This year upwards of 34,000 third-level places will be on offer, but if past history is anything to go by, the lion's share will be taken up by the children of the country's more affluent families. Only a tiny minority of youngsters from semi-skilled or unskilled manual working backgrounds will make it to college.
However, third-level institutions are at last waking up to the fact that there is a huge pool of untapped talent and ability in communities where early school-leaving is the norm and where there is no college tradition. The institutions are becoming increasingly aware that these students need extra supports if they are going to get into third level and succeed when they get there.
In recent times a number of universities have appointed access officers and have forged direct links with second-level schools in the surrounding areas. Some colleges are even reserving places for students from less well-off backgrounds, who are unable to compete on an equal footing with more affluent youngsters. In some instances scholarships are available which top up meagre maintenance grants.
DCU's North Dublin Access Programme is an excellent example of what can be done to encourage young people to stay on in education. The programme is based in 14 local schools with high drop-out rates. It includes a schools' outreach programme, a student shadowing scheme and a direct access scheme.
This allows students from participating schools to apply directly to DCU for admission on lower points than the CAO cut-offs. Successful applicants benefit from a three-week DCU introductory programme and an annual top-up grant of £1,000.
DCU's residential scholarship scheme is open to students who hope to gain a place at DCU, who are eligible for a full maintenance grant and who live 30 or more miles from the college. The scheme offers free campus accommodation to five suitably qualified students and rent reductions of 50 per cent on college accommodation are offered to a further five students.
DIT's Community Links Programme involves both primary and second-level schools in inner-city Dublin. Both DIT students and staff participate in supervised study and mentoring schemes and offer study incentives. The DIT Student Awareness Group - which consists of student volunteers - visits inner-city schools to highlight the benefits of third-level education. The group's theme is "College is no big deal and if I can do it so can you".
Pupils - mostly at junior cycle level - are exposed to interesting aspects of DIT courses and research - holograms, satellite tracking systems and computer aided design, for example. The DIT programme also includes a summer school and events for parents. Scholarships, co-funded by the Dublin Inner City Partnership and worth up to £1,500, are awarded to inner city students who gain DIT places.
TCD's Trinity Access Programme (TAP) involves 11 second-level schools in the Dublin area with low third-level participation rates. TAP boasts a one-week summer school to introduce students to college life, a programme for children in danger of dropping out, project competitions to encourage pupils of all ability levels and financial support to participating schools. Next year TAP hopes to offer a mentoring system.
Over the past five years TAP has proved its worth, notes Dr Deirdre Raferty who is the programme co-ordinator. "The participation of pupils from TAP schools has doubled from 6 per cent of sixth years going on to third-level to 12 per cent," she says.
Tallaght Institute of Technology offers up to 20 scholarships to students from low-income families - provided recipients agree to refrain from part-time work from Monday to Friday. The college also has links with a number of local primary schools and hosts visits for parents.
Also in Dublin, the National College of Ireland (formerly NCIR) is involved in projects with the Dublin City Schools Partnership and the Northside Partnership. Students act as mentors to children in participating schools.
In Cork, UCC is working to improve the participation rates in nine city schools. The programme includes a summer school, award schemes, computer courses, drama projects, grinds for Leaving Cert pupils, college visits and parents' evenings.
The third-level sector apart, many schools and area-based partnerships are involved in interventions to raise third-level participation rates. LCBEI (in Limerick and BITE (in Ballymun, Dublin) have been working successfully for a number of years. The Clondalkin Higher Education Access Project came on stream in January 1997 and offers supervised tuition, exam revision courses and scholarships for students in St Kevin's Community College and Collinstown Park Community College.
It's all valuable work but the question many educators are asking is: "Is it enough?"
