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THE USI HAVE condemned the current and proposed future use of debt collectors in Irish universities.
Responding to the use of ‘external mechanisms’ by the University of Limerick (UL) to recover long standing debts, the condemnation comes less than a week after University College Dublin (UCD) issued a tender for “professional services relating to collection of outstanding monies”.
The President of the Union of Students in Ireland (USI), John Logue, said that those employed to recoup costs were put in place by colleges to “intimidate students into coughing up money they simply do not have.”
Outlining their current use of “debt collection practices”, a spokesperson from UL said that the college, as a public body, had “a duty to seek to recover outstanding debts” and that it only used “external mechanisms as a last resort in recovering long standing debts”.
The university representative said that UL do not issue legal proceedings over outstanding student fees, however.
A representative from UCD was not available to answer questions in relation to their current tender before this article was published.
Call for condemnation
Logue called the recent increase in college fees ‘dramatic’, and said that their continued rise (college fees are set to be €2,500 from this September) had seen “far too many students drop out of college.” He added:
USI calls on the Minister to condemn this practice and to urgently work towards a solution that will provide relief for students in arrears. This issue has arisen as a direct result of his decision to increase fees and cut the maintenance grant. The Minister owes them some clemency.
A spokesperson from the Department of Education told TheJournal.ie that higher education institutions were “autonomous bodies” and that the department had no role in their day-to-day operational affairs.
Despite this, the department said that it did “hope that institutions deal with students in a sensitive and understanding manner in relation to the payment of any outstanding arrears.”
The spokesperson added that the Higher Education Authority had requested institutions to allow students to pay their current contribution over two instalments throughout the year, in order to help “spread the financial costs”.
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Are these the same students who are still waiting on their grants and who avail of charity food-bags?
Thats unlikely. Those are still current students. I’d imagine the debt collectors are only going to be used on the more longstanding debts..
I work in a University and you don’t get your results or degree/masters till all debts to college cleared. Sensible enough I think. And despite all the “poor students..” very very few are in position of not being able to graduate at end of course so their fee contributions must be getting paid up..
What is expected.? A free journey through life. Lovely
blinkered vision
Cheaper to educated at a small cost than destitute someone to a lifetime on social welfare
Completely agree Tom. Education is the most valuable commodity.
That’s right, get them used to living in eternal debt, being hunted down by the money lenders.
Looks like it’s gonna be that way for them regardless of what they do, thanks our “Scholar” Government(s).
A complete waste of money ! You cannot get money from students who simply do not have it !!!! Most students live and educate themselves on very little money .
Mary
If graduates of our third level educational Colleges Walgreen away with debts behind them are you suggesting they should be given a bail out and are you asking me as a taxpayer to cough up?
I’m sick and tired of the free rides that are being given within Irish Society and I wholeheartedly support UCD in the pursuit of students who walk away from their responsibilities. I wonder what would happen if the Universities simply cancelled the record of a degree being awarded until the money was paid?
Terrible uncouth language dicky just terrible
@ Richard . €2500 is only the start of what students have to pay in this country . They also have to pay for books, accommodation and living expenses . I for one have no problem with the government using my tax to give everyone a fair shot at a third level education if they want it ! Why should it be the privilege of the wealthy ? And I would much rather my tax going to educate the future generations of this country rather than paying down a bank debt I never took on or going to over paid politicians and their pensions !
The cost of collecting these debts is going to outweigh what they collect as most of our graduates have emigrated or will emigrate in the future in order to have any kind of decent lifestyle ! It is called cost / benefit analysis …. .
Mary
I believe that you are stating that these debts are deliberate and that they just walked away. That would make me want to impose debtors jail on them.
@ Richard . Then you can’t read ! I am suggesting nothing of the kind !!!!!
But since you brought up prison it’s a nice place for certain bankers. , and developers whose debt the ordinary people of this country are paying off !
Mary
So we simply walk away from debts that are difficult to recover and thus teach our young generation that debts do not have to be repaid by borrowers but can simply be recovered from those that pay taxes.
Good girl Mary, let’s keep het lit for another while yet !
@ Richard . You would really want to stop trying to read people’s minds because you suck at it ! No way did I say that ! The majority of third level students past and present like myself and my daughter worked their way through university and paid our way by working as well . We both finished university owing no one . But there are students who truly struggle to pay all their all their bills while trying to better themselves by getting an education !
