Universities across the country have seen a sharp drop in revenue due to a fall off in the numbers of international students coming to Ireland during the pandemic.
However, many of those who chose to travel to Ireland say they are angry and frustrated that they are paying the same level of fees with no access to campus learning.
Walking the prom in Salthill is one of life's daily pleasures for people living locally, such as Avery Fenton from Minnesota, who is in her final year studying Earth and Ocean Sciences at NUI Galway.
Avery pays a tuition fee of just under €14,000 a year. Her rent is €500 a month, a considerable drop due to the fall off in demand.
However, she has not been on campus yet this year because all of her course is now online.
"So much of our degree is based on the field knowledge that we get. You learn so much more with the hands-on training but there’s just no way to do it with the restrictions right now," said Avril.
"Every little thing that goes wrong, you have to send an email and it just delays your learning - sometimes for days - whereas before you could just raise your hand and say hey something went wrong.
"What I had been hoping for was a lot of study time on campus. Peer-to-peer learning is a huge part of our course.
"There’s only 20 of us, so we learn a lot talking to each other on campus and having access to the library, to the labs and to work on my thesis.
"Instead, I’m cooped up sleeping, working and eating in one room and paying thousands of euros to have no access to campus.
"It has been tough going. First semester was pretty rough. We didn’t have too many modules because we’re working on our final year projects. You have to manage your time to teach yourself essentially. It is difficult to keep in touch and stay focused.
"Mental health has taken a hit. You’re pretty much isolated and for so many international students, online events are just not the same. You can’t walk up to a person on campus and introduce yourself.
"You’re on your own and without the option of being able to go home for a lot of people. It might be the cost of travelling back and forth or just because of the pandemic situation.
"It feels a little like we’re being taken advantage of because international students bring a huge amount of revenue to the university and for us not to receive any financial support in return, it’s very unfair."
Kushal Bahirwani is a 22-year-old student from India and he came to Ireland last September to do a Masters Degree in Information Systems Management at the Cairns School of Business, NUI Galway.
'I chose Galway because I saw that the rate of Covid was very low in July and August last year and I thought Ireland is the place to be," said Kushal.
I really thought the lab classes would be on campus because physical presence is so important for this work. Unfortunately that's not the case.
"The one-year Masters course is costing around €17,300 - that’s just the tuition fee. My accommodation adds up to over €12,000. On top of living expenses I pay another €1,000 for my visa documentation, so the total amounts to over €30,000 and in return I get very little.
"The lectures are completely online and I haven’t been on the campus yet. So I’m getting very little for the money that has been paid."
Kushal received a letter from the college last summer, stating that he had to be physically present on the campus.
All international students were encouraged to book accommodation early and be in Galway by September to avail of in-built campus learning and immersion into the full college experience.
Kushal said he had hoped that the university would accommodate students with hybrid classes with 50% online and 50% physical presence on campus.
He said: "I really thought the lab classes would be on campus because physical presence is so important for this work. Unfortunately that’s not the case.
"Honestly, I feel helpless right now because the college hasn’t being doing much. We get a lot of emails and I appreciate that but not much else has been done yet."
Kushal added that he wanted the full student experience in Galway.
"I kind of love the city of Galway and the few number of people that I’ve managed to meet in December when restrictions were lowered were really nice. I love the people. I love the culture. And I love a few pints sometimes!
"I really hope things get back to some kind of normal so I can experience the city more or even get to experience one month inside the campus."
Padraic Toomey is President of the Students’ Union at NUI Galway. He said international students would only have learned that their classes were going online a short time after arriving in Ireland.
"They are paying thousands more in fees than any Irish or EU students. So it was unfair that they were told to come here and get accommodation before finding out that all everything was going to be online," he said.
"I don’t think it was a good idea for the college to recommend getting accommodation when it was so unpredictable. Nobody knew and it was short-sighted.
"These students can be paying €10,000, €20,000. There’s no limit on the fees like Irish and EU students where there’s a limit of around €3,000 for an undergraduate, while that limit is not there at all for international students and then it’s even more for post grads. You will see crazy high fees there."
Neither NUI Galway nor the Irish Universities Association were prepared to comment on the matter. However NUIG issued the following written statement:
"The University shares the frustrations of our students that the vast majority of campus activities are being delivered remotely, however the safety of our community is our number one priority.
"We’ve seen in recent weeks among our community how virulent the new strains of the virus are, highlighting the need for us all to reduce our contacts as much as possible, and keep as much activity online as possible.
"While we had hoped that the national situation would have facilitated more campus-time this year, courses are still being delivered to the highest standards and all learning objectives are being met.
"We all regret that the social aspects of life have been curtailed this year, and we thank our students for continuing to follow the public health advice."
