THE RECORD number of applications to the Central Applications Office (CAO) will worry students and raise further questions about the capacity of the higher education system to cope with vastly increased numbers. The latest figures indicate that total applications could increase by about 10 per cent. Current trends are not unexpected at a time when workplace, apprenticeship and a range of other opportunities have narrowed. There has been a huge increase also in the number of mature students applying for college places. As the economy contracts, increasing numbers of adult learners are seeking reskilling and upskilling.
There will be concern that the surge in numbers could revive the kind of points race evident during the 1980s. Certainly CAO points for many broad-based programmes in arts, business and science are set to increase, reversing a decade-long pattern which saw points falling across most disciplines. This year’s figures suggest 1.5 applications for each place but the overall picture may not be quite as bleak as has been portrayed. The eventual number of entrants to higher education will be considerably less than the number of initial applicants. Some students will fail to get the required points. Others may repeat or defer. So the gap between the demand from students and the number of available places should narrow.
That said, it is clear that current trends will put more pressure on an under-funded higher education system. To date, higher education has managed to cope admirably with the record level of demand from both school leavers and adult learners. The third-level system is also playing its part in the roll-out of courses for the newly unemployed.
But there must be a question mark about the longer- term capacity of the system to cope with the many pressures bearing down on it. Core funding to third-level colleges was cut by 5 per cent in 2009 while the staffing moratorium will see staff numbers reduced by 6 per cent. Higher education is being asked to deliver more on considerably less resources.
The hope must be that the surge in demand for college places will generate a substantial debate about future funding for the sector. There was a great deal of political posturing last week over the student registration fee and a philanthropic donation to the University of Limerick. Both were no more than a diversion from the real issue: providing a long-term and sustainable funding- framework for higher education.