Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 November 2004
478 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science the amount received in third level registration fees for each academic year since 2000-01; the number of students who paid in each year; the number of students exempted from paying due to receipt of a third level grant; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31308/04]
View answerThe student charge is levied by third level institutions to defray the costs of examinations, registration and students services. The student charge is €750 for the 2004-05 academic year. All students who are eligible for means tested student support have the student charge paid on their behalf by the local authorities or vocational education committees, in addition to any maintenance grant and tuition fee grant to which they are entitled. This constitutes approximately 96% of grant holders. Students not eligible under my Department's student support schemes must pay the charge directly to the third level institutions. The following tables set out the total number of students in receipt of funding under the three third level grant schemes, for the 2000-01 to 2002-03 academic years.
The total number of full-time undergraduate students in third level institutions, aided by my Department, from the 2000-01 academic year to the 2002-03 academic year, the latest year for which complete statistics are currently available, was: 2000-2001 — 107,984 (Student Charge of €371); 2001-2002 — 112,285 (Student Charge of €396); and 2002-2003 — 114,082 (Student Charge of €670).
