BRIAN MOONEY'S ADVICE CENTRE: Is it wise to stay with the CAO choices I made in January given the downturn? The Government may be on the cusp of deciding to introduce fees for third-level courses, and now some students and their parents are asking themselves whether it is worth putting their money into higher education when there are few jobs.

I have no doubt that this question has been raised in each of the 68,000 homes throughout the State where a family member has applied to the CAO earlier this year.

Last in, first out?

The harsh experience of some young graduates, who started their careers working in areas hit by the downturn is sending a very powerful message to the class of 2009, regarding the long-term benefit of investing hard cash or taking on a long-term debt to secure a third-level qualification. Why study at school or college, when your 28-year-old sister, who has a law degree and has been a qualified solicitor for three years, is now sitting at home questioning whether she will ever work again?

Where will the employment opportunities be in 2012?

The entire structure of both our domestic and the global economy has been transformed by the collapse of the world financial system. As Barack Obama recently observed: “Prior to the collapse, so much of the world’s economic activity was in the financial services sector, and was related to the overheated housing market.”

Huge numbers of graduate employment opportunities, both in Ireland and in abroad, were directly related to servicing the property and equity bubble. CAO applicants are now asking themselves: “Now that I may have to pay for my third-level education, and in the light of all that has happened in the world economy in recent months, are my CAO choices wise?

If you cannot see any prospect of secure employment in your chosen discipline in the short to medium term, the option of abandoning your CAO application and launching yourself directly onto the labour market is not a very attractive one. There is a total lack of employment opportunities in any sector of the economy. The option of emigrating is also closing off as the entire world economy is in a severe recession.

What should I do?

All colleges in the CAO system offer a wide range of developmental opportunities to their students, through the independent learning skills that college life demands, the cultural and sporting opportunities on offer through clubs and societies and the social and community outreach activities that are so much part of college life today.

The correct CAO course for you is the one that will enable you to graduate with a basket of skills, that will enhance your chances of securing your first job in a role which is in tune with your innate aptitudes, interests and abilities, regardless of the current market value of that qualification. My advice? Stay focused on the best qualification for you. Sooner or later the world’s economy will recover – hopefully just as you graduate sometime after 2012.

Is college worth a €30,000 to €40,000 investment?

Now that a price is being put on a third-level degree, which will see the average student emerge with a €30,000 to €40,000 debt following graduation, the normal rules of the market will fall into place. Students and their parents will ask themselves is the course or college on offer worth that level of investment?

Unfortunately, undergraduate education in Ireland has been starved of funds since numbers started to grow rapidly following the introduction of free third-level education in 1996. Colleges have had to educate far greater numbers of students without a corresponding increase in funding, leading to a dilution of the quality of lecturing and tutorial support each student receives.

The level of investment by the Irish State in each third-level student is far below the OECD average. Higher education in the Republic is underfunded, but it still has the capacity to give you a very good education and improve your career prospects.

Brian Mooney is a guidance counsellor at Oatlands College, Dublin