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74% of students said they have to work during the college term to cope with costs. Shutterstock/Marcos Mesa Sam Wordley

Rise in college students skipping lectures to go to work because of financial struggles

The survey finds that 55% of students say they are missing their lectures in favour of paid work.

MORE THAN TWO-THIRDS of students are struggling financially at college, with some skipping lectures to go to work, a national survey has found. 

The survey of nearly 500 students, was commissioned by the Irish League of Credit Unions and carried out by iReach Insights in April and May.

It finds that finance and debt issues are students’ biggest worries, with the numbers  skipping lectures in favour of earning money rising substantially. 

The survey shows that 55% of students say they are missing their lectures in favour of paid work, up significantly on 22% in 2017.

Six in 10 stated having to work has a negative impact on their studies during busier college times.

A total of 24% say finance and debt is their biggest college-related worry, with 74% telling researchers they have to work during the college term to cope with costs.

The vast majority are in part-time work. 

The results show that 14% work full-time and 15% work ad-hoc hours, with students working almost 15 hours a week and earning just over €10 an hour.

Costs of accommodation 

Students say their biggest monthly expense is rent – at an average of €318 a month, according to this survey.

This is followed by food at €116 per month. Students are spending €88 each month on travel costs and €74 on utility bills.

Students living away from home are spending €1,047 per month, which accounts for €309 more per month than those living at home, who say they are spending an average of €738.

The survey finds that students will cut back on other items in order to make ends meet, with 40% of students stating that they would be cutting back on their social life, while 18% would cut back on buying clothes.

The results find that 15% will cut down on buying food and 11% say medical check-ups will get the cut.

The findings come a week after Education Minister Joe McHugh and the Junior Minister for Higher Education Mary Mitchell O’Connor landed themselves in hot water. 

In a conversation about rental costs, O’Connor said students should make sure to apply for the Susi grant which could be partially used to cover accommodation. She later clarified that she would love to take out a cheque book and write a blank cheque to cover higher education costs, but she can’t.

McHugh said families who cannot afford to send their children to university should consider more affordable options in regional colleges.

Financial worries impacting mental health

The survey also looked at the impact financial worries are having on students, with 18% saying financial worries are a significant source of stress which is impacting on their mental health.

Just under half of students that are finding it difficult to manage turn to parents or family for help when in a money crisis. Around 22% say they would ask for a loan from the local credit union, while 12% say they would look to their bank. Just 6% said they would go to their third level institution or student’s union.

Over a third of all students surveyed say they expect that their third-level education costs will leave them and their family in debt after graduation.

The Irish League of Credit Unions  Head of Communications, Paul Bailey, said the realities of the impact of financial pressure on our third level students is apparent in this survey.

“It’s of concern to see that finance and debt is such a significant worry for so many students. At a time when they should be focusing on their education, it’s worrying to see that greater numbers are skipping lectures and sacrificing time spent on their education in order to earn some extra money.”

He warned that some banks will entice students with freebies around this time to encourage them to become customers.

“However, banks won’t be there to provide one-to-one budgeting guidance should a student need it.”

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    Mute sue
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    Aug 19th 2019, 7:04 AM

    have to say I find the line “McHugh said families who cannot afford to send their children to university should consider more affordable options in regional colleges.” quite disturbing. this implies that higher education is for the wealthy.

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    Mute Martin Critten
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    Aug 19th 2019, 7:13 AM

    @sue: since time began it always has. But now its an industrial cash cow for Uni’s and their foundations.

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    Mute Dara O'Brien
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    Aug 19th 2019, 7:15 AM

    @sue: I don’t agree with your interpretation. If you can’t afford to send you child to a Uni in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway due to rent costs etc then send them somewhere you can afford – that’s a fairly sensible comment really.

    Maybe get them to commute more? If you lived in London, Paris, New York etc you’d be lucky to have a commute to college of less than an hour yet in Ireland if the college is 45 mins away by bus, it’s expected that you move out and rent somewhere.

