The Central Applications Office (CAO), which handles third-level admissions, has been instructed by the universities and the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) not to process a student's application unless it is accompanied by a £30 levy.
The charge has to be paid by students at the seven universities and DIT, the college which receives the most applications for places. The colleges have written to the CAO requesting that no place should be registered for someone who does not include the fee, payable by postal order or bank draft.
Grant holders and non-grant holders must pay the fee, which goes towards student facilities, such as recreation centres and bars.
The charge is on top of a charge for other student services, including exams and registration, which many colleges will also be charging students. This is £292 for the year in most colleges, although Trinity College (TCD) and University College Dublin (UCD) are charging £312.
The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) is not objecting to the £30 levy as it goes directly towards student facilities. However, it is unhappy with the larger charge and has previously accused the universities of attempting to claw back some of the income they lost when fees were abolished.
The levying of both charges means a non-grant holder taking a place at UCD or TCD is going to have to pay an overall charge of £342.
The larger charge will also be levied on grant holders, although at a much lower rate, for example £20 in UCD and TCD.
Last year, some colleges sought to impose a £50 levy for direct student services. However, the Conference of Heads of Irish Universities (CHIU) insisted that no student would lose a place if they failed to make the payment. It could not be reached for comment last night. But USI said some confusion still existed on whether a student would lose a place if they did not pay it.
Last night it urged a sympathetic approach towards those - who, for whatever reason, failed to make the £30 payment.
Mr Julian de Spainn, USI President said: " The offer of a college place is often the result of many years' hard work and it would be cruel to deny a student their college place."
The numbers applying for many professional courses have dropped, it was disclosed yesterday, when the CAO released details of the number of applications made this year.
The number of applications overall for degree courses was down from 54,988 to 53,642, with those for diploma and certificate courses down to 55,359 from 57,275.
While the drop is regarded as significant by some observers, there is no certainty that CAO points overall will drop.
The most striking feature was the drop in the total number of applications for medicine and pharmacy, two course normally in high demand. This year there was a total of 5,872 applications for medicine, compared to 7,191 last year. Total applications for pharmacy were down from 917 last year to 806.
However, the drop in the overall numbers does not mean the points will drop for these courses because they are still hugely oversubscribed.
Also notable - despite Government attempts to promote the area - was the drop in science applications, down from 50,921 to 48,225.