students...

lallychops

struggling to work out which appears to be the best policy here for third level students.

fees..no fees....grants...no grants...

do not agree with "social degrees" whereby the individual does a degree to "better themselves" with absolutely no intention of contributing to the country once qualified. these are the people who get grants and as a result others may not get them. fees on a loan system seems like a good idea but may deter some from entering third level education with fears of graduating in debt and jobless....

really dont know who to vote for in this respect(yes i know there are many other contributing factors too)

cavedave

In Ireland people emigrate. If you had 10-15k hanging over your head you would be all the more likely to emigrate. I think one of the reasons so many Aussies come to Europe for a few years is to get out of having to pay back their student loans/fees.

lallychops

do not agree with "social degrees" whereby the individual does a degree to "better themselves" with absolutely no intention of contributing to the country once qualified

What sort of degrees are these? With reference to Arabic and Virology that looked really useless until they didnt. Could getting rid of theatre and other "social degrees" be a Faustian bargain by society?

lallychops

no no. i meant just people who want a degree for the sake of it. the cudos of the bit of paper because it sounds good. and they have no intention of getting a job etc etc. so so many of these people around college.

Pure Sound

Well as it stands most recent graduates have no work so it wouldnt be worth the risk to go to college now and pay later as there is no guarantee of work when finished. No fees now pay later still separates the wealthy from the poor, the wealthy could run the risk and fail and try again whilst the poor person who fails would be in financial difficulties for a long time. Nobody really knows how they are going to do when entering college, when one subject failure could financially ruin someone it is possible that the smartest people in Ireland could be the ones that dont go to college.

The social students could easily be filtered out by having similar rules as work in relation to standards, timekeeping and attendance. Grants are easily tampered with and from my own experiences it is often the wrong people getting them. So for me I feel no fees is the most important thing.

lallychops

no fees sounds like a good idea and yet unrealistic with this governement. emmigration seems like a valid plan yet not everyone has the means to do it. terrifying to come out of college with an area specific degree and no hope of employment. and totally understand the viewpoint of grants going to the wrong people.

and yet which party gives students the better deal?
labour say they would reduce the 500 euro extra charge...

PomBear

Fine Gael support a Grad tax which will leave you to pay a 5 figure debt to the Government once you Graduate.

Fianna Fáil well their record speaks for itself.

Sinn Féin and Labour both oppose the hike in registration fee.
On that note, Sinn Féin want to reverse all budget cuts by FF in recent years so this will re-establish the grant.