Drop in medical students after bank scraps loan
UNIVERSITIES expect to see a drop in the numbers of graduate entry medicine students as Bank of Ireland confirmed it is scrapping the only loan in the country to fully support them.
A spokesman for University of Limerick (UL) said it was only notified this week that the bank will cancel the loan from July 31.
Currently, more than a third of UL’s graduate entry medicine students avail of the loan.
The spokesman told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘It is highly likely that the cessation of the loan programme will have an impact on the numbers of potential students who would have been able to avail of those financial supports to fund their medical education.’
A university source also told the MoS that, without the loan, those who can access the course will be ‘Ireland’s wealthiest’ and will place further pressure on an already struggling health service.
An open letter written on behalf of graduate entry medicine students was published this week urging the Government to act so that all such students can afford the courses, which cost between €15,000 to €16,000 a year after passing the GAMSAT exam and achieving a minimum 2:1 degree.
The loan suited many as it included a four-year moratorium, allowing them time to complete the course and gain employment before commencing repayments.
One student hoping to study medicine in the new 2022 academic year told the MoS, ‘We really don’t know what is going to happen, so many people have relied on that loan over the years’.
They added: ‘It would be different if there were other loans available but there is nothing else.
‘They have said they have other personal loans available but the moratorium is the main issue, we can’t make those repayments as full-time students. The course will become a reserve of the wealthiest students.’
A small survey of 141 graduate entry medicine students found 74% used or intended to avail of the Bank of Ireland loan.
Most also said they would be unable to continue with the course without access to the loan.
A Bank of Ireland spokesman said it has ‘a number of other loans for undergraduates, postgraduates and graduates’ for college, travel and living costs.