FINANCES: TRINITY COLLEGE Dublin and UCD last week attributed their slide in the TimesHigher Education World University Rankings to having to do more with less money.
UCD slumped 65 places to 159th and Trinity fell 41 places to 117th in the list. Trinity provost Paddy Prendergast said the university had been “let down by reduced income, falling staffing levels and a decreasing staff to student ratio”.
Pressure is now on Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn to decide if he puts further strain on students by increasing fees or if a State seeking to become a knowledge economy has to accept lower standards.
Trinity student union welfare officer Louisa Miller said students were struggling with finance already as charges had risen, part-time jobs had become increasingly scarce and grants and allowances had fallen.
The impression from the Trinity and UCD campuses was that money was tight for some newcomer students, mostly after freshers festivities, but that parents were bailing them out, for now at least.
“It’s not too bad [managing money],” said Sophie Cassidy, a first year business and French student at Trinity. “Well actually, I’ve gone through loads of money because of freshers week and I’m going on a trip this weekend already. I need to find a job but so far it has kind of been my parents [paying].”
First-year UCD arts student Johannes Muller said he was still getting to grips with managing his finances after the hectic early social period.
“It’s been a big shock, yeah,” he said, “[it’s a] very hard financial time with the recession, and food’s not the cheapest around here either, which makes it tough . . .”
Ciarán Doyle, a final-year law and German student at Trinity, said that winning a scholarship had been key to his university tenure, which included a year abroad.
“I haven’t had to worry about money at all,” he said.