    Yes there is a right to education but not to hand pick where that is – sometimes you have to do the best you can under the circumstances.

    That said, it is a pity that there isn’t a more widespread scholarship system for gifted students who wish to peruse a specialist course.

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    Mute thesaltyurchin
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    Aug 19th 2019, 12:42 PM

    @Martin Critten: Shame they don’t take any of this money and invest it back into the colleges. So we continue to slip outside the global rankings for quality… a concept we are still struggling to understand the value of in our young nation.

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    Mute sue
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    Aug 19th 2019, 1:43 PM

    @Dara O’Brien: thing is, as it stands, I’m not sure we will be able to afford to send kids to university and that’s regardless of where. I understand that rents are expensive but so are the courses. I have no issue with kids commuting, my issue is the actual cost of sending the kids to university and that statement, to me at least, purely implies that only those that can afford it should be allowed to study the likes of medicine for example

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    Mute Dara O'Brien
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    Aug 19th 2019, 7:05 AM

    Awww, the poor ickle diddums …

    This isn’t a new thing – I worked two jobs through college – that’s just life if you’re not fortunate enough to have wealthy parents who can pay all your bills.

    Just suck it up for God’s sake. University courses are set up in a way that makes it fairly clear what’s going to be on the exams – lecturers ‘tips’ at the end of semester and the tutorial subjects indicate the precise topics that will be covered in exams.

    Attend as many lectures as you can, take books out of the library and read them in your free time instead of going on the beer or watching Netflix. Not everything is life is supposed to be easy and if you can’t accept a sacrifice for a few years for the sake of your future prospects then tough.

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    Mute Dave Barnaville
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    Aug 19th 2019, 8:46 AM

    @Dara O’Brien

    I guess paying the €3,000 yearly fees that didn’t exist for people like yourself Dara, we have the second highest university fees in Europe, only the UK have higher. When I went to college it was about 300 quid, now its 10 times that, and set to carry on rising. Combine that with rents being higher than ever.

    When you don’t properly fund third level education you end up with an under-educated population that votes for Brexit and Trump.

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    Mute Vocal Outrage
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    Aug 19th 2019, 8:48 AM

    @Dara O’Brien: agreed, I had to work part-time to fund myself through my full-time undergrad and work full-time to fund my part-time post-grad. Whether people like it or not you need to cut your cloth to your measure, and as an employer this is just the type of person you’d want to employ, adaptable, flexible and working towards an achievable goal.
    As for your observation about reading books for your degree, I think that’s why its referred to ‘What degree did you read’, the lecturers provide a framework, but the student has to do self research to attain their degree

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    Mute Gucky
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    Aug 19th 2019, 9:15 AM

    @Dara O’Brien: had to do the same myself, worked 25 hours a week on top of full time college….i was young and had the energy and freedom to do it all with little sleep. It stands to you in the future

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    Mute Dara O'Brien
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    Aug 19th 2019, 9:25 AM

    @Dave Barnaville: The funding of 3rd level institutions is a separate issue to the costs of going to college in Ireland where the majority of expense is incurred in rent and subsistence money.

    €3k is very affordable for a student living at home with a weekend job and a partial grant. €3k becomes an issue when you add €10k rent on top.

    The rental issue is in no way related to the funding of the institutions and can be mitigated by working more hours or making a compromise on where you choose to study.

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    Mute Dave Barnaville
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    Aug 19th 2019, 9:41 AM

    @Dara O’Brien:

    3 grand was €2,700 more than I had to pay. At 18 €2,700 would have been a lot of money for me to fork out on top of rent. It’s actually €10,800 more than I had to pay for the duration of college. 10 grand rent plus 3 grand fees plus living money is way beyond what we had to pay in our time. But now that we’ve had the benefit of cheap education we bemoan the next generation as ” poor ickle diddums”, in an utterly patronising fashion.

