EARLY next week, the last of the new arrivals to the third level system will trample through the gates of colleges around the country. But what kind of system are they entering into, what are the obstacles in their path and, perhaps most important of all, what are their prospects at the end of their time in college?
E&L invites them to pull up a pew and pour themselves a cocoa for a brief introduction to the world of higher education.
THE THIRD LEVEL SYSTEM - (or Why do I have to lose weight to fit into the library?)
Overcrowding will be experienced by all of the 30,000 or so freshman students entering third level this year. The sector boasts 90,000-100,000 students at an annual cost of £350 million in non capital expenditure.
While the higher education sector has expanded rapidly in the last 19 years, those students who participate are still part of an elite.
In this country, fewer than 20 per cent of young people go on to third level education. The European average is 30 per cent. In recent times, around 10,000 suitably qualified applicants have failed to get a place in college through the CAO/ CAS system each year. Last year, that figure rose to 16,500.
While there is a commitment to further increasing the numbers of students in the higher education system, it is unclear where the colleges are going to put them.
The report of the Steering Committee on the Future of Higher Education envisaged an increase of 22,000 in student stock by the year - 2000 at an additional cost of £88 million. The Department of Education's estimate is that 115,000 students will be in higher education by the year 2000.
The additional capital investment required to meet this increase is £35-£45 million annually between 1995 and 2000. The Department of Education has committed itself to spending £60 million in total over this time, with some £120 million in EU funds also earmarked for third level development.
Yet it is unclear just how seriously the Government is committed to expanding the third level system. After 2000, a significant fall in the Leaving Certificate age cohort is expected. While the State currently provides 53,000 places for school leavers in third level colleges, PLCs and training courses, by the year 2010 only 50,000 school leavers are expected, leaving an excess of places.
The Union of Students in Ireland argues that the people with their fingers on the purse strings have no real interest in the expansion of the third level system. Instead, they are prepared to let student numbers increase to breaking point, with resources overstretched and capital development kept to a minimum, until the projected reduction in the number of young people entering full time education begins to take the strain off the system.
"What good is it getting a place in college if you can't get the book you - need, can't get a library seat, have to wait a week to see the college doctor and simply can't get the service you need," asks Malcolm Byrne, education officer with USI.
GRANTS
(or How much can I earn from begging?)
Currently, a student with four or fewer siblings is only entitled to a full maintenance grant if his or her parents' annual income is less than £17,460. In this case, the student in question will be entitled to the princely sum of £637 if living at home. If the student lives away from home, he or she will hit the jackpot with a whopping £1,600 from the government.
Yet, according to estimates from DCU, the real cost for a student living away from home and attending college is £3,870 per academic year. USI adds an extra £1,000 to this estimate bringing it up to £4,918.
USI is one of a number of bodies which has called for the maintenance grant to be doubled if it is to prove of any real benefit. It believes the Government should increase both grants, and the grant threshold, by 10 per cent this year and continue to do so for the next five years in order to bring about the overall increase necessary.
This year, the increase was five per cent. In the last 10 years, the real value of the grant has fallen by 20 per cent.
Students' unions are also likely to oppose any suggestion that a student loan system similar to that in operation in Britain should be introduced here. They would be unhappy with the idea of students, particularly students from disadvantaged backgrounds, leaving college with large debts hanging over them.
Those administering such a scheme would probably also be unhappy, given that it has proved to be an administrative nightmare in the UK and an estimated 20 per cent of students have defaulted on their loans.
How then, are students to make ends meet? The answer is that at least half will end LIP taking on some form of part time employment although, for many students, "part time" is a misnomer.
According to a survey conducted last year, most work between 16 and 24 hours per week, while a small percentage (seven per cent) worked a whopping 36 hours per week. In addition, 59 per cent of respondents said that their work had a negative impact on their study.
STUDENT FUNDING
(or Where has my £150 gone, and why won't they tell me?)
A £150 fee is now levied on students. It is supposed to cover a range of services, including students' unions, sports clubs and societies.
It doesn't take a genius to figure out that £150 per student isn't going to go very far to cover such activities, but the manner in which the money has been divided in most colleges has been disastrous for students' unions and student activities.
College authorities in a number of institutions have been reluctant to give students any say in how the money is divided, or even to indicate where it is going.
The result of the current situation is that a number of institutions are giving students' unions, clubs and societies a meagre portion of the £150 levy. For example, Carlow RTC students' union receives only £5 per student from the £150 fee, while UCG students' union receives an equally meagre £5.70.
A steering committee has now been formed by the HEA, with three student representatives among its eight members, to attempt to draw up a model code of practice for institutions on how the money should be divided. So far, that committee has met only once.
EXAMINATIONS MODULES AND SEMESTERS
(or How can I pass what I can't understand)
This year, Dublin City University becomes the third university in the state to introduce semesterisation and modularisation, after the University of Limerick and University College Galway.
A number of RTCs arc also using semesterised or modularised systems and other colleges, including the Dublin Institute of Technology and, contentiously, University College Dublin, have been considering their introduction.
For the uninitiated, semesterisation is the division of the academic year into two units of equal length instead of the traditional three term structure common in most colleges and, indeed, secondary school. Modularisation is the reduction of a subject into units of knowledge or "modules" (a module might consist of, say, twentieth century women's writing, or land law).
Under a semesterised system exams are held twice yearly: one set after Christmas and one set at the start of the summer.
Supporters of the system claim this reduces pressure on students by removing the traditional single set of end of year exams, while allowing more flexibility in subject options and student exchanges with other European institutions.
Its opponents point out that post Christmas exams leave students forced to study over the Christ mans holidays and that, instead of reducing pressure, semester exams effectively double it by forcing students to go through the exam ordeal twice.
POSTGRADUATE STUDY
(or, Can I please leave college now)
In 1994, 40 per cent of graduates went on to do some form of further training or study, an indication of the importance attached to developing specialised vocational skills in addition to a general degree or diploma.
The addition of a postgraduate qualification not only increases one's employability but also means a higher salary. The number of 1994 arts graduates with a postgraduate qualification earning £19,000 plus per annum was six times more than the number of non postgrads earning that amount.
The downside is that demand for places is high and postgraduate fees arc one of the few ways in which colleges can lay their hands in autonomous income. In recent years, fees have risen dramatically and calls have been made to place a cap on postgraduate fee increases.
EMPLOYMENT PROSPECTS
(or Do I have a future in advertising?)
Graduate unemployment is currently at its lowest level since 1989, with insurance, finance and commercial computer services the most popular areas for arts and social science graduates. One year after graduating, 51 per cent of 1994 degree holders had obtained employment, compared to 45 per cent of 1993's degree holders. Some 39 per cent of sub degree holders had entered employment, compared to 36 percent in 1993.
In 1994-1995, levels of unemployment among 1994 arts graduates dropped to 9.5 per cent; just over 10 per cent of 1994 science graduates were unemployed one year after graduation; and a meagre five per cent of business and commerce graduates were in the same position, an indication of the strength of the banking, insurance, investment, accountancy and fund management sectors.
Meanwhile, the computer sector is complaining that there are insufficient graduates to fill the vacancies they advertise, so computer science graduates and electrical and electronic engineers are much in demand and are likely to remain so.
Finally, it should be stated that while these are the difficulties facing students in the third level sector, the rewards, both financial and personal, are considerable.
There is a world of opportunity at third level to grow and progress, to direct plays and edit magazines, to take up exotic pursuits, both sporting and social, to travel and to fall in love.
For most students, the coming years in college are likely to be among the greatest and most memorable of their lives. .
