I read the title of an article today that brings a whole new view on the no cutbacks to student grants and no increases in student contributions to third and fourth level debate. It was the effect these cutbacks on the local Cork economy. The article heading stated that cutbacks to grants has taken 33million Euro from the Cork economy since 2008.
At first reading that sum seems over exaggerated but then I thought about it a little bit more... When I started UCC in 2008 the grants was 3500 Euro and the student contribution was €750. This year, as far as I'm aware, it's just a few Euro over 3000 for the grant (3024 I think) and the student contribution is 2500. On top of that the distance people can be from UCC and CIT has been lessened. This could, reasonably, lead to a major loss in finances for the local economy.
The first reason is renting. With a narrowing of the distance you can be from your college to qualify for the non-adjacent rate (3024) you only get the adjacent (1512ish). This, for the normal student, means that they can no longer afford to live in student accommodation meaning that the Cork landlords and supermarkets (and off licenses and pubs and clubs) lose out on the money those students would have spent while they were living in Cork. That's probably the biggest one because you are likely talking about 5000 per student (I have no idea how many or how few students that has effected though).
On top of that smaller grants and larger fees means that students have less 'disposable income' and so the economy of Cork suffers as a result...
In conclusion, business owners and landlords should be as opposed to few increases and cut backs to student grants as students are. The entire city of Cork (and Limerick, Galway and Dublin, as well as Waterford, Maynooth, Tralee, Clonmel, Thurles, Letterkenny, Athlone, Sligo, Carlow etc etc etc) will suffer (and 33,000,000 in 4 years is nothing to be sniffed at!!)
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