Anyone who has ever sat through a semester of third level education knows the struggle is real when it comes to financial survival. Now, according to The Irish Times and Students' Unions, Irish students drop out at alarming levels in recent years due to the increasing costs of accommodation, course texts, equipment, and transport.
Robert Sweeney, UCD students’ union education officer, said he has already been dealing with students who have had to drop out of college for financial reasons. 'Students have come in who have said they can’t afford to go back to college,' he told The Irish Times, adding 'People get really depressed about it, because they find they’ve got the Leaving Cert points, they’ve made their way into college, and then to be forced to take the year out - students get very despairing.'
The "student contribution charge" is €3,000 which is the second highest in Europe, behind England and Wales. Students have to pay extortionate resit or repeat fees that range from €50 to €230 per module. UCD charge the highest amount for resit fees. Maynooth caps the highest a student has to pay for resits at €280.
One student, Karl Picard (23), a Masters student of political communications at Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) who does not receive a grant, spoke to The Irish Times about his daily commute and living standards during college:
I’d wake up at 4:30am each morning to be on the 5:30am bus, which gets into Heuston Station in Dublin around 8am. I’d have my breakfast in the morning, but then just wouldn’t be able to eat during the day until 9pm when I got home, because I just didn’t have any money.
Rent remains one of the biggest burdens for Irish students'. Standard rooms at UCD this September cost about €6,700, while a room at Trinity’s off-campus accommodation in Rathmines costs €5,500. At NUI Galway, students are expected to pay €5,000 per term.
Of course it's not the only financial burden placed on students, with travel costs and academic expenses etc becoming a rising issue. The piece in The Irish Times breaks down these costs, and spoke to other students about their struggles. The full article is well worth a read here.
