The future of third level fees is reportedly stirring division between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. The annual student contribution of € 3,000 was reduced by € 1,000 as part of cost-of-living measures in recent budgets. While Minister for Higher Education James Lawless has indicated that the end of these “once-off” measures could see fees return to € 3,000, Tánaiste and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris has said the next budget should seek to reduce the cost of going to college.
The prospect of an increase in fees has prompted criticism from student groups and oOposition parties. Given that many families are grappling with rising living and accommodation costs, it is easy to understand the frustration. The fee reduction was a very visible measure that helped to reduce financial strain at a time when inflation was hitting households hard. For many families outside the threshold for State grants, the € 1,000 was significant saving.
With no cost-of-living package due this year, however, Lawless has said fees may return to pre-2022 levels. He points to a number of measures that begin this September to help students with grants and an increased threshold for qualification. Students in households with income of up to € 115,000 will receive at least some form of financial support, although not enough to compensate them for the € 1,000 increase.
The divisions in Government feed into wider tensions over the question of targeted supports versus universal payments. Grants, in a tight budgetary environment, are a more effective way of targeting supports to those who need them. Yet the programme for government also commits to “reducing the student contribution fee over the lifetime of the Government and to ease the financial burden on students and families at the start of each academic year”. Few, when the programme was published earlier this year, will have interpreted this as an increase in fees; many will have assumed it was a possible first step towards making college more affordable.
RM Block
Fair and equal access to higher education, regardless of socioeconomic status or geographical location, is a laudable aim. Ultimately, this presents the Government with a challenge and an opportunity. The challenge is to ensure students from less affluent backgrounds, especially those who are just outside the thresholds for support are not disproportionately affected by changes. The opportunity lies in using exchequer funding to widen access, improve third level facilities and support those most in need.
If decisions over the coming months are accompanied by meaningful investment in targeted support, the Government may yet make the case that ending the cut is not a retreat. The real test will be whether students, especially those from low and middle income backgrounds, feel the benefit.
