THIS YEAR'S successful applicants to colleges around the country will be a unique breed, part of the vanguard of the future of third-level education. For the 1996 in-take will be the first to avail of a free college education following last year's decision by the Government to abolish third-level fees.

Or at least that is the case in theory. In practice, free education, like the mythical free lunch, has to be paid for in one form or another.

At its most basic level, this will take the form of the £150 fee levied by the colleges to cover a range of student services from the printing of photo ID cards to the subsidising of the college football team. This may rise in 1997, when the cap imposed on the fee by the Department of Education is lifted.

But initially, then, £150 will be the sole amount students will be required to pay to their college when they register in September-October this year. It is a big improvement on just two years ago when students or their parents were faced with fees bills of around £2,000. So, going to college is actually getting cheaper.

But in college terms, fees represented only a portion of the outlay required at third level and the most significant costs take the form of rent, food. travel, books, stationery and last, but certainly not least, social life.

Accommodation has become a source of worry over the last two years, particularly in Dublin where rents have increased while the Supply of budget accommodation has not. Small (and we do mean bedsits in the capital are going for £35-£40 per week; studios (bedsits with pretensions) and single flats cost from £45 per week and apartment sharing will set two people sharing a two-bed roomed apartment back £50 per week each.

Rent remains the single largest cost for independent students, closely followed by food, heat, lighting etc. Each year Dublin City University and the Union of Students in Ireland offer their own estimates of the cost of going to college and for those tempted to drink a congratulatory toast to the Department of Education they make sobering reading.

According to the Union of Students in Ireland (USI), the average student living away from home can expect to spend £5,497 over a 36-week college term this year. By the time the 1996/97 intake gets into college the cost will be higher.

Dublin City University's student services office has also done some calculations. It estimates a more modest £3,466 for a 32-week term (DCU, unlike USI, does not count holiday periods for which rent will usually have to be paid) but it still leaves parents and students facing an investment of almost £20,000 in their education over four years.

For those living at home and attending college the outlook is slightly better. USI estimates their costs at £3,193 for 36 weeks, DCU at £2,000 for 32 weeks.

Most students work part-time in order to help support themselves through college. According to USI, over 50 per cent of students work part-time while at third level.

The good news is that there is grant aid available to those who qualify. Somewhere in the region of 40 per cent of students get either a Higher Education Grant (HEG) or a European Social Fund grant (ESF) towards their maintenance costs.

In 1996, the full maintenance grant available under the HEG to a student living away from home is £1,599. Students living at home can receive up to £637. In some cases, (depending on family income) students may only be eligible for payment of partial maintenance which amounts to half of the full maintenance grant.

Students attending certificate and diploma courses in RTCs and the DIT may be eligible for grants under the European Social Fund (ESF).

Similar means tests to the HEG apply but applications are made to local Vocational Education Committee (VEC), which can provide students with lists of ESF-funded courses. The amounts payable under the ESF scheme are exactly the same as under the HEG scheme; effectively they are the same, it is just that Europe subsidises the ESF scheme. Students who are applying for places on both degree courses and ESF-funded certificate/diploma courses need lodge only one grant application - either to the county council or the VEC. Once the applicant has accepted a place on a particular course, you simply notify whichever body you applied to.

THE amount of the maintenance grant has gone up by five per cent over last year's level. This is a good improvement given that the level of inflation is less than three per cent. USI had called for a doubling of grants, but clearly that is going to take a long time. The income thresholds published in the graphic on this page are those which operated last year and students can expect a three per cent increase or thereabouts on this for the coming year. The amounts of the maintenance grant in the chart, however, are the actual ones which will operate for the coming year, having been increased by five per cent in the budget estimates.

The final word on grants is that they are frequently paid late. Last year a number of local authorities still had not made first payments by November. Students should bear this in mind when arranging finance for their first month or two in college. Most banks will offer students a loan to cover the interim period.

For a long time tax covenants were a popular way for parents, grandparents and other obliging adult wage-earners to subsidise the third-level education of beloved student relations. Sadly, last year's budget removed covenants along with fees so that saving through this method is no longer an option for parents.

It's important to remember also that most students manage to get by through a combination of grants. part-time and summer work and the occasional generosity of relatives. But some serious financial planning is required, particularly if one is planning to move away from home to attend college.

In the end it should be remembered that while the costs are considerable, so too are the rewards. Third-level graduates are generally more employable than those without qualifications and usually earn more as well. Graduate unemployment in Britain and Ireland is low, so there is reason to be optimistic for the future. Just start saving now...