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    Mute Dara O'Brien
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    Aug 19th 2019, 10:09 AM

    @Dave Barnaville: I think you should go back and study some more sir. Despite me stating it clearly, the rent issue is nothing to do with the funding of our 3rd level system which is the point you raised.

    Rent is a voluntary choice – if you can’t afford it then pick a closer institution and live at home or commute or work whilst studying.

    Do you feel that 3rd level students should get subsidized rent and not have to work? Maybe their food should be subsidized as well, and their clothes whilst we’re at it?

    The fact is that when going to 3rd level you simply have to choose your course and institution according to your means – what part of that do you disagree with and what are you proposing as a solution?

    You seem to think that students are entitled to go to any institution they choose and should be financially supported to do so in terms of fees and rent. That’s a preposterous position.

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    Mute Vocal Outrage
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    Aug 19th 2019, 10:23 AM

    @Dave Barnaville: I didnt receive a grant and my parents couldn’t afford to subsidise my rent, hence, I read for my undergrad based upon the fact I had to live at home. The extra earning power I thus attained allowed me to completely self fund my post-grad, which was actually in the UK, all be it whilst working. Again, cloth, measure.

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    Mute Serge the llama
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    Aug 19th 2019, 12:07 PM

    @Dara O’Brien:

    We have the second highest, soon to be the highest fees in Europe.

    Those who get the grant, are also able to avail of many scholarships and bursaries. Some even qualify for a maintenance grant. Total state aid of 5995 euro. Add that to the 1916 grant.

    There are hardly any bursary’s or scholarships available to those who don’t get the grant. Those who are above the SUSI threshold aren’t rich, they are the squeezed middle, with hefty bills to pay. Getting into serious financial difficulties, even with their kid working their way through college. Not many have 3k savings let alone 12k over 4 years.

    Then you have those way above the SUSI threshold, the rich who can afford everything, without the need of taking out a loan or getting into financial difficulty.

    If our eu counterparts can have low fees, why can’t we?

    Is it something to be proud of having the highest fees in Europe?

    Isn’t having an educated work force more beneficial to the country on a whole?

    Wouldn’t having state support for 4 years to attend college work out less than funding someone for a lifetime on benefits?

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    Mute Dave Barnaville
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    Aug 19th 2019, 12:23 PM

    @Dara O’Brien:

    When I studied in Finland I had subsidised rent. And food. And transport. And the education itself was free. Everything worked properly there, without any of the bitterness the working population foist on students in this country. So yes, I do believe it should be subsidised. I think that students should focus on their education, rather than wasting time working dead end jobs to pay extremely high rents and college fees ten times what I had to pay.

    I disagree with a two tier system, where the wealthy get the benefits and the less well off have to fight over the crumbs. I believe that being wealthy doesn’t make you better, and not funding the less well off to be the best that they can be means you lose some of the potential for the country. I believe an educated population is a better population. And I believe that people of our generation pretending they were martyrs, that somehow they were better during their time in education than the current generation, should really grow a backbone and invest in the future of our country by being adult enough to realise the financial struggles of people and be willing to pay more tax to fund what is needed.

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    Mute Conall
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    Aug 19th 2019, 12:50 PM

    @Dave Barnaville: I have a vague memory of University fees being about £1800 in the early 90′s. Maybe the memories are going as getting on a bit now.

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    Mute Serge the llama
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    Aug 19th 2019, 12:52 PM

    @Dara O’Brien: I presume you were healthy when you worked 2 jobs and went to college?

    What about so done who isn’t healthy? Who let’s say has 3 health conditions? Takes 5 injections and 8 tablets including a chemotherapy drug to suppress the immune system (on medication for life). Will need a transplant at some point as their health continues to crumble. Whose medications put them at a 96% chance of getting skin cancer within 20 years. Whose conditions means they have to miss lectures because of medical appointments, hospital admissions, blood tests. Who finds it hard to get out of bed some mornings due to severe fatigue. At high risk of getting sick at any point.

