PRE-BUDGET Fee hike will make college education ‘unaffordable’

Hike to college fees will leave third level education ‘unaffordable’


Ciara Galvin
ciaragalvin@mayonews.ie

Students all over the county are apprehensive to see what Budget 2013 will mean for their third level education, according to GMIT Student Union President Clare Lawlor.
Of the 1,200 students who attend the GMIT Castlebar campus, 656 students receive a grant, while 543 students pay full fees, without any State assistance.
Changes to grant allocation and an increase in fees will affect all students attending the county town’s campus, according to Clare.
Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn has already increased fees by €250 and reports suggesting he intends to continue the rise every year until 2015. This will result in fees of €3,000 for current second level students who are contemplating a third level education.
Ahead of the budget, the Students Union of Ireland and college students around the country, including GMIT Castlebar, used last month to run a series of public meetings to discuss the cost of education.
Speaking ahead of Budget 2013, Clare Lawlor told The Mayo News that students understand the need to pay money to go to college, but underlined the importance for the government to be fair in this budget.
“We want the government to be fair, people can’t afford to go to college anymore,” said the student union president.
Castlebar Sinn Féin councillor Therese Ruane described possible hikes to registration fees and cuts to grants as ‘unsustainable’ and said students were ‘at the pin of their collars already’.
Explaining the delay in current grant allocations as a ‘fiasco’, Cllr Ruane said she has been inundated with calls from worried parents and students ahead of the budget.
“Students just can’t afford further hits. In previous years they could ask for a loan from parents and it’s not their anymore. They really have no option,” said the councillor, adding that proposed budget cuts to grants will see ‘rapid numbers’ of students dropping out of college.
Attending last weeks student march, Cllr Ruane told The Mayo News that students she spoke to told her they were living on pasta.
“Talking to lecturers recently I was told colleges are setting up food appeals for their students. Students are going hungry.”
Ms Ruane said she believed that if proposed cuts to grants and hikes in registration fees go ahead, then the government will see ‘significant numbers forced to leave college and the country’.

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