You have some cheek criticising me when you hide behind a false name and account .!!! A pity people like you with closed minds do not come with a closed mouth !!!!!
TEAM MARY!!!!!!
Many claim to have trouble paying fees yet a quick look at how their disposable income is funding the latest smartphones in their hands and running quite decent cars in the student car parks would lead you to believe not all of them are as skint as they claim to be.
There is of course genuine individuals to whom rely on grants etc but there are an increasing portion of “won’t pay” rather than “can’t pay”, who are trying their luck that they’ll get away without paying – simply by refusing to do so!
I paid my way and worked through Uni but it will cost us all a lot more keeping them on the dole in fairness. Debt collectors should be chasing the real squanderers and thieves….The government and bankers.
Colleges should just buy the pubs, clubs and off-licences surrounding the college. They’d get their money then with interest.
Day in day out in this country, common sense dies a little more.
What is the arrangement in Ireland? In Australian universities there is a system called hecs. To summarise it in an example i get my university fees paid but I have to start paying them back the moment my income reaches a certain threshold. It just comes out of your pay. There is a financial incentive to pay fees yearly but most opt for the hecs scheme. Is there anything similar here in Ireland?
No, its either you qualify for free fees due to being from a low income family, you pay the fees yourself or you get a student loan from the bank that might defer the loan repayments until you graduate.
No if there was people would flee the country, move to Oz to avoid paying it back
Well it’s easy to see the flaws in this system. I think the Australian approach is a great idea. Then everyone has the freedom of college without worrying about paying until there employed
Perhaps. Think the benefits definitely out way the negatives. People choosing to do that would never be able to come back to work in Ireland. I doubt that would be a major concern. I’m actually curious what Australia has in place to stop situations like that occurring. Well other than a good economy.
OZ and KIWI loans meant massive brain drain for these countries when new graduates decided to leave to avoid paying back loans and interest. Ironically interest rates were increased for those in exile which encouraged them even more to stay away. Thus this scenario is not as fruitful as it first appears.
I think the USI are looking into this type of loan scheme now. In USA its normal. Almost like a mortgage..very extended payments on low interest rate & you only start (and continue) to pay when income reaches a certain level. Govt then can continue to invest in education as its not expected to be “free” at third & fourth level and students can study as long as they are prepared to make that investment in their own future…
I had to borrow and pay for my college. Im still paying 8 years later. Only 8 k to go. I think its fair to say that students should pay their way. If they can’t do it during college, then pay for their education afterwards. This country is broke and about time we all payed our way. Im currently living on a student town. If they can afford to go out and get pissed most nights, then Im sure they can put away a few quid and pay for their education
Yep jaime i belive they are…
This country is going backwards again.
What is with irish people thinking students get a free ride..most of the students that cant afford to pay the fees are the most vunerable and not from “affluent” backgrounds like most of the college..bad pr on ucds part and it has a humanities department which is properly fuming over this.colm mc carthy probably has something to do with this knowing his track record..love to hear kathleen lynchs view on this given her portfollio on equality issues in the past.ps. also to the people on comments who say its a free ride for some people need to come up for air!..next they will suggest a stint in the clergys laundry for students who avail of a grant..
30 hours in a part time job per month would more than cover this. I fail to see the argument that students do not have the money. Go out and wash cars if you need to. This generation are spoilt. I know I am particularly amaing but I manage I earn 6K pounds during a summer job in 1992 which paid for all my subsistence the following year and my flight to the states the following year to work to get me through college.
Education should be free across the board, regardless of your income. The pay given to lecturers, and those who work within the system, should be regulated and reduced, where necessary. Some of the salaries given to librarians are mind blowing. How can we justify paying someone 70,000 a year to shelve books, while we can’t afford to hire teachers? It’s absurd.
Also, some of the answers given on this thread highlight the same closed thinking that has prolonged this economic malaise. Do you really think heaping more debt on families is the solution? That elitist, FG friendly, private enterprise worshipping nonsensical approach has prolonged uncertainty and isolated the voices of working people. The answer must be to push out those who are leeching on the system, right? So that education can be back in the hands of toffee nosed nob jockeys, who can then decide whether people go to college or not, right? I disagree. Education should be free for everyone across the board. It would remove any social stigmas, which come with dividing the system out in the way we have, and would eliminate some of the pretentious stew, which is on display here by levelling the playing field for everyone. How should we pay for it? well, it should be paid for by implementing a more progressive tax system. Everybody should pay for a free education system, which would benefit society, as a whole.
