The prospectus for Athlone IT lists 33 courses under its school of business, management and general studies. One of the more unusual courses is the national certificate in business studies in equine studies which the college offers jointly with Gurteen Agricultural College, in Roscrea, Co Tipperary - mere 32 miles from Athlone, Co Westmeath, John Cusask, head of school, hastens to point out.

The course, which began last year, comprises 50 per cent equine studies and 50 per cent business studies. First-year students are resident in Gurteen this year. They travel to Athlone IT one day a week and some of the IT lecturers also travel to Gurteen to teach economics and to do practical sessions on equine diseases and animal health. Next year, the students will be based in Athlone and travel to Gurteen for one day a week.

The cost to students this year is £2,015 (£65 a week for 31 weeks) for accommodation and meals, £930 for indoor school/horses/tack etc and a refundable deposit of £100. Students who own a horse may board it at Gurteen for an additional fee. Cusask says the cost of living for students in Athlone is about £70 a week. There is no tuition fee for the certificate in business studies in equine studies, he stresses.

The course is open to all but students who do not have a certain proficiency in horse riding (BHS level 2 or Pony Club C+) must do an aptitude test. "The purpose of the test is to see if students are reasonably comfortable in the environment of horses. They don't have to have a huge level of experience but the course is obviously unsuited to someone with a romantic idea about horses but who is terrified by them in reality."

First-year core subjects include equine studies and economics, horse health and husbandry, equitation skills, horse management and equine business administration. In second year, students tackle equine studies and equitation skills, enterprise development and management, financial and cost accounting, marketing, communications and computing, a supervised work placement of about 12 weeks between first and second year.

There haven't been any graduates as yet from the course but it is anticipated that employment opportunities will include equine administration, yard and stud farm management, marketing of horses or related products, transportation, riding centres and equine-based jobs within the recreation, leisure and tourism sectors.

Graduates of the certificate are not eligible to proceed directly to any of the college's business diplomas as they will only have the equivalent of one year's study in this area but Cusack says it is possible students will be able to transfer to related courses in Britain and Ireland.

There are two new courses in the offing in the school of business, management and general studies: a national certificate in business studies in sport and recreation and a national diploma in business studies in languages. These have been approved by the NCEA but have yet to gain Department of Education approval. Once Department approval is gained, the college will invite direct applications rather than offering the courses through the CAO (The College Choice column which runs in The Irish Times in January will have details). Places will be allocated on the basis of Leaving Certificate points.

The sport and recreation course will comprise 50 per cent business and 50 per cent sport and recreation. The national diploma in business studies in languages (the title has yet to be finalised) will comprise 75 per cent languages, with students taking French and German. The remainder of the course will consist of marketing, information technology and business studies.

The language emphasis will be on business competency rather than the literature and culture (the traditional focus of arts degrees). Students will require an ordinary-level C3 in French or German and they may take the other language ab-initio.

Students will be encouraged to go abroad during the summer holidays and it is anticipated that graduates of the diploma will find work in Irish companies that do a lot of business overseas. "They should be very saleable in terms of job opportunities," says Cusack.

One of the long-standing business offerings in Athlone IT is its national certificate in business studies. This year, there are some 260 first-years. More than half of those who graduate with the certificate proceed to diploma level. The college offers a diploma in business studies in information technology, in marketing and languages and in management finance.

The next step for those who do well enough in their exams is to proceed to the bachelor of business studies or to spend a fourth year doing professional accountancy exams. Athlone is the only college to allow students to study for final-stage accountancy exams on a full-time basis.

It is worth noting that the first year of three of the college's courses are on offer in Cavan College of Further Studies: the national certificate in business studies, the national certificate in applied social studies in social care and the national certificate in office information systems. The first year of this latter course is also on offer in Greendale College, Dublin.