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High rents and travel costs cited as factors behind dip in numbers for traditional universities
Despite the drop, there is still very strong demand for college courses in the mid-to-high points range which are only offered in traditional universities such as medicine and dentistry. “There is concern, even bordering on alarm, for some of our lower demand and lower points courses, “ said one traditional university source, who was briefed on the new figures.
“The worry is whether this is a trend, or a just a blip.” Another university source, familiar with the data, said: “We knew something like this could happen. Students in counties that didn’t have a university are now opting to stay at home and attend their local technological university. They’re not willing to travel.” The overall number of applications for college places has matched last year’s high level and indicates the race for CAO points this year will be highly competitive. The CAO recorded a total of 78,184 applications by the end of January. They do not represent the total number of expected college applicants for 2023, as a late application facility opens in March and closes at the start of May. Some, however, said the decline was not necessarily bad news for a sector which has expanded in recent years due to demographic trends and raised aspirations towards higher education. It is estimated that about 65 per cent of school-leavers progress to higher education, one of the highest levels in Europe. One traditional university source said: “The vast majority of courses are still oversubscribed; that’s not true in the technological sector . . . We can’t keep expanding and the funding gap is getting wider.” The development comes amid wider unease within traditional universities who feel they are losing out to technological universities in funding. Some senior sources in higher education say “research-intensive” universities are at risk of being neglected and that the system of higher education funding should be reformed to ensure they continue to develop world-class research. There has been discussion of creating a new alliance of research-intensive universities to make the case for additional funding. The Government announced a multiannual “transformation fund” of €90 million for technological universities over three years. This builds on additional “landscape funding” over recent years, which paved the way for the establishment of technological universities. There are now five technological universities which have formed from the merger of institutes of technology on foot of a Government policy to create stronger higher education institutions with greater scale and impact. TU Dublin was Ireland’s first technological university in 2019. It was followed by Munster Technological University, and Technological University of the Shannon. Atlantic Technological University and South East Technological University were formed last year. Government sources say there has been significant public reinvestment in higher education of more than €1 billion over the past decade, an increase of more than 40 per cent. Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris has pledged to provide an additional €307 million in core funding for the sector over the coming years.
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