    This person gets no grant, works one job. And will be a walking zombie at the end of the 4 years, if that person survives it as they will be killing themselves to afford it, for the sake of their future prospects.

    Poor little diddums….. suck it up.

    Instead of sleeping, grab a book from the library, read it until your hair starts falling out and you have black bags under your eyes and the weight drops off you until you are all bone. I’ve seen it, all the way through the leaving cert. what pushing yourself beyond the limits looks like. It looks like walking death. A week here and there unable to get out of bed. But sure that’s the sacrifice for your future prospects.

    No grant, no bursary, high fees, high rent… Sacrifice in that case may just be that persons life.. poor diddums!

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    Mute Damon16
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    Aug 19th 2019, 1:39 PM

    @Dave Barnaville: We should bring in a proper student loan system like Australia. Its impossible to properly fund a tertiary education system like ours when such a large proportion of population expect to avail of it. As regards Trump and Brexit – that has nothing to do with being “under -educated”. I know several PhD’s who don’t know the first thing about politics, current affairs, other cultures or anything else outside their area of expertise.

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    Mute Dara O'Brien
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    Aug 19th 2019, 2:33 PM

    @Dave Barnaville: effective rate of taxation on €47,000 in Finland is 60% how do you suppose we run our 3rd level in the same way when the electorate keep voting out anyone who tables a tax increase?

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    Mute Gowon Geter
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    Aug 19th 2019, 3:24 PM

    @Dara O’Brien: Would you every get off your high horse in your ivory tower ..

    I worked 2 jobs through college too, go on me, big pat on my back yeah yeah. So what … the times were different back then, just because you had to do something dose not make it right, nor dos it mean that all should have to do what you had to do.
    And so enlightened you rants on about finland and taxes blah blah .. what services do the Fins get for their tax, they get hell of a lot more than we do, they also get value for money.. How much more is a teacher / lecturer paid here than in Finland ? How much more are the Civil Servants paid here than iun Finland..
    No point in paying any more taxes in Ireland, wheter it be Carbon Tax, Water Tax or Motor Tax as all it does is go to pay salaries, bonuses and pensions of Politicans and Civil Servants

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    Mute Dara O'Brien
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    Aug 19th 2019, 3:41 PM

    @Gowon Geter: Jebus dude, you have some anger issues there. Also, you aren’t really making any sense (probably because you haven’t read the comments well enough). It was David that mentioned Finland and I pointed out that we will never get the services they have there unless we pay more tax which we won’t do

    So, bizarrely you managed to rant at me and agree with me at the same time. I’d say it’s a bit early to be on the sauce but fair dues to you man, drink away – it’s Monday after all …

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    Mute Jen Garton
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    Aug 19th 2019, 4:06 PM

    @Dara O’Brien: No one should have to work two jobs whilst in 3rd level education. College is already stressful enough without the worry of funding an education on top.

    I am in 3rd level & I work 20-28hrs on top of a 35hr timetable minus independent learning. It is extremely difficult to afford rent, fees etc. whilst trying to enjoy your time in education.

    I understand that hardships & pressure do shape us as individuals, but shouldn’t we want better for the next generation? I would love to travel on summer breaks but this is something I will never get to do until I am out working full time, where I won’t have the time to do so.

    We need to strive for a better quality of life for all based on our experiences. Let’s fund our education system so we can all work to live, not live to work.

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    Mute Aidan
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    Aug 19th 2019, 5:41 PM

    @Dara O’Brien: That’s the problem. The “according to your means” comment. It basically means rich people can pick to study whatever and wherever they want, whereas others may not get that choice. It’s a massive inequality between rich and poor.

