andrew Deeks, University College Dublin’s newly appointed president, told this newspaper last week, the registration charge has become a “barrier to higher education”. He favours replacing it by a student loan scheme.
One of Ruairí Quinn’s final acts as Minister for Education was to set up an expert group to examine funding models for the sector – an issue that should have been addressed much sooner. An increasing youth population, leading in time to greater demand for third-level education, has meant a re-examination of how it is financed is long overdue. Likewise employers’ group Ibec has said increased investment in third level is required as the Republic heads into a period of sustained economic growth.
In Prof Deeks's view, and based on his experience at universities in Australia and the UK, Ireland receives the smallest amount of money per student when compared with those countries, while students also pay much more upfront for their higher education. The Australian model involves a deferred loan payment, which accumulates in line with students' academic progress, with the debt repaid from earnings after graduation. With Prof Deeks's appointment, and given his success at Durham University, which he helped to lift to 80th place in the Times Higher Education rankings, UCD, no doubt, hopes it can join the Top 100 universities. But whether that can be achieved may well depend both on the Government adopting a new funding model for higher education, and on how quickly that can then be put in place.
