As part of our going-to-college guide, Irish Country Living conducted a survey with third-level agricultural science students.
Over 90 students from different colleges and agricultural related courses responded to questions surrounding accommodation and commuting.
The biggest concerns facing students heading back to college next month is finding affordable accommodation and the impact commuting will have on their semester.
Accommodation prices
According to Switcher.ie’s Student Cost of Living Guide 2024, it will cost students an average of €15,632 to go to college for the coming academic year. Rents have increased by €174 per year or 3% across all on-campus and private student halls.
The highest increases were in private accommodation in Dublin, Carlow, Limerick and Kerry, with some complexes charging an extra €500 per year. See Figure 1 below for the price breakdown of the top 12 most expensive places for students to live.
Agricultural science students currently looking for accommodation were asked to rate their difficulty in finding accommodation on a scale of one (being easy) and five (being very difficult).
The results show that 51% responded five, 24% responded four, 17% responded three, 5% responded 1 and 3% responded 2. Of the students surveyed, 67% of them had tried to access student accommodation.
When they were asked about their main consideration when choosing accommodation 49% said the cost, 30% said the proximity to college, 17% said the availability and 4% said other.
Digs drive
On 19 August, student union bodies from five of the largest third-level institutions in Dublin joined forces and launched a ‘digs drive’ to help tackle the accommodation shortages.
Dublin City University Students Union along with Trinity, University College Dublin, National College of Arts and Design and Institute of Art, Design and Technology launched a campaign to encourage homeowners to rent out rooms to incoming students ahead of the start of the coming academic year.
Speaking about the accommodation shortage, DCU SU president Karl Ormsby said their goal is to secure immediate and accessible accommodation for students in need.
“Many are forced to endure shocking living conditions for extortionate prices just to get an education. In my personal experience, I have known students who have slept in cars, attics, and even on campus due to the lack of action by the government to help students find accommodation.
"We urge anyone with a spare room to come forward and help the generation of students who are deciding between a place to sleep or an education,” says Karl.
Increase in commuting
With the increases in accommodation prices, there has been a significant increase in the number of students commuting to college – especially those living in rural Ireland.
This has had an impact on their academic participation with lecturers seeing a decline in the number of students engaging in day-to-day college life including lower numbers attending in-person lectures.
In our survey, students were asked if they are planning on commuting to college next year, 38% said yes, 37% said no and 25% responded unsure.
In terms of students who are planning to commute to college, 67% intend to drive, 23% will be using public transport, 3% are carpooling and 7% responded with other.
When asked if they were worried about the impact commuting will have on their academia 84% of students said yes and 16% said no.
Along with this when students were asked if they are worried about the impact commuting will have on their college social life, 85% responded yes with 15% responding no.
In terms of the distance students are planning on commuting to college the largest cohort of 36% are travelling one hour and 30 minutes, followed by 25% travelling two hours, 18% travelling over two hours, 13% travelling one hour and 8% are travelling 30 minutes.
Financial pressures
When students were asked if they were planning on taking up a part-time job to fund their college education, 79% responded yes, 11% said no and 11% responded unsure.
With the high cost of living, it is no surprise that students are aiming to work part-time to fund their third-level education.
“Trying to get accommodation for this academic year has been a real struggle. The majority of landlords ask for the three [summer] months to be paid for too which I can’t do as I knew I wouldn’t be in Dublin. - Barry Lyons, second-year Food and Agribusiness student, UCD
"Every time I think I have a room sorted, it ends up falling though or they give it to someone else. If it comes to it, I’ll have to commute up to UCD and with traffic that could take up to two hours. Hopefully, I can get something sorted in the next couple weeks.” - Anonymous student
“My worry is the impact commuting is going to have on my physical and mental health. I could be travelling for up to three hours a day unless I go into college early in the morning. It’s either I spend a 13 to 16-hour day in college to avoid a three-hour commute or I miss three hours of potential time to do my college work.” - Anonymous student
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