Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 19 October 2023
84. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science his plans to address the sharp increase to 15% in undergraduate drop-out rate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45701/23]
View answerThe dropout rates for undergraduate students have jumped very significantly in recent times. The rate is now up to 15%, a shockingly high figure. For example, the number who dropped out in first year across higher education was up to 5,000, an increase from 9% to 12%. There are a range of reasons for this, including the cost of accommodation, transport, having to travel long distances, mental health, the impact of the pandemic and the lack of mental health support for students. What is the Minister going to do to try to address this very worrying increases in dropout rates for undergraduate students?
Dropout rates often do not factor in those who may have moved from one course to another within an institution. That is important to say because many of us will know somebody who might have started one degree or area of study and moved to another. The Deputy is right to highlight this issue.
Ensuring that students succeed and thrive in their higher educational journey is an important issue for me and my Department. The HEA publishes data on the proportion of students who do not progress from the first to the second year of higher education. The latest figures published by the HEA relate to students who commenced in 2020-21 and consider progression to the 2021-22 academic year. Over the past decade, the data showed a gradual downward trend in non-progression rates from 16% for new entrants in 2010-11 to 12%, which is the figure the Deputy referenced, for 2020-21.
However, the figures are a little skewed because, as he pointed out, the figure dropped to 9% for 2019-20. However, this was heavily impacted by the exceptional circumstances caused by the Covid pandemic. The non-progression rate subsequently reverted to the pre-pandemic level of 12% percent. In 2010-11, approximately 16% of students did not progress. That dropped to approximately 12%. It dropped to 9% for brief period and is now back at 12%, but that is still down from 16%.
However, my Department is aware of some reporting regarding an increase in student withdrawals. The latest data and analysis is not yet available to me. My understanding is that the figures on progression rates are scheduled to be released by the HEA in the first quarter of 2024.
It is important to say that where a student withdraws from third level education, it can be for a variety of reasons. Changes in the progression rates are rarely influenced by any one single factor. In fairness, as the Deputy acknowledged, in budget 2024, I have sought to try to support students by reducing the fees, increasing grants, extending the rental tax credit and securing an additional €60 million in core funding for universities.
This means more academic tutors, guidance, medical assistance, mental health supports and counselling and other support services that could be vital to many students.
Someone does not need to be a rocket scientist to work out why people are dropping out of college. Of course, if people actually studying to be a rocket scientist they would be living on less than the living income, as we know from our PhD students, but we have covered that ground. The Minister mentioned the increase in core funding. The Government accepted that there was a shortfall of €307 million in core funding but only provided €60 million in the budget. This is very significantly short of what is necessary. That puts pressure on the services that should be provided by third level institutions, such as counselling and others. That also puts pressure on the institutions to jack up the rents to ridiculous levels. Some of the rents being charged by universities for their own accommodation are off the charts for most students. Accommodation is a major issue. What has been done to actually increase the delivery of more affordable student accommodation, properly funding the universities and services such as counselling?
The Deputy will have an opportunity to come back in
To use the Deputy's phrase, I am not in any way buying into the thesis that "jacking up" rents needs to happen in any university. The Deputy will have to agree with me on this point because it is a fact. Universities have seen an increase in their budgets this coming year compared to last year and last year compared to the year before. There is no excuse and that should not be used as a fig leaf. In fact, a number of universities are reducing the cost of student accommodation. The University of Galway is one example where they have reduced the cost of the majority of the housing. I take the point that not all are but if anyone is using that as an excuse, that should be called out for the codology it is.
Let us talk about these figures because there are a lot of figures floating around. Many years ago, the Cassells report said that the higher education sector needed €1 billion extra. When I became Minister, we got the European Commission and Indecon to do an up-to-date report as to where we stood. The figure of €1 billion had become €307 million. It is a fact that we need to inject €307 million more into our higher education system to be at a sustainable level of funding that will get us to better student:staff ratios. In this year's budget, we put in €60 million more, along with €40 million last year. We have also given €35 million for pay and more than €50 million for university pensions so we are making real progress. Nobody said that we would put in the €307 million in one budget; that is not realistic.
I certainly agree that there is no excuse for universities jacking up rents to unaffordable levels. I was simply pointing out that if they are underfunded, they start to look for ways to increase revenue. They start to operate more like businesses and less like institutes of higher education. However, it is no excuse and the rents are often pushed down because students actually get out and protest about it. I commend the students who have done so recently.
There is a massive shortfall in the availability of affordable student accommodation. What is the Minister planning to do about this? The Union of Students of Ireland, USI, has asked for 30,000 additional affordable student beds by 2029. Is the Minister going to meet that demand? That is the sort of scale that is necessary. To refer to my earlier point, in a choice between hundreds of millions euro going into research and development tax breaks for some of the richest companies in the world or giving it to our universities to fund them properly, I know which one I would choose
I also know which one the Deputy would choose.
Will the Minister indicate the three most commonly identified causes for dropouts from higher education? To what extent is it possible to address the issue in the context of providing graduates in the future?
There is no list as such but we are doing a more in-depth dive into the data now. I think it can be for a variety of reasons, be they personal, health or cost. As a Government, we need to better understand the reasons but also recognise that sometimes people will choose to change and move to different courses. It is also important to bear this in mind when trying to improve a tertiary education system.
To address Deputy Boyd Barrett's point, rents were also often kept down in universities because we extended the rent pressure zones to our universities. That has been of significant assistance in keeping rents a lot lower than they would have actually been. Sometimes when the Deputy talks about investment in universities, one would swear the investment is going in the wrong direction. Last year, our universities got permission to be able to permanently recruit 1,500 more staff. Last year was the first in many years where we saw an improvement in the student:staff ratio. They have €60 million more next year to build on that.
Regarding student accommodation, I am meeting USI next week. We have projects under way in DCU, Maynooth, University of Limerick and the University of Galway. I want to work with UCD and Trinity to get them over the line and will publish a new student accommodation strategy by the end of the year.