What a load of prentetious rubbish. If you want to go to University it should be up to you yourself to fund it. I’d be in favour of a student loan system. This way even if you from a “disadvantaged background” you would still be able to attend.
To suggest that reintroduction of fees will cos only the elite to be able to attend is therefore silly. 3rd Level is an investment in your future, not a right.
Also you currently find my degree. When I graduate I’ll be moving to England to do a masters and if everything works out probably won’t work in Ireland. So how does this benefit society as a whole, unless ofcourse you mean English society?
And I disagree. I believe education should be free for all, regardless of personal circumstances. If you decide to go to England, as you claim, then that is your choice. Your departure does not change my viewpoint in the slightest, as I believe education should be free for everyone. If you believe that is ‘pretentious’, I suggest you buy a dictionary to read on the plane.
College education has become a money generating scam. It used to give
that edge to your cv. Then they got greedy and made up non-courses like “business administration”.
One time I would agree with the UK education system, pay the student loans once you start working after college, I’m sure the government would find better use for those debt collectors than harassing students
Debt collectors. ..meter Maids. …. tax collectors. … didn’t Dante create a certain level of hell just for them ?….
I’m not really sure where I stand on the free third level education front. I am sure I think education should be free for first and second level, but when I was in college doing a computer degree, about 50% of the students had a grant that covered their expenses. By the end of forth year, 75% of the students from first year had dropped out, and done other courses, sometimes two or three times. I am sure they wouldn’t have been so flippant had they had to pay the full brunt of a college education, like in other countries.
@ Ferdia
To imply students can get a grant and drop out to freely repeat the process is incorrect. If you receive a grant and then decide to leave the course to do another course (in another acedemic year), you are liable to pay the fees for the period in which you received the grant. I left a course after 2 months (after receiving a grant), and went back the following year to do a different course and had to pay for a full semester.
also, repeating a course/year means you pay full whack. If entitled to a grant, it’ll cover you for the duration of your chosen course. If it say, takes you 5 years to complete the course, through repeating etc. you still only get a grant to cover the course duration i.e. 3 or 4 years, the rest is out of your own pocket.
The thing is Chris that that is NOT the full wack. What we pay in entry fees is a fraction of what the college or university receives from the government for every student that enters college. That’s my understanding at least. I don’t see how else we only pay a couple of thousand, where as other countries pay tens of thousands.
Kenneth agree completely, one of the best comments i have read in a long time.The only way out of poverty is education everyone knows this.It benefits society in every way , the whole point of a tax system should be to distrubute wealth through means of education,infastructure,health, in the fairest way possible to soicety.But that is not happening anymore.
Look what it did in ireland at the start of the boom the state reaped the rewards of a free fees approach.
Record numbers of students graduated who then went on to succeed in their chosen career. Ireland generated serious foriegn interest in its workforce because as a whole it was becoming more educated across the board.
This in turn should create real solid strides in socially changing a nation.
education + inovation=sucess
“The President of the Union of Students in Ireland (USI), John Logue, said that those employed to recoup costs were put in place by colleges to “intimidate students into coughing up money they simply do not have.”
In relation to the above comment, is it not a bit reckless of a student to go to 3rd Level in the first place if s/he doesn’t have the funds in place?
Ignore the Grant/BTEA situation. If you can’t budget for the year, then forget about it.
I’m working with the SVDP & have recently come across a student who failed the 3rd Year of his’ Degree. So, he’s repeating. Because he failed it, he doesn’t, rightly, get his’ grant.
He knew, coming back in September, that he had no income, yet proceeded to attend college.
He still hasn’t paid all of his’ fees (not the full whack of €2,250, because he’s only repeating what he failed it’s pro-rata). If he doesn’t get them paid by Mid-May, he won’t be allowed sit his’ exams/get the results.
He also is walking away from accommodation leaving debts/bills behind him that he knows he can’t pay.
Is it okay for him to do this because he’s a student? No, it isn’t, he and other students who engage in such reckless behaviour should pay up what they owe.
If I’d been him, I’d've sat & passed the Autumn Repeats, or, if I’d also failed those, I’d've sat the exams I failed as an External Candidate/Student in May and in the meantime I would’ve endeavoured to get a job or sign on and get rent allowance to give myself an income.
More provocative inflammatory rhetoric from Mr Logue. Another TD (MP) in the waiting. God save us
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