There has been ever-growing increases in costs affecting students on campus. We have had ENOUGH. We will be holding a Student Protest on Monday, March 9th outside the JH building.
There has been ever-growing increases in costs affecting students on campus. These are all barriers to education.
- Postgraduate Fees have been increased.
- On-campus accommodation costs have been increased.
- Core Student Services are underfunded & under-resourced.
We have had ENOUGH.
We will be holding a Student Protest on Monday, March 9th outside the JH building.
Please help us send the message to the University and Government that they can't keep putting the cost burden onto their students.
More news and updates to come.
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1975327225944946/
Public Statement
RE: Increase in Student Accomodation in Maynooth University by 3%
Maynooth Students’ Union is incredibly disappointed by the decision of Maynooth University to increase on-campus rents by 3% this coming academic year 2020/2021. This was a decision reached without any involvement from MSU in representing the student voice.
While the increase for this year is less than the 4% maximum allowed for under the rent control measures, it’s important to view this in context. The total cost for living on campus has now reached €6566 (+3.08%) the breakdown of that cost is: Total fee €6046 (+3.0%), Service charge €520 (+4%). Students who live on campus in 2020 are paying over 12.5% more for the privilege than those who began 3 years ago in 2017 when it was €5834.
In the recent MSU Student Survey of over 1,000 Maynooth students, almost 60% cite financial challenges as impacting negatively on their college experience, with 38% of survey participants also reporting that their living arrangements as a cause of financial distress1. Maynooth students are clearly at a breaking point and are in need of support, not increased financial pressures.
MSU President, Katie Deegan stated that “ The spiralling costs of third level education is no longer attainable for the average person. Maynooth University should be working alongside Maynooth Students’ Union to break down the barriers to education not put them up. It is disgraceful that the university would make such a decision, even worse having not consulted with any Students’ Union member.”
It is widely acknowledged that Irish Universities are underfunded and that investment is desperately needed2. However, it is completely unacceptable that students are the one’s having to foot the bill. The cost of higher education is continuing to rise resulting in students being locked out of accessing third-level education. Governments and Universities need to work together to ease the financial burden on our students.
We urge Maynooth University to reverse this increase. We also call on the University to engage with us in decisions regarding the cost of on-campus accommodation in order for the student voice to be represented. MSU and MU want the students of Maynooth to succeed and to get the absolute most from their University experience- the increasing cost of third-level education is putting this under threat.
1 Source: https://www.msu.ie/news/article/6013/MSU-Annual-Survey-2019/
2 Source: https://www.iua.ie/ourwork/campaigns/