Mature reflection as older generation considers college

A new army of mature students is heading to third level in record numbers. But who are these new students? And what are their dreams and aspirations, asks GRAINNE FALLER

IT SEEMS that the economic downturn has led to something of a boom in the demand for third-level places. Already, more than 12,000 mature students have applied to the CAO this year - more than double the number who applied in 2003.

Colleges have been noticing some changes, not just in the number of mature applicants, but also in the type of person applying.

'We started to see the first indicators sometime at the beginning of 2009,ú explains John McGinnity, assistant registrar in NUI Maynooth. According to McGinnity, mature students traditionally fall into two groups. There are people whose family is raised and they want to go back to college; then there are the twentysomethings who probably went straight into the workplace or who travelled the world and have decided that now they need to get a college education.

Last year, however, a new category of mature students began to emerge. McGinnity explains: ûWe had enquiries from people who were working for a company and sensing that things werenüt going so well. There were also people who worked for big companies and their employers were encouraging them to return to education. Then of course there were people who had been made redundant. It was a new category that we hadnüt really seen before,ú he says.

Mary Liddy, deputy admissions officer in NUI Galway, agrees that the profile is diversifying. ûIüm noticing that there are people who apply now they might be 23 or 24 who have worked solidly since leaving school and now suddenly unemployment or the insecurity of a job they are in is hitting them and they are considering going to college at this stage.

Liddy has observed another phenomenon. While mature student applications have been increasing, the real increase last year was in the number of people who followed up their application.
Many of our mature students would apply for arts courses through the CAO and normally about 60 per cent of applicants follow through and sit the written assessment for entry onto the course. Last year however, 85 per cent of applicants sat the written assessment for arts. So for us, applications increased, but the real increase was in the number of applicants who followed their application through.

The downturn has had an impact in other ways however, according to UCCüs director of access Dr Denis Staunton, who has observed that during better economic times, people would leave jobs to enter education. That, he says, is certainly no longer the case.

Its a major decision and there are all sorts of issues facing adults wishing to enter education. Of course nowadays, the main one is money. Taking time out for three or four years has a huge impact, not just on the person but on their family,' says Staunton. 'The financial implications are enormous.

At the moment, there are various allowances available to mature students. The Higher Education Grant and the Back to Education Allowance (BTEA) are the main two.

Previously, someone who was in receipt of the BTEA could also apply for and receive the Higher Education Grant. In the recent Budget, however, it was stated that someone in receipt of the BTEA would no longer be eligible for the Higher Education Grant.

The possibility of this coming to pass has prompted concern among college officers about how people who are unemployed will be able to make ends meet while in education. 'We need people to upskill and yet there are cuts that will prevent them from doing so,' says Staunton. 'It makes no sense whatsoever.'

The increase in mature applicants for the individual colleges is steady but unlikely to become a flood, this year at least. This is partly because people who have recently been made redundant will not qualify for the Back to Education Allowance until they have been on the live register for 12 months.

'I think we will see the ripple effect of unemployment over the next couple of years,' says McGinnity.

For guidance on available grants see www.studentfinance.ie