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    Mute Marianne
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    Aug 19th 2019, 6:35 AM

    FREE EDYCATION IS A LIE

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    Mute Peter Laurent
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    Aug 19th 2019, 6:41 AM

    @Marianne: Clearly

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    Mute Vocal Outrage
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    Aug 19th 2019, 8:50 AM

    @Marianne: as obviously is the proper attainment of it judging by your spelling, and manners by your shouting.
    Legislatively, education is free to 2nd level in this country, not 3rd level

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    Mute Michael Kavanagh
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    Aug 19th 2019, 7:10 AM

    Sounds just like when I and my college peers done the biz way back – a fair number of us had part time or intermittent jobs, miserable accommodation and most of us had loans to pay off at the end.

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    Mute Gucky
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    Aug 19th 2019, 9:11 AM

    Went to college 20 years ago and most of us did the same?? It was common then as is now, rent, bills, food, parents with their own bills and younger siblings so no money to give, except no media reporting or moaning….its life!

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    Mute Serge the llama
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    Aug 19th 2019, 12:14 PM

    @Gucky: 20 years ago you didn’t have 3k of fees.

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    Mute Lena Madden
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    Aug 19th 2019, 10:21 AM

    They skip lectures because they feel like it. New generation of students are entitled and disrespectful. Students always worked in college to support themselves and there is no harm.

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    Mute Serge the llama
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    Aug 19th 2019, 12:18 PM

    @Lena Madden: how very judgmental. Isn’t it better for them to be at college and miss a lecture because they need money and have to work, than to be on long term benefits, doing diddly squat?

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    Mute Conall
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    Aug 19th 2019, 12:53 PM

    @Lena Madden: In my experience skipping lectures is not the main problem, it’s not studying. As long as you have access to the teaching material, study it and use it in exams/CA work you’ll get on fine.

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    Mute Eric Davies
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    Aug 19th 2019, 10:16 AM

    students who attend college full time should be entitled to some sort of payment from the welfare system – after all those that choose not to look for work and sit on their arse all day get around 200 euro a week to spend in the office , the bookies ,the local weed dealer or games store – i see them everyday – 3 or 4 years after leaving school -never had a job ,never want a job ,dont even bother to look for a job – get put onto some scheme and play up until their kicked off it – do a few weeks on ‘suspended / reduced benefit ‘ and then back to full payment . mean while those that want to work are forced to do scheme after scheme without any prospect of a proper full time job at the end of them . full time students are at least making an effort to gain qualification and improve their chances of finding a decent well paid job – those that idel through life should be the ones that struggle -not those that try .

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    Mute Dean Brickland
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    Aug 21st 2019, 8:58 AM

    @Eric Davies: Absolutely. I see those people struggling in college as the ones that are trying. We should support them as much as we can as they will pay way more back in taxes throughout their lives as it will cost to help them through college. Also they will be far more productive to our economy, businesses, can better support a family if they choose to start one etc.

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    Mute lambda sensor
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    Aug 19th 2019, 9:48 AM

    Grass is green, water is wet and people have to work to pay for college. What is the big deal here!!??? Many mature students hold down full time jobs and raise families while attending college. Just get on with it and quit the whingeing.

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    Mute John Quinn
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    Aug 19th 2019, 9:39 AM

    This is reality for so many students and parents who struggle to support them.
    How many are forced to drop out due to financial constraints…

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    Mute Michael Kavanagh
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    Aug 19th 2019, 1:51 PM

    @John Quinn:
    Not as many as drop out because they find it too difficult or just unsuited to them.

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    Mute
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    Aug 19th 2019, 2:26 PM

    Families should take in a student for a term at a reasonable rate. It would cut out these rack rate landlords.

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    Mute
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    Aug 19th 2019, 2:29 PM

    We put this up a few days ago.

    To all my Twitter friends.
    We have an en-suite double bedroom in our family home in Dub 12 available for a student .
    Rent is reasonable/finance is not the primary concern.
    DM me or @thedoghouse47 if you have a son or daughter needing accommodation.

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